Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Percutaneous left atrial appendage occlusion

Purpose of review To review recent evidence evaluating the long-term safety and efficacy outcomes of left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO), current guideline recommendations for LAAO use, performance of LAAO in comparison with direct oral anticoagulants (DOAC) and recently approved LAAO device. Recent findings The last 18 months have been marked with increasing evidence of the utility of LAAO in patients who are not candidates for long-term oral anticoagulation (OAC). Long-term data from two continued access registries to PROTECT-AF and PREVAIL support LAAO as a safe and effective long-term anticoagulation therapy. This new evidence led to class IIb recommendation for LAAO in nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) patients not eligible for long-term OAC. PRAGUE-17 randomized controlled trial showed LAAO is noninferior to DOAC lending support to use of this modality in current era. PINNACLE FLX trial showed improved implant success and adequate closure rate which led to the device's Food and Drug Administration approval. Summary In conclusion, percutaneous LAAO appears to be a promising option for NVAF patients who are not candidates for long-term OAC in the current era. Further evidence guiding optimal patient selection and periprocedural antithrombotic regimen will help identify the patients who would benefit the most from this procedure.
Effects of Plyometric Jump Training in Female Soccer Player’s Physical Fitness: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis

We aimed to assess the effects of plyometric jump training (PJT) on female soccer player’s physical fitness. To this aim, a systematic review with meta-analysis (SRMA) was conducted. The electronic databases PubMed, MEDLINE, Web of Science, and SCOPUS were used. To qualify for inclusion, peer-reviewed studies must have included (i) a PJT programme of ≥2 weeks, (ii) healthy athletes, (iii) a control group, and (iv) physical fitness outcomes (e.g., jump; sprint). Studies were excluded if (i) they incorporated injuried female soccer players, (ii) did not involve PJT or an active control group, (iv) lack of baseline and/or follow-up data. Data was meta-analyzed using the inverse variance random-effects model. Ten moderate-to-high quality studies were included in the analyses, comprising 13 training groups (n = 140) and 10 control groups (n = 110). Small to large (ES = 0.60–2.24; p = 0.040 to <0.001) effects were noted for countermovement jump, drop jump, kicking performance, linear sprint, change of direction speed, and endurance. The moderator analyses (i.e., PJT duration, age groups, competitive level, and soccer experience) revealed no significant differences between groups. In conclusion, PJT may improve the physical fitness of female soccer players. Such improvements might be expected after PJT interventions with six or more weeks of duration, and in players with different chronological ages, competitive levels and soccer experience.
Vaccine strategies to reduce the burden of pneumococcal disease in HIV-infected adults in Africa.

ABSTRACT Introduction Streptococcus pneumoniae is the leading cause of invasive bacterial disease, globally. Despite antiretroviral therapy, adults infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are also at high risk of pneumococcal carriage and disease. Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) provide effective protection against vaccine serotype (VT) carriage and disease in children, and have been introduced worldwide, including most HIV-affected low- and middle-income countries. Unlike high-income countries, the circulation of VT persists in the PCV era in some low-income countries and results in a continued high burden of pneumococcal disease in HIV-infected adults. Moreover, no routine vaccination that directly protects HIV-infected adults in such settings has been implemented. Areas covered Nonsystematic review on the pneumococcal burden in HIV-infected adults and vaccine strategies to reduce this burden. Expert opinion We propose and discuss the relative merit of changing the infant PCV program to use (1a) a two prime plus booster dose schedule, (1b) a two prime plus booster dose schedule with an additional booster dose at school entry, to directly vaccinate (2a) HIV-infected adults or vaccinating (2b) HIV-infected pregnant women for direct protection, with added indirect protection to the high-risk neonates. We identify key knowledge gaps for such an evaluation and propose strategies to overcome them.
Optimal Policies Tend To Seek Power

Some researchers speculate that intelligent reinforcement learning (RL) agents would be incentivized to seek resources and power in pursuit of their objectives. Other researchers point out that RL agents need not have human-like power-seeking instincts. To clarify this discussion, we develop the first formal theory of the statistical tendencies of optimal policies. In the context of Markov decision processes, we prove that certain environmental symmetries are sufficient for optimal policies to tend to seek power over the environment. These symmetries exist in many environments in which the agent can be shut down or destroyed. We prove that in these environments, most reward functions make it optimal to seek power by keeping a range of options available and, when maximizing average reward, by navigating towards larger sets of potential terminal states.
Backdoor Attacks Against Deep Learning Systems in the Physical World

Backdoor attacks embed hidden malicious behaviors into deep learning models, which only activate and cause misclassifications on model inputs containing a specific "trigger. " Existing works on backdoor attacks and defenses, however, mostly focus on digital attacks that apply digitally generated patterns as triggers. A critical question remains unanswered: "can backdoor attacks succeed using physical objects as triggers, thus making them a credible threat against deep learning systems in the real world? "We conduct a detailed empirical study to explore this question for facial recognition, a critical deep learning task. Using 7 physical objects as triggers, we collect a custom dataset of 3205 images of 10 volunteers and use it to study the feasibility of "physical" backdoor attacks under a variety of real-world conditions. Our study reveals two key findings. First, physical backdoor attacks can be highly successful if they are carefully configured to overcome the constraints imposed by physical objects. In particular, the placement of successful triggers is largely constrained by the target model’s dependence on key facial features. Second, four of today’s state-of-the-art defenses against (digital) backdoors are ineffective against physical backdoors, because the use of physical objects breaks core assumptions used to construct these defenses.Our study confirms that (physical) backdoor attacks are not a hypothetical phenomenon but rather pose a serious real-world threat to critical classification tasks. We need new and more robust defenses against backdoors in the physical world.
The Relationship Between Helical Twist Sense, Absolute Configuration and Molecular Structure for Non-Sterol Cholesteric Liquid Crystals

Abstract The helical rotary senses for a number of non-sterol cholesteric liquid crystals have been determined and from the results, a simple rule relating molecular structure, absolute configuration and twist sense is proposed. The rule has been used to predict correctly the helical twist senses for some new cholesterogens.
Theoretical infrared absorption coefficient of OH groups in minerals

Abstract The integrated molar absorption coefficient of isolated and localized OH groups in selected minerals is theoretically investigated within the density functional theory framework. The overall decrease in absorption coefficient of stretching modes observed with increasing frequency is consistent with the experimental observations. It is related to a decrease in the magnitude of the hydrogen Born effective charge tensor projected along the OH bond as a function of increasing H-bonding. The scatter of theoretical data shows that the use of a general calibration of infrared absorbances in minerals cannot lead to accurate water contents. In contrast, the combination of theoretical modeling and experimental measurements should improve the determination of the hydrogen distribution among structurally distinct OH defects in nominally anhydrous minerals.
Decomposition of hydroxybenzoic and humic acids in water by ultrasonic irradiation

Sonochemical decomposition of a series of hydroxybenzoic acids such as monohydroxy-, 3,4-dihydroxy-, 3,4,5-trihydroxybenzoic acids, tannic acid, and reagent and prepared humic acids in water under argon or air atmosphere was investigated. The decomposition followed first-order kinetics at initial stage, and initial rates were in the range of 1.9−5.1 μM min-1 under argon and 1.9−16.4 μM min-1 under air. The rates of OH radical formation in the sonolysis of water were estimated to be 20 μM min-1 under argon and 15 μM min-1 under air from the yield of Fe(III) formed by the sonication of Fe(II) solution. The decomposition of 3-hydroxybenzoic acid was almost completely inhibited by the addition of 0.1 mM t-BuOH, which is an effective scavenger of OH radicals. It is suggested that, in sonolysis under argon, the main sonochemical decomposition of the substances employed in this study proceeds via reactions with OH radicals in the bulk solution and that the contribution of thermal decomposition in cavitation bubb.
Optimization of bio-diesel production from oils, cooking oils, microalgae, and castor and jatropha seeds: probing various heating sources and catalysts

The optimization of bio-diesel production depends on numerous parameters such as renewable biological triglyceride sources, type of catalyst and alcohol for the transesterification reaction, molar ratio of oil–alcohol, and heating sources. In this review we will highlight the use of microwave (MW) radiation for bio-diesel production and its advantage over other heating sources, starting with a comparison between the two-stage method consisting of oil extraction (the first step) and bio-diesel production by transesterification (the second step), with a one-stage method that provides direct transesterification of a feed-stock without the extraction step. A comparison will be made for the one- and two-stage methods performed under microwave heating, sonication, and reflux using SrO, KOH, and NaOH catalysts for bio-diesel production. The various feed-stocks reviewed in this perspective are triolein, soybean oil, microalgae biomass of Nannochloropsis, and castor and jatropha seeds. The extension of the microwave-heating methodology to continuous-flow processing has been used to scale up the reaction. Moreover, the presented continuous-flow bio-diesel preparation is done via a novel laminar flow reactor–separator. This instrument not only enables to scale up the reaction, but also allows glycerol as a byproduct to phase separate and settle from the reacting flow.
Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase kinase is a novel protein kinase regulated at the level of expression

Summary Phosphorylation of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase plays a key role in the control of plant metabolism. Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase kinase is a Ca2+-independent enzyme that is activated by a process involving protein synthesis in response to a range of signals in different plant tissues. The component whose synthesis is required for activation has not previously been identified, nor has the kinase been characterised at a molecular level. We report the cloning of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase kinase from the Crassulacean Acid Metabolism plant Kalanchoe fedtschenkoi and the C3 plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Surprisingly, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase kinase is a member of the Ca2+/calmodulin-regulated group of protein kinases. However, it lacks the auto-inhibitory region and EF hands of plant Ca2+-dependent protein kinases, explaining its Ca2+-independence. Its sequence is novel in that it comprises only a protein kinase catalytic domain with no regulatory regions; it appears to be the smallest known protein kinase. In K. fedtschenkoi, the abundance of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase kinase transcripts increases during leaf development. The transcript level in mature leaves is very low during the photoperiod, reaches a peak in the middle of the dark period and correlates with kinase activity. It exhibits a circadian oscillation in constant conditions. Protein kinases are typically regulated by second messengers, phosphorylation or protein/protein interactions. Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase kinase is an exception to this general rule, being controlled only at the level of expression. In K. fedtschenkoi, its expression is controlled both developmentally and by a circadian oscillator.
FarmApp: a new cognitive assessment method for young people with intellectual disability

Background: A major challenge when investigating intellectual disability (ID) is the selection of assessment tools that are sensitive to cognitive diversity within the ID population. This study introduces a new touchscreen-based method, FarmApp, which aims to measure competence in relatively low-level cognitive processes (selective attention, short-term visuospatial memory, longer-term recognition memory) which contribute to complex aspects of learning and behaviour. Methods: Here we describe the FarmApp design, testing and analysis procedures. We report the feasibility and validity of the method, and demonstrate its utility for measuring change over time, and for comparing groups defined by aetiology. Results: We found that FarmApp can be completed by a higher proportion of young people with ID than traditional psychometric tests. FarmApp performance correlates with standardised neuropsychological tests of attention and working memory, and with questionnaire measures of ADHD-relevant behavioural difficulties. Individual performance slopes over a two-week period correlate with general ability and behavioural difficulties, indicating that FarmApp is sensitive to meaningful dynamic variation in cognitive performance. Finally, we compared the FarmApp performance of two groups of young people with ID, defined by the physiological function of ID-associated genetic variants (functional network groups: chromatin-related and synaptic-related), and found that groups differ on attention parameters but not on memory ones. Conclusion: FarmApp is a feasible, valid and useful alternative to traditional neuropsychological tests. It can increase access to cognitive assessment for individuals with ID. It adds the opportunity to monitor variation in performance over time and determine capacity to acquire task competence in addition to baseline ability. Our comparison between functional network groups supports the proposal that cognitive processes contributing to ID are differentially influenced by specific genetic aetiologies. In summary, we introduce a new tool for cognitive assessment in ID, with the potential for multiple future applications in clinical practice and research.
Can serum biomarkers predict the outcome of systemic therapy for atopic dermatitis?

Background: Atopic dermatitis (AD or eczema) is a most common chronic skin disease. Designing personalised treatment strategies for AD based on patient stratification, rather than the one-size-fits-all treatments, is of high clinical relevance. It has been hypothesised that the measurement of biomarkers could help predict therapeutic response for individual patients. Objective: We aim to assess whether biomarkers can predict the outcome of systemic therapy. Methods: We developed a statistical machine learning predictive model using the data of an already published longitudinal study of 42 patients who received systemic therapy. The data contained 26 serum cytokines measured before the therapy. The model described the dynamics of the latent disease severity and measurement errors to predict AD severity scores (EASI, (o)SCORAD and POEM) two-weeks ahead. We conducted feature selection to identify the most important biomarkers for predicting the AD severity scores. Results: We validated our model and confirmed that it outperformed standard time-series forecasting models. Adding biomarkers did not improve predictive performance. Our estimates of the minimum detectable change for the AD severity scores were larger than already published estimates of the minimal clinically important difference. Conclusions: Biomarkers had a negligible and non-significant effect for predicting the future AD severity scores and the outcome of the systemic therapy. Instead, a historical record of severity scores provides rich and insightful dynamical information required for prediction of therapeutic responses.
BIOSSURFACTANTES: PROPRIEDADES ANTICORROSIVAS, ANTIBIOFILMES E ANTIMICROBIANAS

Due to the importance of biofilms in the food industry, new products are being developed to enhance the efficiency of cleaning food-contact surfaces. Biosurfactants could be an alternative to synthetic products. The major advantages of biosurfactants over synthetic detergents are their low toxicity and highly biodegradable nature. Biosurfactants may also exhibit antimicrobial, anti-adhesive and anticorrosive activity concomitantly. In this review, we emphasize the potential application of biosurfactants as surface coating agents to prevent corrosion and decrease planktonic and sessile microbial growth.
A Detailed Model of Local Structure and Silanol Hydrogen Bonding of Silica Gel Surfaces

A refined and generalized version of a previously suggested model of the silica surface, in which geminal silanols are situated on surface segments similar to (100)-type faces of the β-cristobalite structure and single silanols are situated on surface segments similar to corresponding (111)-type faces, is supported by extensive spectroscopic data. In this model single silanols on the same (111)-type surface segment cannot form hydrogen bonds with each other. Whether or not adjacent geminal silanols on the same (100)-type surface segment can form hydrogen bonds with each other depends on the relative orientation of their hydroxyl groups. When two surface segments of either (100)- or (111)-type intersect convexly, hydroxyl groups cannot participate in hydrogen bonding across the intersection; but when two surface segments intersect concavely, those silanols situated at the intersection can form hydrogen bonds with their counterparts across the intersection. All the hydrogen-bonding silanols in this generali.
ABC-ATPases, adaptable energy generators fuelling transmembrane movement of a variety of molecules in organisms from bacteria to humans.

Abstract The approximately 27 kDa ABC-ATPase, an extraordinarily conserved, unique type of ATPase, acts as a machine to fuel the movement across membranes of almost any type of molecule, from large polypeptides to small ions, via many different membrane-spanning proteins. A particular ABC-ATPase must therefore be tailor-made to function in a complex with its cognate membrane protein, forming a transport pathway appropriate for a specific type of molecule, or in the case of some ABC-transporters, several types of molecule. Molecules to be transported recognise their own transporter, bind and switch on the ATPase, which in turn activates or opens the transport pathway. ABC-dependent transport can be inwards across the membrane, or outwards to the cell exterior, and the ABC-ATPase can fuel transport through pathways which may involve a classical channel (CFTR), a “gateway” mechanism through a proteinacious chamber spanning the bilayer, or conceivably via a pathway at the protein-lipid interface of the outside of the membrane domain. This may be the case for drugs transported by Pgp, a multidrug resistance transporter. In this review, we try to identify the common fundamental principles which unite all ABC-transporters, including the basis of specificity for different transported compounds (allocrites), the interactions between the ATPase and membrane domains, activation of the ATPase and the coupling of consequent conformational changes, to the final movement of an allocrite through a given transport pathway. We discuss the so far limited structural information for the intact ABC-transporter complex and the exciting information from the first crystal structure of an ABC-ATPase. Finally, the action of specific transporters, CFTR (Cl − transport), Pgp, MRP and LmrA, all transporting many different drug molecules and HlyB transporting a large protein toxin are discussed.
Least-squares fitting of tabular data to rational functions in BASIC

A theoretical explanation of the discontinuous kinetic behaviour of polymeric enzymes during inhibition of their reactivity was presented previously. Such a discontinuity was observed for the LDH-H4 isoenzyme when its reactivity was inhibited by oxalic and formic acids (conversion of pyruvate to lactate). A simple BASIC program was used to fit the experimental kinetic data of these reactions with an approximating function by the method of least squares. The program is suitable for the routine simulation of experimental data with theoretical functions.
Plasma Polymerization of HMDSO with an Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Jet for Corrosion Protection of Aluminum and Low‐Adhesion Surfaces

Thin functional films were deposited on aluminum with an atmospheric pressure plasma jet using hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO) as precursor. A high dynamic deposition rate on the order of 450 nm · m · min -1 was achieved. Composition and structure of the thin films show a strong dependence on the downstream location of the precursor injection. A 4 mm downstream shift of the precursor injection increases the carbon content in the thin film by a factor of 2.5, as indicated by XPS analysis and alters the degree of cross-linking according to the FTIR spectra. The coating with the low carbon content (17 at.-%) provides corrosion resistance for aluminum 2024 unclad exposed for 96 h to a neutral salt spray test. The coating with the high carbon content reduces the adhesion of an epoxy resin to the surface and may be used as a release coating.