Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Automated acoustic tracking of aquatic animals: scales, design and deployment of listening station arrays

The recent introduction of low-cost, moored data-logging acoustic receivers has provided opportunities for tracking marine organisms over small (hundreds of metres) and large scales (hundreds of kilometres). Acoustic receivers have been deployed in many different environments to examine specific hypotheses regarding the movement of aquatic species. This technology provides many advantages for studying aquatic animal movement patterns, but also has limitations and provides unique difficulties for users. Study design, applications, advantages and limitations are discussed with examples from past and current studies. Data management and analysis techniques are in their infancy and few standardised techniques exist. Complications with data management and potential data analysis techniques are discussed. Examples from the literature are utilised wherever possible to provide useful references.
The Coat Protein Is Dispensable for the Establishment of Systemic Infections by Pea Enation Mosaic Enamovirus

Deletions in the coat protein (CP) open reading frame (ORF)-3 of pea enation mosaic enamovirus (PEMV) did not inhibit the systemic movement of PEMV. As early as 48 h postinoculation, truncated viral RNAs were detected in the roots and uninoculated leaves of infected plants. The detected concentrations of truncated RNAs varied significantly between experiments but were similar to those extracted from plants infected with wild-type (WT)-PEMV. Pea plants infected with CP-less mutants exhibited wilting and necrosis that appeared faster and were more severe than observed in infections with WT-PEMV. Moreover, the absence of the CP-ORF and its protein product did not affect the formation of either double-membrane bound vesicles or replication complexes characteristic of infections by PEMV. The potential role of these structures as the movement vehicles of the infectious entity of PEMV in plants is discussed.
IS IRON DEFICIENCY A RISK FACTOR FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THYROID AUTOANTIBODIES IN EUTHYROID WOMEN WITH REPRODUCTIVE AGES?

Contex The first trimester of pregnancy is the most sensitive period in terms of thyroid hypofunction. Iron deficiency has been associated with both thyroid function and thyroid autoimmunity. Objective We aimed to investigate whether iron deficiency is a risk factor for thyroid autoimmunity in non-pregnant women at childbearing age. Design This cross- sectional study was conducted in non-pregnant women who presented to the Internal Medicine Policlinic between January 2018 and December 2018 in the University of Health Sciences "Fatih Sultan Mehmet" Training and Research Hospital. Methods Three hundred fifty-eight non-pregnant women of reproductive ages (203 iron deficient-ID, 155 control) participated in this study. Women with known thyroid disease, currently undergoing treatment for thyroid disease or whose thyroid function tests were outside the reference range were excluded from the study. Blood sample was taken after at least 8-10 hours of fasting for measurement of serum iron (Fe), total iron binding capacity (TIBC), serum ferritin (SF), whole blood count, thyroid function tests (fT4, TSH), anti-thyroid peroxidase antibodies (TPOAb) and anti-thyroglobulin antibody (TgAb). The patients with SF levels ≤ 15 ng/dL were accepted as iron deficiency. Results The group with ID had higher TSH and lower T4 values that did not reach statistical significance compared to the control group (p=0.101 and p=0.098, respectively). Antibody positivity was more frequent in the ID group than in the control group (35.96% vs. 20.65%, p = 0.002). Conclusions Iron deficiency is associated with thyroid autoimmunity and it should be considered as a risk factor for screening thyroid antibody, particularly in pregnancy planning women.
Net landscape carbon balance of a tropical savanna: Relative importance of fire and aquatic export in offsetting terrestrial production

The magnitude of the terrestrial carbon (C) sink may be overestimated globally due to the difficulty of accounting for all C losses across heterogeneous landscapes. More complete assessments of net landscape C balances (NLCB) are needed that integrate both emissions by fire and transfer to aquatic systems, two key loss pathways of terrestrial C. These pathways can be particularly significant in the wet–dry tropics, where fire plays a fundamental part in ecosystems and where intense rainfall and seasonal flooding can result in considerable aquatic C export (ΣFaq). Here, we determined the NLCB of a lowland catchment (~140 km2) in tropical Australia over 2 years by evaluating net terrestrial productivity (NEP), fire‐related C emissions and ΣFaq (comprising both downstream transport and gaseous evasion) for the two main landscape components, that is, savanna woodland and seasonal wetlands. We found that the catchment was a large C sink (NLCB 334 Mg C km−2 year−1), and that savanna and wetland areas contributed 84% and 16% to this sink, respectively. Annually, fire emissions (−56 Mg C km−2 year−1) and ΣFaq (−28 Mg C km−2 year−1) reduced NEP by 13% and 7%, respectively. Savanna burning shifted the catchment to a net C source for several months during the dry season, while ΣFaq significantly offset NEP during the wet season, with a disproportionate contribution by single major monsoonal events—up to 39% of annual ΣFaq was exported in one event. We hypothesize that wetter and hotter conditions in the wet–dry tropics in the future will increase ΣFaq and fire emissions, potentially further reducing the current C sink in the region. More long‐term studies are needed to upscale this first NLCB estimate to less productive, yet hydrologically dynamic regions of the wet–dry tropics where our result indicating a significant C sink may not hold.
Estimation of the carcass composition of different cattle breeds and crosses from conformation assessments adjusted for fatness

SUMMARY Carcass data for 1053 steers from the Meat and Livestock Commission's beef breed evaluation programme were used to examine the prediction of carcass composition from conformation-related characteristics corrected to equal fatness. The data were from four trials and comprised both dairy-bred and suckler-bred cattle by a wide range of sire breeds. When used with carcass weight (W) and a visual assessment of carcass subcutaneous fat percentage (SFe) (the most precise simple assessment of carcass lean percentage, residual S.d. = 2·28), m. longissimus area (MLA) at the 10th rib was the most effective conformation-related assessment (residual S.d. = 2·10). Precision was improved by the further addition of a visual conformation assessment (C15) on a 15-point scale (residual S.d. = 2·06). The use of equations combining W, SFe, MLA, C15 and other simple assessments of fatness improved the precision further (residual S.d. = 1·94). The measurement combinations above also provided a significant prediction of the percentage of total carcass lean distributed in the higher-priced joints. Residual S.d. s were: W + SFe, (1·12); W + SFe + MLA (1·07); W + SFe + MLA + C15 (1·06). When the equations were applied to the breed means, there was substantial bias (predicted – actual carcass lean percentage). Bias ranged from approximately + 1·5 (purebred Canadian Holsteins and Luings ) to – 1·6 (Limousin crosses). The accuracy of carcass lean prediction was not improved by the addition of bone measurements to the equations but there was some improvement in the prediction of lean to bone ratio: cattle with light, thin bones tended to have higher ratios. Similar combinations of independent variables were found to provide the most precise prediction within breed.
IL18 signaling promotes homing of mature Tregs into the thymus

Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) are potent suppressor cells, essential for the maintenance of immune homeostasis. Most Tregs develop in the thymus and are then released into the immune periphery. However, some Tregs populate the thymus and constitute a major subset of yet poorly understood cells. Here we describe a subset of thymus recirculating IL18R+ Tregs with molecular characteristics highly reminiscent of tissue-resident effector Tregs. Moreover, we show that IL18R+ Tregs are endowed with higher capacity to populate the thymus than their IL18R– or IL18R–/– counterparts, highlighting the key role of IL18R in this process. Finally, we demonstrate that IL18 signaling is critical for the induction of the key thymus-homing chemokine receptor – CCR6 on Tregs. Collectively, this study provides a detailed characterization of the mature Treg subsets in the mouse thymus and identifies a key role of IL18 signaling in controlling the CCR6-CCL20-dependent migration of Tregs into the thymus.
Chromosomal Inversion Symmetry: Generalized Chargaff Rules

The generalization of the second Chargaff rule to values of k larger than 1, states that the frequency of any k-mer on a single strand almost equals that of its inverse (reverse-complement). We demonstrate the validity of the generalized rule up to k=10 for all human chromosomes. Moreover, this Inversion Symmetry holds for many species, both eukaryotes and prokaryotes, for ranges of k which may vary from 7 to 10 as chromosomal lengths vary from 2Mbp up to 200 Mbp. We demonstrate that the statistical distributions of inverted pairs of k-mers are very different from other natral pairings of k-mers, implying that inversion symmetry is a basic principle of chromosomal structure. We suggest that it came into being because genomic evolution employed many rearrangements which conisted of inversions of chromosomal sections; on length scales down to order 1-10Kbp. Model simulations substantiate this claim.Low-scale inversions during chromosomal evolution imply that IS may exist for short sections of human chromosomes. This is indeed the case: we find that chromosome sections of length 5Kbp satisfy IS for k=1 and k=2. The largest value of k for which IS holds,which we call the k-limit of IS, increases logarithmically as the section length increases. The logarithmic dependence of the k-limit on the length of the chromosome is a universal characteristic, observed throughout the tree of life.
Mammalian cell and tissue imaging using Raman and coherent Raman microscopy

Direct imaging of metabolism in cells or multicellular organisms is important for understanding many biological processes. Raman scattering (RS) microscopy, particularly, coherent Raman scattering (CRS) such as coherent anti‐Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) and stimulated Raman scattering (SRS), has emerged as a powerful platform for cellular imaging due to its high chemical selectivity, sensitivity, and imaging speed. RS microscopy has been extensively used for the identification of subcellular structures, metabolic observation, and phenotypic characterization. Conjugating RS modalities with other techniques such as fluorescence or infrared (IR) spectroscopy, flow cytometry, and RNA‐sequencing can further extend the applications of RS imaging in microbiology, system biology, neurology, tumor biology and more. Here we overview RS modalities and techniques for mammalian cell and tissue imaging, with a focus on the advances and applications of CARS and SRS microscopy, for a better understanding of the metabolism and dynamics of lipids, protein, glucose, and nucleic acids in mammalian cells and tissues.
Can central venous access device care bundles and regular feedback reduce central line-associated complications in pediatric patients?

Background The use of indwelling central venous access devices (CVADs) in children can result in complications such as infection, occlusion, and dislodgement. Purpose To evaluate whether reinforcing CVAD care bundles by using a regular direct feedback system could reduce such complications in children. Methods The intervention in this retrospective interrupted time-series study was initiated in January 2019. The study was divided into the preintervention (October–December 2018), 3-month postintervention (January–March 2019), and 6-month postintervention (April–June 2019) phases. Risk difference and Poisson regression analyses were used to illustrate the effectiveness of the intervention. Results The hospital-wide central line-related bloodstream infection rate decreased from 10.0/1,000 catheter-days to 4.5/1,000 catheter-days at 3-month postintervention (P=0.39) and to 1.4/1,000 catheter-days at 6-month postintervention (P=0.047). The central line occlusion rate significantly decreased from 30% to 12.8% (P=0.04) and 8.3% (P=0.002) at 3 and 6 months, respectively. Approximately 7% of CVADs became dislodged during the preintervention phase versus 8.5% (P=0.364) and 3.3% (P=0.378) at 3 and 6 months, respectively. Conclusion Reinforcing CVAD care bundles with direct feedback could significantly decrease CVAD-associated complications in terms of infection at 6-month postintervention, and occlusion at 3- and 6-month postintervention. Thus, reinforcement and regular direct feedback might improve care quality in children with CVADs.
Physical activity in people with axial spondyloarthritis and the impact of overall attitudes, barriers, and facilitators: A cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE To study the association between self-reported physical activity level and overall attitudes and barriers to and facilitators of physical activity in people with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA), and to compare health status and quality of life (QoL) in people with different levels of physical activity. METHODS Four hundred forty-five members of the Danish Patient Association for Axial Spondyloarthritis completed an online survey including questions on physical activity, overall attitudes, barriers, and facilitators to physical activity, health, and QoL. Nonparametric tests and logistic regression analyses were performed. RESULTS The response rate was 46%, median age 56 years (range 22-85), and 54% were men. In all, 23% reported low physical activity (physical activity ≥30 min on a moderate intensity level ≤1 day/week), 36% were moderately physically active (2-3 days/week), and 41% reported high physical activity (≥4 days/week). In a multivariate model, high physical activity was associated with a positive overall attitude ("physical activity is ok," OR 5.44, 95%CI [1.24, 23.87], and "I like physical activity," OR 14.22, 95%CI [3.34, 60.61]), and higher disagreement with barriers to physical activity, OR 1.12, 95%CI [1.07, 1.17]). People with moderate or high physical activity levels reported better self-perceived health and QoL, compared with those with low physical activity level (p ≤ 0.003). CONCLUSION To support changes in physical activity level in people with axSpA, health professionals need to discuss attitudes and barriers to physical activity with their clients. Barriers seem to be of greater significance than facilitators of any kind.
Predictors of engagement in young and older adults: The role of specific activity experience.

Activity that places demands on cognitive resources has positive effects on cognitive health in old age. To further understand determinants of age-group differences in participation, we examined how negative aging stereotypes and responses associated with a cognitively challenging activity influenced future willingness to engage in that activity. Sixty-nine young (20-40 years) and 80 older (63-84 years) adults performed a letter-number sequencing (LNS) task at different levels of demand for 15 min, during which systolic blood pressure responses-a measure of effort mobilization-and subjective perceptions of task demands were assessed. Approximately half the participants were primed with a negative aging stereotype prior to this task. Following the LNS task, participants completed an effort-discounting task, with resulting subjective values indicating their willingness to perform the task at each level of demand. As expected, both subjective and objective indicators of cognitive demands as well as performance were associated with future willingness to engage in a difficult task, with these effects being significantly greater for older adults. In addition, although stereotype activation influenced older adults' engagement levels in the LNS task, it did not moderate willingness. Together, the results indicate that, relative to younger adults, older adults' decisions to engage in cognitively challenging activities are disproportionately affected by their subjective perceptions of demands. Interestingly, actual engagement with the task and associated success result in reduced perceptions of difficulty and greater willingness to engage. Thus, overcoming faulty and discouraging task perceptions may promote older adults' engagement in demanding but potentially beneficial activities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
Smoothed time‐dependent receiver operating characteristic curve for right censored survival data

The prediction reliability is of primary concern in many clinical studies when the objective is to develop new predictive models or improve existing risk scores. In fact, before using a model in any clinical decision making, it is very important to check its ability to discriminate between subjects who are at risk of, for example, developing certain disease in a near future from those who will not. To that end, the time‐dependent receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve is the most commonly used method in practice. Several approaches have been proposed in the literature to estimate the ROC nonparametrically in the context of survival data. But, except one recent approach, all the existing methods provide a nonsmooth ROC estimator whereas, by definition, the ROC curve is smooth. In this article we propose and study a new nonparametric smooth ROC estimator based on a weighted kernel smoother. More precisely, our approach relies on a well‐known kernel method used to estimate cumulative distribution functions of random variables with bounded supports. We derived some asymptotic properties for the proposed estimator. As bandwidth is the main parameter to be set, we present and study different methods to appropriately select one. A simulation study is conducted, under different scenarios, to prove the consistency of the proposed method and to compare its finite sample performance with a competitor. The results show that the proposed method performs better and appear to be quite robust to bandwidth choice. As for inference purposes, our results also reveal the good performances of a proposed nonparametric bootstrap procedure. Furthermore, we illustrate the method using a real data example.
Serological Evidence of Co-Circulation of Different Subtypes of Swine Influenza Virus in Polish Pig Herds

Abstract The aim of the study was to estimate the current epidemiological situation concerning swine influenza (SI) in Poland. The study was based on an annual passive survey of 11,770 fatteners’ sera from 584 herds, taken at slaughterhouses within the last 30 months (from January 2010 till June 2012), as well as, an active monitoring conducted in 2011 and 2012, in 25 farms, using 388 sera taken from life pigs of different age/technological groups. The analysis of simultaneous circulation of different swine influenza virus (SIV) subtypes was taken into a deep consideration. The wide spread of SIV in Poland, including the occurrence of multiple SIV infections was demonstrated. In 2010 and 2011, the domination of H1N1 subtype and the most frequently co-circulation of H1N1 and H1N2 viruses was evidenced, while in the first 6 months of 2012, the co-circulation of H1N1 and H3N2 viruses was detected more often. Based on the obtained results, it can be stated that the epidemiological situation concerning SI in Poland is dynamic and similar to that observed in other European regions with high pigs’ density; however, the prevalence of antibodies and the occurrence of mixed SIV infections is lower than in Western Europe.
Perovskite‐Type Solid Solution Nano‐Electrocatalysts Enable Simultaneously Enhanced Activity and Stability for Oxygen Evolution

A trade‐off between catalytic activity and structural stability generally exists in oxygen evolution electrocatalysis, especially in acidic environment. This dilemma limits the development of higher‐performance electrocatalysts that are required by next‐generation electrochemical technologies. Here it is demonstrated that the inverse catalytic activity–structural stability relation can be broken by alloying catalytically inert strontium zirconate with the other catalytically active perovskite, strontium iridate. This strategy results in an alloyed perovskite electrocatalyst with simultaneously improved iridium mass activity and structural stability, by about five times, for the oxygen evolution reaction under acidic conditions. The experimental and theoretical results suggest that the alloying strategy generates multiple positive effects, mainly including the reduction of catalyst size, the decrease of catalyst covalency, and the weakening of surface oxygen‐binding ability. The synergistic optimization of bulk and surface properties, as a result, enhances the intrinsic activity and availability of surface iridium sites, whilst significantly inhibiting the surface cation corrosion during electrocatalysis.
To find the prevalence of glaucoma in patients with diabetes mellitus attending tertiary care hospital, east Sikkim

Aim: To find the prevalence of glaucoma in diabetic patients attending tertiary care hospital, east Sikkim. Materials and Methods: A hospital based study of 75 diabetic patients attending the eye opd at Crh from March to August 2018 underwent complete ocular examination for glaucoma after taking a prior consent from the patient. Results: Out of 75 diabetic patients 15(20%) of them had glaucoma. Out of 15 diabetic patients with glaucoma 73.3% were males and 26.6% were females. The mean age of diabetics females having glaucoma is 53.75 ±16.39 and male is 60.36±12.14. As far as Ethnic distribution was concerned in our patients with glaucoma 60% were Nepali, 33.3% were Bhutia and 6.7% belonged to other communities. Conclusion: This study highlights the prevalence and the demographic characteristics of glaucoma among diabetes mellitus patients in a tertiary care hospital in east Sikkim. The northeast of India records the highest prevalence of diabetes mellitus hence the ocular manifestations of the disease are common. Since no such study has been done in Sikkim before this will play an integral role in raising awareness amongst the people about the ocular manifestations of the disease. Keywords: Diabetes mellitus, Glaucoma, Sikkim.