Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Trend and Pattern of Antimicrobial Resistance in Molluscan Vibrio Species Sourced to Canadian Estuaries

The emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in foodborne bacteria is a growing concern worldwide. AMR surveillance is a key element in understanding the implications resulting from the use of antibiotics for therapeutic as well as prophylactic needs. ABSTRACT The emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in foodborne bacteria is a growing concern worldwide. AMR surveillance is a key element in understanding the implications resulting from the use of antibiotics for therapeutic as well as prophylactic needs. The emergence and spread of AMR in foodborne human pathogens are indirect health hazards. This surveillance study reports the trend and pattern of AMR detected in Vibrio species isolated from molluscs harvested in Canada between 2006 and 2012 against 19 commonly used antibiotics. Five common antibiotics, ampicillin, cephalothin, erythromycin, kanamycin, and streptomycin, predominantly contributed to AMR, including multidrug resistance (MDR) in the molluscan Vibrio spp. isolated in 2006. A prospective follow-up analysis of these drugs showed a declining trend in the frequency of MDR/AMR Vibrio spp. in subsequent years until 2012. The observed decline appears to have been influenced by the specific downturn in resistance to the aminoglycosides, kanamycin, and streptomycin. Frequently observed MDR/AMR Vibrio spp. in seafood is a potential health concern associated with seafood consumption. Our surveillance study provides an indication of the antibiotics that challenged the marine bacteria, sourced to Canadian estuaries, during and/or prior to the study period.
Blockchain-based Decentralized Applications meet Multi-Administrative Domain Networking

Envisioned 5G use cases arise challenges around the realization of inter-domain relationships beyond traditional Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) peering, e.g. end-to-end service deployments tailored to specific business needs (a.k.a. slices). Blockchain technologies bring consensus among decentralized non-trusting counterparts as a shared ledger, offering potential approaches for multi-administrative domain networking seeking agile, transparent end-to-end sliceable Service Level Agreements (SLAs). This demo showcases an experimental prototype based on best of breed open source components (e.g., Ethereum, OVS, Neo4j, Ryu/OpenFlowv1.3, ARIA/TOSCA) illustrating blockchain Decentralized Application (DApp) functionalities for life cycle management of multi-administrative domain network services.
Neuromuscular and Kinematic Adaptation in Response to Reactive Balance Training – a Randomized Controlled Study Regarding Fall Prevention

Slips and stumbles are main causes of falls and result in serious injuries. Balance training is widely applied for preventing falls across the lifespan. Subdivided into two main intervention types, biomechanical characteristics differ amongst balance interventions tailored to counteract falls: conventional balance training (CBT) referring to a balance task with a static ledger pivoting around the ankle joint versus reactive balance training (RBT) using externally applied perturbations to deteriorate body equilibrium. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of reactive, slip-simulating RBT compared to CBT in regard to fall prevention and to detect neuromuscular and kinematic dependencies. In a randomized controlled trial, 38 participants were randomly allocated either to CBT or RBT. To simulate stumbling scenarios, postural responses were assessed to posterior translations in gait and stance perturbation before and after 4 weeks of training. Surface electromyography during short- (SLR), medium- (MLR), and long-latency response of shank and thigh muscles as well as ankle, knee, and hip joint kinematics (amplitudes and velocities) were recorded. Both training modalities revealed reduced angular velocity in the ankle joint (P < 0.05) accompanied by increased shank muscle activity in SLR (P < 0.05) during marching in place perturbation. During stance perturbation and marching in place perturbation, hip angular velocity was decreased after RBT (P from TTEST, Pt < 0.05) accompanied by enhanced thigh muscle activity (SLR, MLR) after both trainings (P < 0.05). Effect sizes were larger for the RBT-group during stance perturbation. Thus, both interventions revealed modified stabilization strategies for reactive balance recovery after surface translations. Characterized by enhanced reflex activity in the leg muscles antagonizing the surface translations, balance training is associated with improved neuromuscular timing and accuracy being relevant for postural control. This may result in more efficient segmental stabilization during fall risk situations, independent of the intervention modality. More pronounced modulations and higher effect sizes after RBT in stance perturbation point toward specificity of training adaptations, with an emphasis on the proximal body segment for RBT. Outcomes underline the benefits of balance training with a clear distinction between RBT and CBT being relevant for training application over the lifespan.
Fast Congestion Control in RDMA-based Datacenter Networks

1 MOTIVATION Many modern, interactive datacenter applications have tight latency requirements due to stringent service-level agreements (e.g., under 200 ms for Web Search). TCP-based datacenter networks significantly lengthen the application latency. Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) substantially reduces latencies compared to TCP by bypassing the operating system via hardware support at the network interface (e.g., RDMA over InfiniBand and RDMA over Converged Ethernet (RoCE) can cut TCP’s latency by 10x [8]). As such, RDMA may soon replace TCP in datacenters. Employing RDMA in datacenters, however, poses a challenge. RDMA provides hop-by-hop flow control and ratebased end-to-end congestion control [4]. However, RDMA’s congestion control is suboptimal for the well-known datacenter congestion problem, called incast, where multiple flows collide at a switch causing queuing delays and long latency tails [1] despite good network design [7]. Though such congestion affects only a small fraction of the flows (e.g., 0.1%), datacenter applications’ unique characteristics imply that the average latency is worsened. For example, because Web Search aggregates replies from thousands of
From hairballs to hypotheses–biological insights from microbial networks

Abstract Microbial networks are an increasingly popular tool to investigate microbial community structure, as they integrate multiple types of information and may represent systems-level behaviour. Interpreting these networks is not straightforward, and the biological implications of network properties are unclear. Analysis of microbial networks allows researchers to predict hub species and species interactions. Additionally, such analyses can help identify alternative community states and niches. Here, we review factors that can result in spurious predictions and address emergent properties that may be meaningful in the context of the microbiome. We also give an overview of studies that analyse microbial networks to identify new hypotheses. Moreover, we show in a simulation how network properties are affected by tool choice and environmental factors. For example, hub species are not consistent across tools, and environmental heterogeneity induces modularity. We highlight the need for robust microbial network inference and suggest strategies to infer networks more reliably.
Unexplained variations in general practitioners’ perceptions and practices regarding vaccination in France

Background Given geographical disparities in vaccination coverage (VC) and the crucial role general practitioners (GPs) play in vaccination in France, we sought to: 1) determine the existence of geographical variations in GPs' perceptions of vaccines, their trust in information sources, and the frequency of their recommendations to patients by comparing data from southeast (SE), central-west (CW), northwest (NW), and the rest of France; and 2) identify individual and contextual factors associated with regional variations in GPs' recommendations. Methods This cross-sectional observational study in 2014 collected data from a panel of 2586 French GPs in private practice: 3 specific regional samples and a fourth sample for the rest of France. We calculated a composite score summarizing GPs' vaccine recommendation frequency for 6 vaccine situations and used a five-step hierarchical linear regression to study the score's links with practice location and individual and contextual factors. Results GPs' vaccine recommendation frequency score was highest in NW France and lowest in the SE. The low SE score was explained by GPs' greater doubts about vaccine utility and risks and lower trust in information sources. The high NW score was partially explained by greater adherence to guidelines by GPs there. The contextual factors studied did not explain regional differences. Conclusion The geographical variations in GPs' vaccination-related attitudes and practices suggest that vaccine hesitancy among GPs differs in prevalence between regions. These variations coincide with north/south trends in population VC. Intervention strategies to restore confidence in vaccines should target GPs and must be adapted to each regional context.
Brook GLES Pi: democratising accelerator programming

Nowadays computing is heavily-based on accelerators, however, the cost of the hardware equipment prevents equal access to heterogeneous programming. In this work we present Brook GLES Pi, a port of the accelerator programming language Brook. Our solution, primarily focused on the educational platform Raspberry Pi, allows to teach, experiment and take advantage of heterogeneous programming on any low-cost embedded device featuring an OpenGL ES 2 GPU, democratising access to accelerator programming.
Školska kultura, stres i dobrobit učitelja

Sažetak U školi koja ima obilježja profesionalne zajednice učenja, naglašava se važnost stvaranja suradničke školske kulture. Cilj je ovog istraživanja bio ispitati doprinos faktora suradničke školske kulture (suradničko vodstvo, suradnja učitelja, profesionalni razvoj, zajednički cilj, kolegijalna podrška i partnerstvo u učenju) u objašnjenju stresa te subjektivne i psihološke dobrobiti učitelja. U istraživanju je sudjelovalo 256 učitelja iz sedam osnovnih škola u Splitsko-
Interaction between plasma homocysteine and the MTHFR C.677C > T polymorphism is associated with site‐specific changes in DNA methylation in humans

One‐carbon metabolism provides a direct link among dietary folate/vitamin B12 exposure, the activity of the enzyme methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR), and epigenetic regulation of the genome via DNA methylation. Previously, it has been shown that the common C.677C > T polymorphism in MTHFR influences global DNA methylation status through a direct interaction with folate status and (indirectly) with total homocysteine (tHcy) levels. To build on that and other more recent observations that have further highlighted associations among MTHFR C.677C > T, tHcy, and aberrations in DNA methylation, we investigated whether the interaction between mildly elevated plasma tHcy and the C.677C > T polymorphism is associated with site‐specific changes in DNA methylation in humans. We used data on plasma tHcy levels, c.677C> T polymorphism, and site‐specific DNA methylation levels for a total of 915 white women and 335 men from the TwinsUK registry (n = 610) and the Rotterdam study (n = 670). We performed methylome‐wide association analyses in each cohort to model the interaction between levels of tHcy and C.677C > T genotypes on DNA methylation β values. Our meta‐analysis identified 13 probes significantly associated with rs1801133 × tHcy levels [false‐discovery rate (FDR) < 0.05]. The most significant associations were with a cluster of probes at the AGTRAP–MTHFR–NPPA/B gene locus on chromosome 1 (FDR = 1.3E–04), with additional probes on chromosomes 2, 3, 4, 7, 12, 16, and 19. Our top 2 hits on chromosome 1 were functionally associated with variability in expression of the TNF receptor superfamily member 8 (TNFRSF8) gene/locus on that chromosome. This is the first study, to our knowledge, to provide a direct link between perturbations in 1‐carbon metabolism, through an interaction of tHcy and the activity of MTHFR enzyme on epigenetic regulation of the genome via DNA methylation. —Nash, A. J., Mandaviya, P. R. , Dib, M. ‐J., Uitterlinden, A. G. , van Meurs, J., Heil, S. G. , Andrew, T. , Ahmadi, K. R. Interaction between plasma homocysteine and the MTHFR c.677C>T polymorphism is associated with site‐specific changes in DNA methylation in humans. FASEB J. 33, 833–843 (2019). www.fasebj. org
Association of Endometrial Cancer Risk With Postmenopausal Bleeding in Women: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Importance As the worldwide burden of endometrial cancer continues to rise, interest is growing in the evaluation of early detection and prevention strategies among women at increased risk. Focusing efforts on women with postmenopausal bleeding (PMB), a common symptom of endometrial cancer, may be a useful strategy; however, PMB is not specific for endometrial cancer and is often caused by benign conditions. Objective To provide a reference of the prevalence of PMB in endometrial cancers and the risk of endometrial cancer in women with PMB. Data Sources For this systematic review and meta-analysis, PubMed and Embase were searched for English-language studies published January 1, 1977, through January 31, 2017. Study Selection Observational studies reporting the prevalence of PMB in women with endometrial cancer and the risk of endometrial cancer in women with PMB in unselected populations were selected. Data Extraction and Synthesis Two independent reviewers evaluated study quality and risk of bias using items from the Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale and the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies tool. Studies that included highly selected populations, lacked detailed inclusion criteria, and/or included 25 or fewer women were excluded. Main Outcomes and Measures The pooled prevalence of PMB in women with endometrial cancer and the risk of endometrial cancer in women with PMB. Results A total of 129 unique studies, including 34 432 unique patients with PMB and 6358 with endometrial cancer (40 790 women), were analyzed. The pooled prevalence of PMB among women with endometrial cancer was 91% (95% CI, 87%-93%), irrespective of tumor stage. The pooled risk of endometrial cancer among women with PMB was 9% (95% CI, 8%-11%), with estimates varying by use of hormone therapy (range, 7% [95% CI, 6%-9%] to 12% [95% CI, 9%-15%]; P < .001 for heterogeneity) and geographic region (range, 5% [95% CI, 3%-11%] in North America to 13% [95% CI, 9%-19%] in Western Europe; P = .09 for heterogeneity). Conclusions and Relevance Early detection strategies focused on women with PMB have the potential to capture as many as 90% of endometrial cancers; however, most women with PMB will not be diagnosed with endometrial cancer. These results can aid in the assessment of the potential clinical value of new early detection markers and clinical management strategies for endometrial cancer and will help to inform clinical and epidemiologic risk prediction models to support decision making.
ISEcp1-mediated transposition of chromosome-borne blaCMY-2 into an endogenous ColE1-like plasmid in Escherichia coli

Background CMY-2 is the most prevalent pAmpC β-lactamase, but the chromosomal blaCMY-2 gene transfer via horizontal transmission has been seldom reported. This study aimed to describe an ISEcp1-mediated transposition of a chromosomal blaCMY-2 gene from Escherichia coli into a small endogenous ColE1-like plasmid, resulting in elevated resistance to extended-spectrum cephalosporins. Methods Three ESCs-resistant ST641 E. coli strains EC6413, EC4103 and EC5106 harbored the blaCMY-2 gene. S1-PFGE, I-ceu I-PFGE, Southern blotting and electroporation experiments were performed to investigate the location and transferability of blaCMY-2. The genetic context and gene expression of blaCMY-2 in the original isolates and the corresponding electroporants were explored by PCR mapping, primer walking strategy and RT-qPCR. Results The blaCMY-2-containing region (ISEcp1-blaCMY-2-∆blc-∆yggR-∆tnp1-orf7-orf8-orf9-∆tnp2-∆hsdR) was transposed into endogenous ColE1-like plasmid pSC137 in the process of electroporation at very low frequencies (10–8–10–9). The transpositions resulted in novel larger blaCMY-2-harboring ColE1-like plasmids with size of 14,845 bp, enabling increase in MICs of 2 to 8-fold for cefotaxime, ceftiofur, and ceftazidime in recipient strains over their respective original counterparts. Transcriptional level analysis revealed that the increased blaCMY-2 expression was correlated with elevated MIC values of cephalosporins. The blaCMY-2 transposition unit was identical to that in a clinical isolate E. coli TN44889 from France isolated in 2004. Conclusions Our results firstly demonstrated that ISEcp1 mediated a transposition of chromosome-borne blaCMY-2 into an endogenous ColE1-like plasmid by electroporation. Amplification of the blaCMY-2 gene facilitates the strain adaptation to a changed environment with an elevated antibiotic pressure.
Adaptive neural finite-time trajectory tracking control of hydraulic excavators

This article is focused on the high-performance trajectory tracking control of single actuator of a hydraulic excavator. A novel adaptive neural finite-time controller without tedious offline parameter identification and the complex backstepping scheme is put forward. By employing a coordinate transform, the original system can be represented in a canonical form. Consequently, the control objective is retained by controlling the transformed system, which allows a simple controller design without using backstepping. To estimate the immeasurable states of the transformed system, a high-order sliding mode observer is employed, of which observation error is guaranteed to be bounded in finite time. To guarantee finite-time trajectory tracking performance, an adaptive neural finite-time controller based on neural network approximation and terminal sliding mode theory is synthesized. During its synthesis, an echo state network is used to approximate the lumped uncertain system functions, and it guarantees an improved approximation with online-updated output weights. Besides, to handle the lumped uncertain nonlinearities resulting from observation error and neural approximation error, a robust term is employed. The influences of the uncertain nonlinearities are restrained with a novel parameter adaption law, which estimates and updates the upper bound of the lumped uncertain nonlinearities online. With this novel controller, the finite-time trajectory tracking error convergence is proved theoretically. The superior performance and the practical applicability of the proposed method are verified by comparative simulations and experiments.
Real-time motion generation for imaginary creatures using hierarchical reinforcement learning

Describing the motions of imaginary original creatures is an essential part of animations and computer games. One approach to generate such motions involves finding an optimal motion for approaching a goal by using the creatures' body and motor skills. Currently, researchers are employing deep reinforcement learning (DeepRL) to find such optimal motions. Some end-to-end DeepRL approaches learn the policy function, which outputs target pose for each joint according to the environment. In our study, we employed a hierarchical approach with a separate DeepRL decision maker and simple exploration-based sequence maker, and an action token, through which these two layers can communicate. By optimizing these two functions independently, we can achieve a light, fast-learning system available on mobile devices. In addition, we propose another technique to learn the policy at a faster pace with the help of a heuristic rule. By treating the heuristic rule as an additional action token, we can naturally incorporate it via Q-learning. The experimental results show that creatures can achieve better performance with the use of both heuristics and DeepRL than by using them independently.
Biology, role and therapeutic potential of circulating histones in acute inflammatory disorders

Histones are positively charged nuclear proteins that facilitate packaging of DNA into nucleosomes common to all eukaryotic cells. Upon cell injury or cell signalling processes, histones are released passively through cell necrosis or actively from immune cells as part of extracellular traps. Extracellular histones function as microbicidal proteins and are pro‐thrombotic, limiting spread of infection or isolating areas of injury to allow for immune cell infiltration, clearance of infection and initiation of tissue regeneration and repair. Histone toxicity, however, is not specific to microbes and contributes to tissue and end‐organ injury, which in cases of systemic inflammation may lead to organ failure and death. This review details the processes of histones release in acute inflammation, the mechanisms of histone‐related tissue toxicity and current and future strategies for therapy targeting histones in acute inflammatory diseases.
Service-Mediated On-Road Situation-Awareness for Group Activity Safety

Human activity recognition using embedded mobile and embedded sensors is becoming increasingly important. Scaling up from individuals to groups, that is, group activity recognition, has attracted significant attention recently. This paper proposes a model and specification language for group activities called GroupSense-L, and a novel architecture called GARSAaaS (GARSA-as-a-Service) to provide services for mobile Group Activity Recognition and Situation Analysis (GARSA) applications. We implemented and evaluated GARSAaaS which is an extension of a framework called GroupSense where sensor data, collected using smartphone sensors, smartwatch sensors and embedded sensors, are aggregated via a protocol for these different devices to share information, as required for GARSA. We illustrate our approach via a scenario for providing services for tour leaders aiding Vehicle-to-Human (V2H), Vehicle-to-Group (V2G) and Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) interactions to increase the group safety. We demonstrate the feasibility of our model and expressiveness of our proposed model.