Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Connector Domain of Vesicular Stomatitis Virus Large Protein Interacts with the Viral Phosphoprotein

This study represents the first functional assignment of the connector domain of a Mononegavirales L protein. Furthermore, this study localizes P polymerase cofactor activity to specific amino acids. The functional necessity of this interaction, combined with the uniqueness of L and P proteins to the order Mononegavirales, makes disruption of the P-connector site a potential target for developing antivirals against other negative-strand RNA viruses. Furthermore, the connector domain as an acceptor site for the P protein represents a new understanding of Mononegavirales L protein biology. ABSTRACT Vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) is an archetypical member of Mononegavirales, viruses with a genome of negative-sense single-stranded RNA (−ssRNA). Like other viruses of this order, VSV encodes a unique polymerase, a complex of viral L (large, the enzymatic component) protein and P (phosphoprotein, a cofactor component). The L protein has a modular layout consisting of a ring-shaped core trailed by three accessory domains and requires an N-terminal segment of P (P N-terminal disordered [PNTD]) to perform polymerase activity. To date, a binding site for P on L had not been described. In this report, we show that the connector domain of the L protein, which previously had no assigned function, binds a component of PNTD. We further show that this interaction is a positive regulator of viral RNA synthesis, and that the interfaces mediating it are conserved in other members of Mononegavirales. Finally, we show that the connector-P interaction fits well into the existing structural information of VSV L. IMPORTANCE This study represents the first functional assignment of the connector domain of a Mononegavirales L protein. Furthermore, this study localizes P polymerase cofactor activity to specific amino acids. The functional necessity of this interaction, combined with the uniqueness of L and P proteins to the order Mononegavirales, makes disruption of the P-connector site a potential target for developing antivirals against other negative-strand RNA viruses. Furthermore, the connector domain as an acceptor site for the P protein represents a new understanding of Mononegavirales L protein biology.
GEOGRAPHIC AND ECOLOGIC ASPECTS OF THE COMMUNITY STRUCTURE OF TREMATODES OF MALLARDS (ANAS PLATYRHYNCHOS) IN NORTHERN POLAND AND THE CZECH REPUBLIC

Abstract: Trematode infestation of Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) varies between northern Poland and the Czech Republic. We determined the trematode fauna of juvenile and adult Mallards from Poland in 2010–16 (n=79 Mallards) and from the Czech Republic in 1964–2001 (n=296). Infracommunity diversity of trematodes from juvenile Mallards, defined by the Brillouin index and mean number of species, was significantly greater in Poland than it was in the Czech Republic. There were more species and greater biodiversity in the trematode communities of Mallards from Poland, where the environment is more natural and less altered by human activity than it is in the Czech Republic. In the trematode community of juvenile Mallards, the Simpson's index of biodiversity was higher in the Czech Republic than it was in Poland. The Berger-Parker dominance index was comparable in both countries. In terms of prevalence, the structure of the trematode fauna was hierarchic, and trematode species had different positions in this hierarchy in the two countries. Statistically significant differences in the epidemiologic indices between infection of juvenile Mallards from Poland and the Czech Republic were noted for Bilharziella polonica, Echinostoma miyagawai, Echinostoma revolutum, Prosthogonimus cuneatus, Prosthogonimus ovatus, Notocotylus attenuatus, Echinoparyphium recurvatum, Australapatemon minor, Apatemon gracilis, Cyathocotyle prussica, Hypoderaeum conoideum, Metorchis xanthosomus, Psilochasmus oxyurus, and Cotylurus cornutus.
Ultrasonography of diaphragm in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: Unanswered questions

Lung India • Volume 37 • Issue 1 • January-February 2020 83 This is an open access journal, and articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as appropriate credit is given and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms. Access this article online Quick Response Code: Website:
Employee Health and Blood Pressure Outcomes by Job Family.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of the study was to explore the relationship between job families and blood pressure (BP). METHODS Subjective (self-report questionnaire) and objective (on-site health screening including blood pressure) data were collected at a large academic institution from employees, which were categorized into 10 job families based on Human Resources career paths. Analysis included descriptive statistics and multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS A total of 20,198 employees participated. Some specific job families were significantly associated with having high BP (p < 0.01). Being 58 years old and older (OR 2.33, p < 0.01) and being male (OR 2.52, p < 0.01) were the strongest predictors for elevated BP. CONCLUSIONS Certain job families may need interventions that target and mitigate particular circumstances in order to reduce and maintain lower BP levels.
Giant Non-Functioning Pituitary Adenoma: Clinical Characteristics and Therapeutic Outcomes

Abstract Background Giant pituitary adenoma (≥4 cm) is a rare tumor whose clinical features and prognosis are not well known. Aim To evaluate the clinical characteristics and therapeutic outcomes of giant non-functioning PA (gNFPA). Patients and Methods A retrospective multicenter study of gNFPA patients diagnosed in a 12-year period was performed. In each patient, clinical data and therapeutic outcomes were registered. Results Forty patients (24 men, age 54.2 ± 16.2 years) were studied. The maximum tumor diameter [median (interquartile range)] was 4.6 cm (4.1–5.1). Women had larger tumors [4.8 cm (4.2–5.4) vs. 4.5 cm (4.0–4.9); p=0.048]. Hypopituitarism [partial (n=22, 55%) or complete (n=9, 22.5%)] at diagnosis was present in 77.5% of the patients. Visual field defects were found in 90.9%. The most used surgical technique was endoscopic endonasal transsphenoidal (EET) surgery (n=31, 77.5%). Radiotherapy was used in 11 (27.5%) patients (median dose 50.4 Gy, range 50–54). Thirty-seven patients were followed for 36 months (10–67 months). Although more than half of these patients showed tumor persistence (n=25, 67.6%), tumor size was significantly reduced [0.8 cm (0–2.5); p<0.001]. At last visit, 12 patients (32.4%) showed absence of tumor on MRI. Hypopituitarism rate was similar (75.0%), although with significant changes (p<0.001) in the distribution of the type of hypopituitarism. The absence of tumor at the last visit was positively associated with positive immunohistochemical staining for FSH (p=0.01) and LH (p=0.006) and negatively with female sex (p=0.011), cavernous sinus invasion (p=0.005) and the presence of Knosp grade 4 (p=0.013). Conclusion gNFPAs are more frequent in men but tumors are larger in women. Surgical treatment is followed by a complete tumor resection rate of approximately 30%. Positive immunostaining for gonadotropins is associated with tumor absence at last revision, while female sex and invasion of the cavernous sinuses with tumor persistence.
Augmented Whole-Body Scanning via Magnifying PET

A novel technique, called augmented whole-body scanning via magnifying PET (AWSM-PET), that improves the sensitivity and lesion detectability of a PET scanner for whole-body imaging is proposed and evaluated. A Siemens Biograph Vision PET/CT scanner equipped with one or two high-resolution panel-detectors was simulated to study the effectiveness of AWSM-PET technology. The detector panels are located immediately outside the scanner’s axial field-of-view (FOV). A detector panel contains <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${2} \times {8}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> detector modules each consisting of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${32} \times {64}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> LSO crystals (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${1.0} \times {1.0} \times {10.0}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> mm<sup>3</sup> each). A <sup>22</sup>Na point source was stepped across the scanner’s FOV axially to measure sensitivity profiles at different locations. An elliptical torso phantom containing <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$7\times9$ </tex-math></inline-formula> spherical lesions was imaged at different axial locations to mimic a multi-bed-position whole-body imaging protocol. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were analyzed to evaluate the improvement in lesion detectability by the AWSM-PET technology. Experimental validation was conducted using an existing flat-panel detector integrated with a Siemens Biograph 40 PET/CT scanner to image a torso phantom containing spherical lesions with diameters ranging from 3.3 to 11.4 mm. The contrast-recovery-coefficient (CRC) of the lesions was evaluated for the scanner with or without the AWSM-PET technology. Monte Carlo simulation shows 36%–42% improvement in system sensitivity by a dual-panel AWSM-PET device. The area under the ROC curve is 0.962 by a native scanner for the detection of 4 mm diameter lesions with 5:1 tumor-to-background activity concentration. It was improved to 0.977 and 0.991 with a single- and dual-panel AWSM-PET system, respectively. Experimental studies showed that the average CRC of 3.3 mm and 4.3 mm diameter tumors were improved from 2.8% and 4.2% to 7.9% and 11.0%, respectively, by a single-panel AWSM-PET device. With a high-sensitivity dual-panel device, the corresponding CRC can be further improved to 11.0% and 15.9%, respectively. The principle of the AWSM-PET technology has been developed and validated. Enhanced system sensitivity, CRC and tumor detectability were demonstrated by Monte Carlo simulations and imaging experiments. This technology may offer a cost-effective path to realize high-resolution whole-body PET imaging clinically.
CEP215 and AURKA regulate spindle pole focusing and aMTOC organization in mouse oocytes.

Acentriolar microtubule-organizing centers (aMTOCs) play a critical role in stable meiotic spindle assembly in oocytes, necessary for accurate chromosome segregation. Yet, there is a limited understanding of the essential regulatory components of these unique MTOCs. In somatic cells, CEP215 (Centrosomal Protein 215) serves as an important regulator of centrosome maturation and spindle organization. Here, we assessed whether it has a similar function in mouse oocytes. CEP215 was detected in oocyte lysates and specifically localized to aMTOCs throughout the progression of meiosis in a pericentrin-dependent manner. Super-resolution microscopy revealed CEP215 co-localization with pericentrin and a unique pore/ring-like structural organization of aMTOCs. Interestingly, inhibition of Aurora Kinase A in either MI or MII-stage oocytes resulted in a striking loss of the ring-like aMTOC organization and pronounced CEP215 clustering at spindle poles, as well as shorter spindles with highly focused poles. In vitro siRNA-mediated transcript knockdown effectively reduced CEP215 in approximately 85% of the oocytes. Maturation rates to MII were similar in the Cep215 siRNA and injected controls, however, a high percentage (~40%) of the Cep215-knockdown oocytes showed notable variations in spindle pole focusing. Surprisingly, pericentrin and γ-tubulin localization and fluorescence intensity at aMTOCs were unaltered in knockdown oocytes, contrasting with mitotic cells where CEP215 depletion reduces γ-tubulin at centrosomes. Our results demonstrate that CEP215 is a functional component of oocyte aMTOCs and participates in the regulation of meiotic spindle pole focusing. Moreover, these studies reveal a vital role for Aurora Kinase A activity in the maintenance of aMTOC organization in oocytes.
Comparison of Different Intraarticular Injection Substances Followed by Temporomandibular Joint Arthroscopy.

Nowadays, temporomandibular joint (TMJ) arthroscopies are often finished with intraarticular injections. There are a couple of different substances that can be injected into the articular cavity following arthroscopy; however, it is still unclear which one can help to reach the best clinical results.The aim of this systematic review was to compare different substances that can be injected intraarticularly following TMJ arthroscopy to enhance clinical success.A review protocol was registered in PROSPERO (Registration number: CRD42018114833). An electronic search was performed using PubMed, Cochrane Library, PlosOne, and Science Direct databases using a combination of the terms "temporomandibular" and "arthroscopy" to identify clinical trials published from 2009 until 2019. Mean differences of pain levels were evaluated in random-effect meta-analysis.In total, 951 records were screened, of which only 3 fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were included into qualitative data synthesis, and only 2 articles were included into quantitative data analysis.The results showed that subjects who received plasma rich in growth factors intraarticular injections had statistically significantly lower pain levels 18 months postoperatively than patients who received hyaluronic acid injections.The results of the meta-analysis revealed that intraarticular injections followed by TMJ arthroscopy were more effective than arthroscopy alone in pain management (mean difference = -1.00, 95% confidence interval: -4.76 to 2.77, I = 97% with significant heterogeneity). The authors conclude that, although the sample is not extensive (only 3 studies), a tendency towards the superiority of plasma rich in growth factors over other treatments is seen in pain management of TMD.
Comparison of the Efficacy of Posaconazole Delayed Release Tablets and Suspension in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Patients.

OBJECTIVES Posaconazole is effective in preventing invasive fungal infections in neutropenic pediatric patients. The oral suspension has challenges in administration and absorption that are theorized to be minimized with delayed release tablets. However, this has not been validated in the pediatric population. This study was conducted to compare the efficacy and safety of posaconazole suspension and delayed release tablets in pediatric hematology/oncology patients. METHODS A retrospective chart review in pediatric hematology/oncology patients was conducted from February 2013 to February 2017. Data collected include patient demographic data; posaconazole formulation, dose, and serum concentrations; and adverse events. RESULTS Sixty-five patients with 353 serum posaconazole concentrations were included; 51.6% of concentrations drawn while patients were receiving posaconazole suspension were therapeutic, whereas 62.5% of concentrations drawn while patients were receiving posaconazole delayed release tablets were therapeutic (p = 0.035). Serum concentrations drawn while taking acid suppression (histamine receptor antagonists or proton pump inhibitors) and posaconazole suspension were less likely to be therapeutic (p < 0.0001) compared with those taken while receiving delayed release tablets. Adverse event profiles were similar between both formulations. CONCLUSIONS Delayed release tablets proved more effective in achieving therapeutic serum posaconazole concentrations than posaconazole suspension, with minimal difference in adverse events, in pediatric hematology/oncology patients.
Transfer entropy as a variable selection methodology of cryptocurrencies in the framework of a high dimensional predictive model

We determine the number of statistically significant factors in a high dimensional predictive model of cryptocurrencies using a random matrix test. The applied predictive model is of the reduced rank regression (RRR) type; in particular, we choose a flavor that can be regarded as canonical correlation analysis (CCA). A variable selection of hourly cryptocurrencies is performed using the Symbolic estimation of Transfer Entropy (STE) measure from information theory. In simulated studies, STE shows better performance compared to the Granger causality approach when considering a nonlinear system and a linear system with many drivers. In the application to cryptocurrencies, the directed graph associated to the variable selection shows a robust pattern of predictor and response clusters, where the community detection was contrasted with the modularity approach. Also, the centralities of the network discriminate between the two main types of cryptocurrencies, i.e., coins and tokens. On the factor determination of the predictive model, the result supports retaining more factors contrary to the usual visual inspection, with the additional advantage that the subjective element is avoided. In particular, it is observed that the dynamic behavior of the number of factors is moderately anticorrelated with the dynamics of the constructed composite index of predictor and response cryptocurrencies. This finding opens up new insights for anticipating possible declines in cryptocurrency prices on exchanges. Furthermore, our study suggests the existence of specific-predictor and specific-response factors, where only a small number of currencies are predominant.
The use of 0.5rcav as an effective point of measurement for cylindrical chambers may result in a systematic shift of electron percentage depth doses

Abstract Electron dosimetry can be performed using cylindrical chambers, plane‐parallel chambers, and diode detectors. The finite volume of these detectors results in a displacement effect which is taken into account using an effective point of measurement (EPOM). Dosimetry protocols have recommended a shift of 0.5 rcav for cylindrical chambers; however, various studies have shown that the optimal shift may deviate from this recommended value. This study investigated the effect that the selection of EPOM shift for cylindrical chamber has on percentage depth dose (PDD) curves. Depth dose curves were measured in a water phantom for electron beams with energies ranging from 6 to 18 MeV. The detectors investigated were of three different types: diodes (Diode‐E PTW 60017 and SFD IBA), cylindrical (Semiflex PTW 31010, PinPoint PTW 31015, and A12 Exradin), and parallel plate ionization chambers (Advanced Markus PTW 34045 and Markus PTW 23343). Depth dose curves measured with Diode‐E and Advanced Markus agreed within 0.2 mm at R50 except for 18 MeV and extremely large field size. The PDDs measured with the Semiflex chamber and Exradin A12 were about 1.1 mm (with respect to the Advanced Markus chamber) shallower than those measured with the other detectors using a 0.5 rcav shift. The difference between the PDDs decreased when a Pinpoint chamber, with a smaller cavity radius, was used. Agreement improved at lower energies, with the use of previously published EPOM corrections (0.3 rcav). Therefore, the use of 0.5 rcav as an EPOM may result in a systematic shift of the therapeutic portion of the PDD (distances < R90). Our results suggest that a 0.1 rcav shift is more appropriate for one chamber model (Semiflex PTW 31010).
Health Benefits of Exercise

The purpose of this review is to provide current information concerning the health benefits of exercise. In rehabilitation medicine, a detailed prescription of the exercise program is the most important modality. In this paper, the health benefits of exercise, especially on the cardiovascular diseases, depression, dementia, obesity, and chronic pain syndrome, frequently seen in our daily practice, are emphasized. The role of exercise in the prevention and treatment of these diseases is examined, and the recommendations for exercise are reviewed.
TYPOLOGY OF MOLDAVIAN RURAL SETTLEMENTS ACCORDING TO THE POPULATION ACCESSIBILITY IN RELATION TO THE POLARIZING CENTERS OF LABOR FORCE IN THE FIELDS SPECIFIC TO RURAL ENVIRONMENT

The study of regional underdevelopment has been, during the last few decades, the main issue in fields such sociology and economic science s that have mainly used subjective approaches and research methods, such as surveys and queries. By u sing integrated mathematical coefficients and a comprehensible transparent map base, the main inter est of the present paper is to reconcile the method s and instruments of modern-day geography with the cl assical methods of social sciences, finally proving that underdevelopment is a geographically-induced p henomenon, as well as creating new geographies
Comparative analysis of context representation models in the relation extraction task from biomedical texts

This paper focuses on the task of extracting relations between entities in biomedical texts. This study aims to identify the most effective method for representing context between entities. We compare several context representation methods such as a bag of words representation, average word embeddings, sentence embedding, representations obtained by convolutional, recurrent neural networks, and bidirectional encoder representations from Transformers (BERT). We conduct a set of experiments on two benchmark corpora of patient electronic health records and scientific articles in English. As expected, thehighestclassificationresultswereobtainedwiththestate-oftheart neural architecture BERT.
The study of effects of perceived benefits and risks on satisfaction and loyalty of international tourists in Thailand

The study aims to study effects of perceived benefits and risks on satisfaction and loyalty of international tourists in Thailand. Not only the relationship is studied, the significant factors which affect satisfaction and loyalty are also examined. This results from the decline in number of international tourists arrival in Thailand. Data of 400 were collected by questionnaires distribution to departure international tourists at Savarnabhumi airport. The scale of one-to-seven was used to measure level of satisfaction. The quantitative analysis and hypothesis tests were analyzed by using the Statistical Program for the Social Science (SPSS). The findings indicate a positive relationship between perceived benefits and loyalty of international tourists in Thailand, and a negative relationship between perceived risks and loyalty of international tourists in Thailand, accordingly. The results show that quality of the trip and fear of criminals are the most significant factors which affect loyalty of international tourists in Thailand.
A Minimalistic Decision Tree for Blockchain Business Cases in Healthcare

Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) is an emerging technology to remove middlemen from an eco-system. However, many DLT/BC projects are very technologically oriented and fail to address the business case and the re-design of its eco-system. Therefore, many DLT/BC projects do fail. We propose a minimalistic decision tree to check whether a business case is suitable for implementation by DLT/BC technology and evaluate the tree in the healhtcare domain.
Kidney Tumor Segmentation Using Deep Learning

: Proper segmentation of Kidney Tumors can assist doctors to detect and diagnose diseases. When it comes to segmentation, U-Net is arguably the most successful segmentation architecture in the medical domain. In this paper, we address the challenge of simultaneous semantic segmentation of kidney tumor and proposed multidimensional 3D U-Net with an attempt to improve it with V-Net and Auto-Encoder architecture. Due to marginally higher dice scores, it was very difficult to choose architecture that will be accurate for segmentation. We did experiment for training of 190 cases that is provided by Kidney Tumor Segmentation Challenge database.