Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Co-Morbid Insomnia and Sleep Apnea (COMISA): Prevalence, Consequences, Methodological Considerations, and Recent Randomized Controlled Trials

Co-morbid insomnia and sleep apnea (COMISA) is a highly prevalent and debilitating disorder, which results in additive impairments to patients’ sleep, daytime functioning, and quality of life, and complex diagnostic and treatment decisions for clinicians. Although the presence of COMISA was first recognized by Christian Guilleminault and colleagues in 1973, it received very little research attention for almost three decades, until the publication of two articles in 1999 and 2001 which collectively reported a 30%–50% co-morbid prevalence rate, and re-ignited research interest in the field. Since 1999, there has been an exponential increase in research documenting the high prevalence, common characteristics, treatment complexities, and bi-directional relationships of COMISA. Recent trials indicate that co-morbid insomnia symptoms may be treated with cognitive and behavioral therapy for insomnia, to increase acceptance and use of continuous positive airway pressure therapy. Hence, the treatment of COMISA appears to require nuanced diagnostic considerations, and multi-faceted treatment approaches provided by multi-disciplinary teams of psychologists and physicians. In this narrative review, we present a brief overview of the history of COMISA research, describe the importance of measuring and managing insomnia symptoms in the presence of sleep apnea, discuss important methodological and diagnostic considerations for COMISA, and review several recent randomized controlled trials investigating the combination of CBTi and CPAP therapy. We aim to provide clinicians with pragmatic suggestions and tools to identify, and manage this prevalent COMISA disorder in clinical settings, and discuss future avenues of research to progress the field.
Two‐step modification of silica for efficient adsorption of phosphatidylcholine in water and application in phospholipase D‐catalyzed transphosphatidylation

An efficient and green aqueous–solid system was introduced for phospholipase D‐mediated transphosphatidylation. γ‐(2,3‐epoxypropoxy) propytrimethoxysilane was covalently bound to silica and esterified by acetic acid, which acted as an anchor molecule to facilitate the adsorption of phosphatidylcholine (PC) in aqueous solutions. Obtained silica‐adsorbed PC was successfully used for transphosphatidylation to produce phosphatidylserine (PS). The PC loading and PS yield reached 98.8 and 98.3%, respectively. A new model was proposed to illustrate the adsorption and enzymatic processes. Moreover, this aqueous–solid system provides a promising way for the continuous production. Four kinds of phospholipids were biosynthesized in the pack‐bed reactor. The stability of the aqueous–solid system was excellent, as demonstrated by its use 30 times without any loss of the productivity. The product was eluted by coconut oil and manufactured into microcapsules. Toxic agents were completely avoided in the whole production process.
The balancing act of R-loop biology: The good, the bad, and the ugly

An R-loop is a three-stranded nucleic acid structure that consists of a DNA:RNA hybrid and a displaced strand of DNA. R-loops occur frequently in genomes and have significant physiological importance. They play vital roles in regulating gene expression, DNA replication, and DNA and histone modifications. Several studies have uncovered that R-loops contribute to fundamental biological processes in various organisms. Paradoxically, although they do play essential positive functions required for important biological processes, they can also contribute to DNA damage and genome instability. Recent evidence suggests that R-loops are involved in a number of human diseases, including neurological disorders, cancer, and autoimmune diseases. This review focuses on the molecular basis for R-loop–mediated gene regulation and genomic instability and briefly discusses methods for identifying R-loops in vivo. It also highlights recent studies indicating the role of R-loops in DNA double-strand break repair with an updated view of much-needed future goals in R-loop biology.
Cerebral Hemorrhage and Alcohol Exposure: A Review.

AIMS To investigate the dose-response relationships between alcohol and intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), the impact of alcohol on the outcome of ICH and possible mechanisms underlying hypertensive ICH (HICH) caused by heavy drinking. METHODS Literature search from 1985 to August 2019 in the PubMed database. RESULTS The relationship between low-middle alcohol consumption and ICH remains controversial for various reasons, whereas chronic heavy drinking increases the incidence of ICH and exerts worse outcome. More attention is needed to clarify the characteristics of chronic alcohol intake and binge drinking. Chronic alcohol abuse tends to elevates blood pressure, resulting in increased occurrence of HICH and exaggerated HICH-contributed brain injury. CONCLUSION It is important to develop strategies to promote reasonable intake categories, prevent alcoholism and thus reduce the risk of ICH.
QTL Mapping of Intestinal Neutrophil Variation in Threespine Stickleback Reveals Possible Gene Targets Connecting Intestinal Inflammation and Systemic Health

Selection, via host immunity, is often required to foster beneficial microbial symbionts and suppress deleterious pathogens. In animals, the host immune system is at the center of this relationship. Failed host immune system-microbial interactions can result in a persistent inflammatory response in which the immune system indiscriminately attacks resident microbes, and at times the host cells themselves, leading to diseases such as Ulcerative Colitis, Crohn’s Disease, and Psoriasis. Host genetic variation has been linked to both microbiome diversity and to severity of such inflammatory disease states in humans. However, the microbiome and inflammatory states manifest as quantitative traits, which encompass many genes interacting with one another and the environment. The mechanistic relationships among all of these interacting components are still not clear. Developing natural genetic models of host-microbe interactions is therefore fundamental to understanding the complex genetics of these and other diseases. Threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) fish are a tractable model for attacking this problem because of abundant population-level genetic and phenotypic variation in the gut inflammatory response. Previous work in our laboratory identified genetically divergent stickleback populations exhibiting differences in intestinal neutrophil activity. We took advantage of this diversity to genetically map variation in an emblematic element of gut inflammation - intestinal neutrophil recruitment - using an F2-intercross mapping framework. We identified two regions of the genome associated with increased intestinal inflammation containing several promising candidate genes. Within these regions we found candidates in the Coagulation/Complement System, NFkB and MAPK pathways along with several genes associated with intestinal diseases and neurological diseases commonly accompanying intestinal inflammation as a secondary symptom. These findings highlight the utility of using naturally genetically diverse ‘evolutionary mutant models’ such as threespine stickleback to better understand interactions among host genetic diversity and microbiome variation in health and disease states.
Developing Gold Nanoparticles-Conjugated Aflatoxin B1 Antifungal Strips

Lateral flow immunochromatographic assays are a powerful diagnostic tool for point-of-care tests, based on their simplicity, specificity, and sensitivity. In this study, a rapid and sensitive gold nanoparticle (AuNP) immunochromatographic strip is produced for detecting aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) in suspicious fungi-contaminated food samples. The 10 nm AuNPs were encompassed by bovine serum albumin (BSA) and AFB1 antibody. Thin-layer chromatography, gel electrophoresis and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy were employed for analysing the chemical complexes. Various concentrations of AFB1 antigen (0–16 ng/mL) were tested with AFB1 antibody–BSA–AuNPs (conjugated AuNPs) and then analysed by scanning electron microscopy, ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy, and Zetasizer. The results showed that the AFB1 antibody was coupled to BSA by the N-hydroxysuccinimide ester method. The AuNPs application has the potential to contribute to AFB1 detection by monitoring a visible colour change from red to purple-blue, with a detection limit of 2 ng/mL in a 96-well plate. The lateral flow immunochromatographic strip tests are rapid, taking less than 10 min., and they have a detection capacity of 10 ng/g. The smartphone analysis of strips provided the results in 3 s, with a detection limit of 0.3 ng/g for AFB1 when the concentration was below 10 ng/g. Excellent agreement was found with AFB1 determination by high-performance liquid chromatography in the determination of AFB1 among 20 samples of peanuts, corn, rice, and bread.
Investigation on Reaction Sequence and Group Site of Citric Acid with Cellulose Characterized by FTIR in Combination with Two-Dimensional Correlation Spectroscopy

Cotton fabrics are prone to wrinkles and can be treated with citric acid (CA) to obtain good anti-wrinkle properties. However, the yellowing of the CA-treated fabrics is one big obstacle to the practical application of citric acid. The changing sequence order of CA anhydride and unsaturated acid (the reason for yellowing), such as aconitic acid (AA), has not been investigated. Herein, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy (2Dcos), and Gaussian calculation were employed to characterize the reaction mechanism between CA with cellulose. FTIR spectra of the CA-treated fabrics heated under different temperatures were collected and further analyzed with 2Dcos. The results indicated the changing sequence order: 1656 cm−1→1784 cm−1→1701 cm−1, (“→” means earlier than), i.e., unsaturated acid→anhydride→ester. Moreover, a change of Gibbs free energy (ΔG) showed that trans-AA (ΔG = −22.10 kJ/mol) is more thermodynamically favorable to be formed than CA anhydride 1 (ΔG = −0.90 kJ/mol), which was proved by Gaussian computational modeling. By taking cellobiose as a model of cellulose, the ΔG results proved that O(6)–H(6) on the glucose ring is the most likely hydroxyl to react with anhydride originated from CA or AA, especially with the terminal carbonyl group.
Biological Corridors as a Connectivity Tool in the Region of the Great American Chaco: Identification of Biodiversity Hotspots in the Ecoregions of the Paraguayan Chaco

1. Centro para el Desarrollo de la Investigación Científica (CEDIC), Asunción-Paraguay y Programa Nacional de Incentivo a Investigadores (PRONII-CONACYT) 2. Asociación Etnobotánica Paraguaya (AEPY), San Lorenzo-Paraguay y Programa Nacional de Incentivo a Investigadores (PRONII-CONACYT) 3. Asociación Guyra-Paraguay y Programa Nacional de Incentivo a Investigadores (PRONII-CONACYT). 4. Cooperativa Fernheim, Filadelfia, Chaco 5. Fundación Moisés Bertoni 6. Universidad Nacional de Asunción, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Dirección de Biología
Tracing Penicillin Movement in Citrus Plants Using Fluorescence-Labeled Penicillin

Huánglóngbìng (HLB), citrus greening, is one of the most destructive diseases of citrus plants worldwide. In North America, HLB is caused by the phloem-limited bacterium Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus and is transmitted by the Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri. No cure exists at present, and the use of antibiotics for the control of HLB has gained interest due to the significant losses to the citrus industry. Because of unsatisfactory results when using foliar applications of antibiotics, concerns were raised regarding the uptake and translocation of these materials within trees. We, therefore, investigated a method that allows us to study the movement of antibiotic materials in citrus plants. Herein, we utilized a fluorescence-labeled penicillin, BOCILLIN™ FL-Penicillin (FL-penicillin), to study the uptake and translocation of penicillin in citrus plants. FL-penicillin was applied by puncture to the stem of young citrus seedlings and was traced by using fluorescence microscopy. After application, we detected FL-penicillin in the leaves and in the stem xylem and phloem tissues above and below the application site in both intact and partially bark-girdled citrus seedlings, indicating that it is easily taken up and transported through the plant vascular system. In addition, we detected FL-penicillin in the gut of D. citri, which were allowed to feed on the treated plants, suggesting translocation of this molecule into the vascular tissue. We propose that the use of fluorescent-labeled molecules could be an effective tool for understanding the uptake and translocation of antibiotics and other macromolecules in plants and insects.
GI-IsolationForest: Genomic Island Discovery Using Isolation Forest Algorithm

A genomic island is a genomic sequence segment which were originally transferred from some other organisms and got stabilized into the host genome. The GI detection is of special importance to bacterial research for studying genome evolution as well as biomedical research. Although there are a lot of GI detection tools around, they still have some limitations. To build reliable, fast and universal tools, we propose an unsupervised machine learning approach, GIIsolationForest, to predict GIs based merely on the sequence itself. With performance tests, the tool shows good outcomes: acceptable accuracy rate and quick running time.
The relationship between Helicobacter pylori infection and intestinal parasites in individuals from Khartoum state, Sudan: a case-control study

Background: In developing countries, Helicobacter pylori infection is common, as are intestinal parasites. Socioeconomic circumstances and low personal hygiene lead to the spread of these infections. This research aimed to evaluate the relationship between intestinal parasites and H. pylori in Khartoum, Sudan. Methods: This study was conducted in various hospitals in Khartoum between June and October 2018. The study involved 200 individuals: 100 patients with H. pylori as a case group and 100 healthy individuals as a control group. A stool sample was taken from each individual, and wet preparation, saturated sodium chloride flotation and formal ether concentration were used to detect intestinal parasites. Results: The results showed that 23% of H. pylori patients and 10% of healthy individuals had gastrointestinal parasites; Entamoeba histolytica was found in 12% of H. pylori cases followed by Entamoeba coli (7%) and Giardia lamblia (4%). Control group: Entamoeba histolytica in 5% followed by G. lamblia in 3% and E. coli in 2% of individuals. There was a significant difference in the prevalence of intestinal parasites between groups (P = 0.013). The prevalence rate of intestinal parasites among men and women was 24% and 22%, respectively, in the case group, and 9% and 11%, respectively, in the control group. In the case group, the highest prevalence rates (40% and 38%) were found among the age groups 1-15 and 46-60 years old, respectively, while the lowest rate (10.7%) was found among the 31-45 age group. In the control group, the highest prevalence rate (15%) was among the 31-45 age group, the lowest prevalence rate (8%) was found among the 16-30 age group. Conclusion: Together, we found that intestinal parasites are more common in patients with H. pylori. We also noticed that the rate of infection was not affected by gender while the age group was affected.
Performance of Mid-Size Internationalized Indian Firms: Evaluating the Role of Family Control

The rapidly growing and gradual emergence of multinational firms from the Indian sub-continent now calls for thorough re-understandings of extant theories and existing ideologies of the ‘internationalization’ process. We would initially assess the three-stage model of internationalization in the context of mid-size Indian firms and intend to investigate the relationship between performance and degree of internationalization. Based on the longitudinal dataset (2005-12) of publicly listed firms, our findings suggested that mid-size firms remained stuck up in the first stage of internationalization and accordingly exhibit a downward-sloping relationship between internationalization’s degree and performance. Most of the mid-size firms continued to show a predominantly family-controlled stance, and the impact of family ownership shows negative effects on the degree of internationalization. By examining the performance heterogeneity in family-owned firms towards internationalization, this paper enriches the existing body of research and assume it to be a prolific addition in the literature on international expansion.
Plasma Levels of Nitric Oxide and Glycated Haemoglobin in Hausa/Fulani Type 2 Diabetic Patients with Erectile Dysfunction

Original Research Article Nitric Oxide (NO) is a crucial player in vascular homeostasis. NO is synthesized within endothelial cells and its plasma levels decreases in patients with diabetic complications like erectile dysfunction. Diabetes mellitus, more in particular type 2, is a known causative factor of endothelial activation and resulting to endothelial injury and erectile dysfunction. This study was carried out to determine the plasma levels of nitric oxide and glycated haemoglobin in Hausa/Fulani type 2 diabetic patients with erectile dysfunction. The study was a cross sectional one carried out at Specialist Hospital, Sokoto from June to December 2018. The patients were assessed; the assessments include history (a questionnaire) and clinical examination. Nitric oxide and glycated haemoglobin were determined in forty (40) male type 2 diabetic subjects with erectile dysfunction and forty-five (45) male type 2 diabetic subjects with no erectile dysfunction using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay method. There were significant (p < 0.05) difference between the mean concentration of nitric oxide in type 2 diabetic subjects with erectile dysfunction (45.21 ± 3.77μmol/L) compared to type 2 diabetic subjects with no erectile dysfunction (69.59 ± 4.40μmol/L). There was significant (p < 0.05) difference between the mean concentration of glycated haemoglobin in type 2 diabetic subjects with erectile dysfunction (11.84±0.53%) compared to type 2 diabetic subjects with no erectile dysfunction (8.34±0.71%). This present study revealed that, plasma level of nitric oxide in type 2 diabetic patients with erectile dysfunction was significantly lower, while the level of glycated haemoglobin was significantly higher in Hausa/Fulani. These may serve as markers that could provide an adjuvant intervention for the prevention of chronic diabetic complications.
Design and implementation of Hexa-triangular antenna for UWB wireless communication

: A modified hexagonal Sierpinski gasket-based fractal antenna is proposed for ultrawide-band (UWB) wireless applications. The designed antenna has miniaturized (36 48 mm 2 ) and multiband characteristics. Two design guidelines, the partial ground plane technique and the circular annular ring patch on the substrate, are applied to improve impedance matching and radiation pattern characteristics. According to the simulation results, the proposed modi ed antenna has a re ection coe ﬃ cient S 11 of less than {15 dB, a linear phase of the reflection coe ﬃ cient, 80% radiation e ﬃ ciency, 2{4.5 dBi antenna gain, and omnidirectional radiation pattern properties over the full UWB spectrum (3.1{10.6 GHz). Simulated results obtained for this antenna show the expected good radiation behavior within the full 7.5-GHz UWB bandwidth.
Does Time Matter in Reasoning over Knowledge Graphs?

Ling Cai, a second-year Ph.D. student at STKO Lab, Department of Geography, University of California, Santa Barbara. Her advisor is Professor Krzysztof Janowicz. She has a very rich range of interests, including temporal knowledge graphs, semantic web, recommender systems, urban computing, etc. Currently, Ling has immersed herself in developing temporally-explicit machine learning/deep learning models for downstream tasks in knowledge graphs, for instance, link prediction, conjunctive querying and reasoning. She interned in Siemens (Berkeley) summer 2019.
Spatial Control of Carbon Dynamics in Soil by Microbial Decomposer Communities

Trait-based models have improved the understanding and prediction of soil organic matter dynamics in terrestrial ecosystems. Microscopic observations and pore scale models are now increasingly used to quantify and elucidate the effects of soil heterogeneity on microbial processes. Combining both approaches provides a promising way to accurately capture spatial microbial-physicochemical interactions and to predict overall system behavior. The present study aims to quantify controls on carbon (C) turnover in soil due to the mm-scale spatial distribution of microbial decomposer communities in soil. A new spatially explicit trait-based model (SpatC) has been developed that captures the combined dynamics of microbes and soil organic matter (SOM) by taking into account microbial life-history traits and SOM accessibility. Samples of spatial distributions of microbes at μm-scale resolution were generated using a spatial statistical model based on Log Gaussian Cox Processes which was originally used to analyze distributions of bacterial cells in soil thin sections. These μm-scale distribution patterns were then aggregated to derive distributions of microorganisms at mm-scale. We performed Monte-Carlo simulations with microbial distributions that differ in mm-scale spatial heterogeneity and functional community composition (oligotrophs, copiotrophs, and copiotrophic cheaters). Our modeling approach revealed that the spatial distribution of soil microorganisms triggers spatiotemporal patterns of C utilization and microbial succession. Only strong spatial clustering of decomposer communities induces a diffusion limitation of the substrate supply on the microhabitat scale, which significantly reduces the total decomposition of C compounds and the overall microbial growth. However, decomposer communities act as functionally redundant microbial guilds with only slight changes in C utilization. The combined statistical and process-based modeling approach derives distribution patterns of microorganisms at the mm-scale from microbial biogeography at microhabitat scale (μm) and quantifies the emergent macroscopic (cm) microbial and C dynamics. Thus, it effectively links observable process dynamics to the spatial control by microbial communities. Our study highlights a powerful approach that can provide further insights into the biological control of soil organic matter turnover.
”A Novel of Character”: Towards the Automatic Annotation of Characters in a Large Corpus of French Novels

In this paper, we apply named entity recognition techniques to a corpus of literary texts, i.e. French novels from the 18 th , 19 th and 20 th century. We obtain results that are usable but could be improved by using advanced annotation techniques. We discuss the use of active learning in this context, as well as the different applications that could be derived from this kind of annotation. In particular, we show that the automatic annotation of large literary corpora makes it possible to check whether traditional classifications exhibit specific structural patterns that could be identified automatically.