Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The effects of climate change on a mega‐diverse country: predicted shifts in mammalian species richness and turnover in continental Ecuador

Ecuador has some of the greatest biodiversity in the world, sheltering global biodiversity hotspots in lowland and mountain regions. Climate change will likely have a major effect on these regions, but the consequences for faunal diversity and conservation remain unclear. To address this issue, we used an ensemble of eight species distribution models to predict future shifts and identify areas of high changes in species richness and species turnover for 201 mammals. We projected the distributions using two different climate change scenarios at the 2050 horizon and contrasted two extreme dispersal scenarios (no dispersal vs. full dispersal). Our results showed extended distributional shifts all over the country. For most groups, our results predicted that the current diversity of mammals in Ecuador would decrease significantly under all climate change scenarios and dispersal assumptions. The Northern Andes and the Amazonian region would remain diversity hotspots but with a significant decrease in the number of species. All predictions, including the most conservative scenarios in terms of dispersal and climate change, predicted major changes in the distribution of mammalian species diversity in Ecuador. Primates might be the most severely affected because they would have fewer suitable areas, compared with other mammals. Our work emphasizes the need for sound conservation strategies in Ecuador to mitigate the effects of climate change
A record of two species of Acanthocephala (Echinorhynchida: Rhadinorhynchidae) from Red Sea fishes, Yemeni coastal waters

A total of 198 specimens belonging to four fish species (Thunnus tonggol, Sphyraena barracuda, Pomadasys argenteus and Lutjanus gibbus) were purchased from Al-Mehwat fish market, Hodeidah, Yemen and inspected for acanthocephalan infections. Two acanthocephalans were detected. Juveniles of Serrasentis sagittifer were recovered from the intestine, pyloric caeca, body cavity, mesenteries and some internal organs of the above- named fishes with prevalence of 11.7%, 11.9%, 24% and 4.4%, respectively and a mean intensity of 3.3, 2.2, 5 and 2, respectively. Generally, male fishes showed higher values of infection in comparison with female fishes. Encysted juveniles of Gorgorhynchus sp. were recovered from the intestinal mesenteries of T. tonggol only with a prevalence of 3.3% and intensity of 2.5. The occurrence of the above-named acanthocephalans represents their first record from the Yemeni fishes of the Red Sea
Entropy production at criticality in a nonequilibrium Potts model

Understanding nonequilibrium systems and the consequences of irreversibility for the system’s behavior as compared to the equilibrium case, is a fundamental question in statistical physics. Here, we investigate two types of nonequilibrium phase transitions, a second-order and an infinite-order phase transition, in a prototypical q-state vector Potts model which is driven out of equilibrium by coupling the spins to heat baths at two different temperatures. We discuss the behavior of the quantities that are typically considered in the vicinity of (equilibrium) phase transitions, like the specific heat, and moreover investigate the behavior of the entropy production (EP), which directly quantifies the irreversibility of the process. For the second-order phase transition, we show that the universality class remains the same as in equilibrium. Further, the derivative of the EP rate with respect to the temperature diverges with a power-law at the critical point, but displays a non-universal critical exponent, which depends on the temperature difference, i.e., the strength of the driving. For the infinite-order transition, the derivative of the EP exhibits a maximum in the disordered phase, similar to the specific heat. However, in contrast to the specific heat, whose maximum is independent of the strength of the driving, the maximum of the derivative of the EP grows with increasing temperature difference. We also consider entropy fluctuations and find that their skewness increases with the driving strength, in both cases, in the vicinity of the second-order transition, as well as around the infinite-order transition.
Inhibitors of glycogen synthase kinase 3

Wherein novel carbocyclic compounds of (I) ## STR1 ## , Compositions and methods for inhibiting the activity of glycogen synthase kinase (GSK3) in vitro, as well as compositions and methods for treating GSK3-mediated cytotoxicity in vivo is provided. The method of the present invention, compounds and compositions, in treating disorders mediated by GSK3 activity, may be used alone or in combination with other pharmaceutically active agents. This treatment, for example, diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, other neurodegenerative disorders (eg, Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease), obesity, atherosclerosis cardiovascular disease, essential hypertension syndrome, polycystic ovary syndrome, X syndrome, ischemia, traumatic brain injury, bipolar injury, is the treatment of immunodeficiency or cancer.
Induced Methylation in Plants as a Crop Improvement Tool: Progress and Perspectives

The methylation of gene promoters is an epigenetic process that can have a major impact on plant phenotypes through its control of gene expression. This phenomenon can be observed as a response to stress, such as drought, cold/heat stress or pathogen infection. The transgenerational heritability of DNA methylation marks could enable breeders to fix beneficial methylation patterns in crops over successive generations. These properties of DNA methylation, its impact on the phenotype and its heritability, could be used to support the accelerated breeding of improved crop varieties. Induced DNA methylation has the potential to complement the existing plant breeding process, supporting the introduction of desirable characteristics in crops within a single generation that persist in its progeny. Therefore, it is important to understand the underlying mechanisms involved in the regulation of gene expression through DNA methylation and to develop methods for precisely modulating methylation patterns for crop improvement. Here we describe the currently available epigenetic editing tools and their advantages and limitations in the domain of crop breeding. Finally, we discuss the biological and legislative limitations currently restricting the development of epigenetic modification as a crop improvement tool.
Full Mouth Implant Supported Rehabilitation Involving Immediate Implant Placement in Patient with History of Periodontitis: A Case Report

Background: Oral rehabilitation of periodontally compromised patient presents a challenge to clinicians. The periodontitis might have a negative influence on osseointegration leading to increased implant failure and management usually involve placing implants in healed sites after extraction of teeth with poor periodontal prognosis. However, patients who attain and maintain excellent plaque control, the technique of immediate implant placement can be utilised for oral rehabilitation. Case Report: This case report describes comprehensive rehabilitation in a patient with history of periodontitis who underwent immediate implant placement following teeth extraction. With proper treatment planning, patient compliance and supportive periodontal therapy, good functional and aesthetic outcomes were achieved. There was no evidence of peri-implant mucositis or periimplant bone loss after 30 months of follow-up. Case Study Thakral et al.; IJRRD, 3(3): 28-36, 2020; Article no.IJRRD. 61169 29 Conclusion: The technique of immediate implant placement in periodontitis susceptible patient with proper management and carefully monitored supportive periodontal therapy can be a successful treatment modality with predictable outcome.
Alleles on the two dwarfing loci on 4B and 4D are main drivers of FHB‐related traits in the Canadian winter wheat population “Vienna” × “25R47”

Fusarium head blight (FHB), leaf rust and stem rust are among the most destructive wheat diseases. High-yielding, native disease resistance sources are available in North America. The objective of this study was to map loci associated with FHB traits, leaf rust, stem rust and plant height in a “Vienna”/”25R47” population. DArT markers were used to generate a genetic map, and quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis was performed by evaluating 113 doubled haploid lines across three environments in Ontario, Canada. FHB resistance QTL were identified on chromosomes 4D, 4B, 2D and 7A, while a QTL for leaf and stem rust resistance was identified on chromosome 1B. The dwarfing alleles of both Rht-B1 and Rht-D1 were associated with increased FHB index and DON content.
Automatic Detection of Inadequate Pediatric Lateral Neck Radiographs of the Airway and Soft Tissues using Deep Learning.

Purpose To develop and validate a deep learning (DL) algorithm to identify poor-quality lateral airway radiographs. Materials and Methods A total of 1200 lateral airway radiographs obtained in emergency department patients between January 1, 2000, and July 1, 2019, were retrospectively queried from the picture archiving and communication system. Two radiologists classified each radiograph as adequate or inadequate. Disagreements were adjudicated by a third radiologist. The radiographs were used to train and test the DL classifiers. Three technologists and three different radiologists classified the images in the test dataset, and their performance was compared with that of the DL classifiers. Results The training set had 961 radiographs and the test set had 239. The best DL classifier (ResNet-50) achieved sensitivity, specificity, and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.90 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.86, 0.94), 0.82 (95% CI: 0.76, 0.90), and 0.86 (95% CI: 0.81, 0.91), respectively. Interrater agreement for technologists was fair (Fleiss κ, 0.36 [95% CI: 0.29, 0.43]), while that for radiologists was moderate (Fleiss κ, 0.59 [95% CI: 0.52, 0.66]). Cohen κ value comparing the consensus rating of ResNet-50 iterations from fivefold cross-validation, consensus technologists' rating, and consensus radiologists' rating to the ground truth were 0.76 (95% CI: 0.63, 0.89), 0.49 (95% CI: 0.37, 0.61), and 0.66 (95% CI: 0.54, 0.78), respectively. Conclusion The development and validation of DL classifiers to distinguish between adequate and inadequate lateral airway radiographs is reported. The classifiers performed significantly better than a group of technologists and as well as the radiologists. © RSNA, 2020.
Device-Clustering and Rate-Splitting Enabled Device-to-Device Cooperation Framework in Fog Radio Access Network

Resource allocation is investigated to enhance the performance of device-to-device (D2D) cooperation in a fog radio access network (F-RAN) architecture. Our envisioned framework enables two D2D links to share certain orthogonal radio resource blocks (RRBs) by forming device-clusters. In each device-cluster, both content-holder device-users (DUs) transmit to the content-requester DUs via an enhanced remote radio head (eRRH) over the same RRBs. Such RRBs are shared with the uplink F-RAN as well. The intra device-cluster interference is mitigated by exploiting both uplink and downlink rate-splitting schemes, and the inter device-cluster interference is mitigated by using an orthogonal RRB allocation strategy. Our objective is to maximize the end-to-end sum-rate of the device-clusters while reducing the interference between D2D cooperation and the uplink F-RAN over the shared RRBs. Towards this objective, a joint optimization of device-clustering, transmit power allocations, assignment of device-clusters to the eRRHs, and allocation of RRBs among the device-clusters is presented. Since the joint optimization is NP-hard and intractable, it is decomposed into device-clustering and resource allocation sub-problems, and efficient solutions to both sub-problems are developed. Based on the solutions to the sub-problems, a semi-distributed and convergent algorithm, entitled rate-splitting for multi-hop D2D (RSMD), is proposed to obtain the device-clusters and resource allocation for these device-clusters. Through extensive simulations, efficiency of the proposed RSMD algorithm over several benchmark schemes is demonstrated.
Occurrence of Gastric Carcinoma in Patients Previously Affected with Esophageal Webs

The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of gastric cancer in patients who previously suffered from esophageal webs in Karachi, Pakistan. This prospective study was conducted from January 2015-February 2017 in tertiary care hospitals of Karachi, Pakistan. Sample size is 256. Patients of age 28-75 years, regardless of gender presenting with principal complain of dysphagia were recruited in this study. The dysphagia is usually painless and intermittent or progressive over years, limited to solids and sometimes associated with weight loss. Other associations were that the patients were weak and anemic. A complete medical history was taken and a thorough physical examination was carried out which was filled in the performa, by concerned doctors, designed by an application “FORMS”. The most common etiological factors are iron deficiency, malnutrition, genetic predisposition or autoimmune processes. Esophageal webs can be detected by double barium swallow X-ray. Webs are also detectable by upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. Gastric cancer is the common cancer causing deaths worldwide. In this study the patients with esophageal webs were tested and treated. During their frequent follow up visits, they were also tested for possible gastric carcinoma by double-contrast barium meal to examine the stomach for gastric cancer and endoscopic ultrasound to check esophageal and gastric wall thickening for staging of cancer. Exact data about epidemiology is not available.
Physiological response of Arundo donax L. to thallium accumulation in a simulated wetland

A simulated wetland experiment was used to investigate the effect of thallium (Tl) accumulation on the growth of Arundo donax L. , its photosynthetic characteristics and its antioxidant enzyme activities. Tl accumulated in the order of stems<leaves<roots and increased gradually with increasing Tl concentrations (from 0 to 2.5µgL–1). Moderate Tl applications (from 0.2 to 2.5µgL–1) increased the rate of both photosynthesises (Pn) and transpiration (Tr), as well as catalase and peroxidase activity. Tl significantly affected stomatal conductivity, but had no effect on the relative chlorophyll content (SPAD values) or the potential and effective photochemical efficiency of photosystem II. However, intercellular CO2 concentrations and superoxide dismutase decreased in response to increasing Tl concentrations. Although 50µgL–1 Tl significantly decreased the SPAD values, as well as the potential and effective photochemical efficiency of photosystem II, it had no effect on Pn or Tr. These results suggest that root restriction and oxidative stress are involved in the mechanism of Tl toxicity, but the photosynthetic system of A. donax was not harmed by certain concentrations of Tl, indicating the strong tolerance of this species to increased Tl pollution.
A comparison of perioperative safety for breast augmentation in cis- vs. trans patients

Background Gender-affirming surgery provides a psychosocial benefit to transgender women. However, increased medical complexity within the transgender population has limited access for some transgender women. This study compared patient population comorbidities and 30-day peri-operative safety following primary augmentation mammoplasty between cis- and transgender women. Methods Data were extracted from the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) database between 2007 and 2016. Transgender patients were identified using ICD-9 &10 codes for gender dysphoria. Categorical variables were compared using chi-squared and Fisher’s exact tests while independent t-tests were used for continuous variables. Statistical significance was set at P<0.05. Results There were 4,234 breast augmentations identified in cisgender women and 137 in transgender women. Transgender women had a higher frequency of ASA-II and ASA-III patients (P<0.001), diabetes (P<0.001), hypertension (P=0.006), and active smoking status (P<0.001). Despite the higher comorbidity burden and routine use of hormonal therapy, there were no significant differences between populations in major or minor peri-operative complication rates. Conclusions Top surgery improves quality of life in transgender women. Despite the more complex pre-operative risk profile in the transgender population, there is no difference in peri-operative safety profiles. Plastic surgeons treating this patient population should consider more liberal surgical indications for reconstructive top surgery compared with cosmetic breast augmentation.
Effects of the Extraction Technology on Pomegranate Juice Quality

Pomegranate juice is a rich source of phenolic components; its consumption has considerably increased throughout the world in recent years, due to its nutraceutical properties. Commercial juice production involves pressing the fruits. The aim of this study was to assess the influence of the pressing stage on pomegranate juice properties, in terms of value, duration of the applied pressure and juice yield in order to examine the influence of pressure level on volatiles and nutraceutical properties of the juice. Pomegranate fruits cv. Wonderful One were manually harvested and mechanically processed for extracting the juice by means of a shelling machine, a peristaltic pump and a pneumatic press. Chemical analytical determinations were performed on the juice samples corresponding to the different pressure levels applied. They did not show a univocal trend with respect to the increase in pressure; total phenol content values gradually increased as the pressure applied increased, conversely the highest total anthocyanins value was obtained in the first step of the process (552 mg L−1), afterwards a 40% decrease occurred. More than forty Volatile Organic Compounds were identified in the obtained pomegranate juices. The results showed a significant increase in the values in some compounds, particularly for pressure values higher than 0.7 bar, while in others there was a significant decrease as pressure increases. Therefore, the application of different pressure values during pomegranate juice extraction process allowed to obtain products of different quality.
Multiwavelength confocal laser scanning microscopy of the cornea.

Confocal reflectance microscopy has demonstrated the ability to produce in vivo images of corneal tissue with sufficient cellular resolution to diagnose a broad range of corneal conditions. To investigate the spectral behavior of corneal reflectance imaging, a modified laser ophthalmoscope was used. Imaging was performed in vivo on a human cornea as well as ex vivo on porcine and lamb corneae. Various corneal layers were imaged at the wavelengths 488 nm, 518 nm, and 815 nm and compared regarding image quality and differences in the depicted structures. Besides the wavelength- and depth-dependent scattering background, which impairs the image quality, a varying spectral reflectance of certain structures could be observed. Based on the obtained results, this paper emphasizes the importance of choosing the appropriate light source for corneal imaging. For the examination of the epithelial layers and the endothelium, shorter wavelengths should be preferred. In the remaining layers, longer wavelength light has the advantage of less scattering loss and a potentially higher subject compliance.
Alpha-MSH: Could this anti-inflammatory mediator be the culprit in Parkinson’s Disease?

We now show that key processes implicated in synuclein pathogenesis such as impairment of cellular autophagy and alpha-synuclein (α-syn) aggregation are induced by alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH), a microglia-secreted anti-inflammatory mediator. We employed the pigmented melanoma cell line MNT-1 as a novel in-vitro cell model of melanin-containing dopaminergic neurons (DNs) of the substantia nigra (SN). Melanin levels serve as a reliable readout of autophagy in MNT-1 and exposure to alpha-MSH resulted in a decrease in melanin and a failure to slow down glucose consumption, which induced cell death by apoptosis. ASIP (agouti-signaling protein), the natural biologic inhibitor of alpha-MSH, blocked and reversed the effects of alpha-MSH. Mice administered intranasal alpha-MSH exhibited progressive decline in gait, a prevalent condition seen in patients with Parkinson9s Disease (PD). Moreover, we observed what may be α-syn aggregation in the SN pars compacta (SNpc). SNpc and striatal tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) density showed very modest reduction in this animal PD model consistent with PD pathology at the very early stage of disease. Fundamental Questions Addressed by this Study: 1. What may be the pathophysiologic link between neuroinflammation and impairment of autophagy in PD? 2. What may be a microglia-derived mediator that impairs autophagy and induces alpha-synuclein aggregation in dopaminergic neurons in PD? 3. What drives neurotoxicity that could lead to oxidative stress and ROS-mediated cell loss in PD?
Effectiveness of Alkali and Acid to Produce Collagen from Fish Skin of Striped Catifish

Fish skin is one of the alternative sources contained high protein to isolate collagen. Fish skin generally extracted by the method of acid, alkali and enzymes. The study aim to determine the effectiveness of NaOH and acetic acid on catfish (Pangasius sp.) skin extraction process. The concentrations of alkaline pretreatment were 0,05; 0,1; 0,15 and 0,2 M with the soaking time of 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 h by NaOH replacement in every 2 h. The concentrations of acetic acid for hydrolisis process were 0.05; 0.1; 0.15 and 0.2 M with the soaking time of 1, 2, and 3 h. The experimental design used for pretreatment process is split splot, while for the hydrolysis process is factorial completely randomized design. The results showed that pretreatment with a concentration of 0.05 M NaOH for 4 h has a significant effect for eliminating non-collagen protein (p<0.05). The acetic acid concentration of 0.15 M for 1 h also has a significant effect on fish skin swelling. The yield of striped catfish collagen was 17.272%, the protein content was 86%, and the viscosity was 12 cP. Fish skin extract was identified as type I collagen by functional groups and electrophoretic analysis. Collagen from striped catfish skin has α1 and α2 and protein structure with the molecular weight of α chain were 94 and 98 kDa, meanwhile the molecular wheight of β chain was 204 kD.