Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Conserving the abundance of nonthreatened species

Human modification of the environment is driving declines in population size and distributional extent of much of the world's biota. These declines extend to many of the most abundant and widespread species, for which proportionally small declines can result in the loss of vast numbers of individuals, biomass, and interactions. These losses could have major localized effects on ecological and cultural processes and services without elevating a species’ global extinction risk. Although most conservation effort is directed at species threatened with extinction in the very near term, the value of retaining abundance regardless of global extinction risk is justifiable based on many biodiversity or ecosystem service metrics, including cultural services, at scales from local to global. The challenges of identifying conservation priorities for widespread and abundant species include quantifying the effects of species’ abundance on services and understanding how these effects are realized as populations decline. Negative effects of population declines may be disconnected from the threat processes driving declines because of species movements and environment flows (e.g., hydrology). Conservation prioritization for these species shares greater similarity with invasive species risk assessments than extinction risk assessments because of the importance of local context and per capita effects of abundance on other species. Because conservation priorities usually focus on preventing the extinction of threatened species, the rationale and objectives for incorporating declines of nonthreatened species must be clearly articulated, going beyond extinction risk to encompass the range of likely harmful effects (e.g., secondary extinctions, loss of ecosystem services) if declines persist or are not reversed. Research should focus on characterizing the effects of local declines in species that are not threatened globally across a range of ecosystem services and quantifying the spatial distribution of these effects through the distribution of abundance. The case for conserving abundance in nonthreatened species can be made most powerfully when the costs of losing this abundance are better understood.
Prevalence of Recurrent Herniation Following Percutaneous Endoscopic Lumbar Discectomy: A Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND Percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy (PELD) is a minimally invasive surgery for the treatment of lumbar disc herniation (LDH) with a smaller incision, decreased damage to soft tissues, faster recovery, and fewer postoperative complications. However, the exactly epidemiological prevalence of recurrent herniation after PELD remains unclear. OBJECTIVES To investigate the epidemiological prevalence of recurrent herniation in patients following PELD and to analyze the potentially related risk factors. STUDY DESIGN Meta-analysis and systematic review of prospective and retrospective studies. METHODS We conducted a comprehensive search in MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials that mentioned the incidence of recurrent herniation after PELD. The overall prevalence estimate was calculated by an appropriate meta-analysis. Subgroup analysis, sensitivity analysis, and publication bias assessment were also performed in our study, respectively. RESULTS Our results showed the overall prevalence of recurrent herniation after PELD was 3.6% (95% CI 3.0-4.3%). The prevalence estimates after percutaneous endoscopic interlaminar discectomy (PEID) and percutaneous endoscopic transforaminal discectomy (PETD) were 4.2% and 3.4%, respectively. Individuals with older age (>/= 50 years) and higher BMI (>/= 25) had increased recurrence rates after PELD than those with younger age (4.3% vs. 2.7%) and normal body mass index (BMI) (4.8% vs. 1.5%). The prevalence was significantly higher at upper discs (5.4%) than that at L4-5 (2.7%) and L5-S1 (3.1%) level. The incidence of recurrent herniation at lateral disc was 4.7%, and the recurrence rate of migrated herniation was 3.8%. In most cases, the recurrent herniation occurred within 6 months postoperatively (accounting for 61.7%). LIMITATIONS A majority of the included articles were relatively low quality retrospective studies with significant heterogeneity among them. Furthermore, owing to the paucity of data focused on recurrence, many potentially predictive factors related to subgroup analyses could not be conducted, which might have influenced the accuracy and comprehensiveness of our meta-analysis. CONCLUSIONS PELD is associated with a certain rate of recurrence (3.6%), which usually occurred within 6 months postoperatively. Older age (>/= 50 years), obesity (BMI >/= 25), upper lumbar disc and central disc herniation might be independent risk factors for recurrence after PELD; however, different surgical approaches (PETD or PEID), lateral discs, migrated discs and foraminoplasty did not affect the incidence. These factors could be useful in preoperative evaluation, appropriate patient selection and informed consent before PELD. KEY WORDS Percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy, prevalence, recurrent herniation, meta-analysis.
Bowel Habits of Healthy Indian Children Less Than Two Years of Age.

Objectives To define the normal frequency and consistency of stools of healthy Indian children between 0-24 months of age. Material and Methods Parents of children aged up to 24 months were asked on a three-day recall basis about their child's usual bowel habits and dietary history. Bowel habit was recorded in terms of number of stools the child passes per day, stool consistency, the age at which night bowel movements stopped, and age of regular bowel movements. Feeding type was recorded as exclusive breast feed, mixed milk feeds or on solid feeds. The bowel habits were correlated with the age of the child and type of feeding. Results Children in first six months of life had stools which were predominantly "pasty" and "runny like cream" with a frequency of one to two per day. On analyzing the combined effect of type of milk feed and age on bowel frequency and consistency children beyond one month of age either on exclusive breast feed or on mixed milk feed had similar frequency and consistency of stools. By one year of age more than 90% of children had attained regular stool pattern and no night time bowel movements. Conclusions First of its kind study from India which describes the stool pattern of normal health children less than two years of age.
Effects of Parental Authoritarianism and Authoritativeness on Self-Esteem

The effect of parental authority upon the self-esteem of 230 college students was studied. Authoritarianism and authoritativeness of the mother and the father were found to correlate significantly with self-esteem; authoritarianism was inversely related to self-esteem while authoritativeness was directly related to self-esteem. Permissiveness of the mother and the father were not significantly related to self-esteem. Regression analyses revealed that the proportion of variance in self-esteem that was associated with parental authoritarianism and authoritativeness was over twice as great for females as for males.
Mouse Population-Based Approaches to Investigate Adverse Drug Reactions

Genetic variation is now recognized as a key factor in the toxicity of pharmaceutical agents. However, genetic diversity is not present in standard nonclinical toxicology models, and small clinical studies (phase I/II) may not include enough subjects to identify toxicity liabilities associated with less common susceptibility factors. As a result, many drugs pass through preclinical and early clinical studies before safety concerns are realized. Furthermore, when adverse drug reactions are idiosyncratic in nature, suggesting a role for rare genetic variants in the toxicity susceptibility, even large clinical studies (phase III) are often underpowered (due to low population frequency and/or small effect size of the risk factor) to identify associations that may be used for precision medicine risk mitigation strategies. Genetically diverse mouse populations can be used to help overcome the limitations of standard nonclinical and clinical studies and to model toxicity responses that require genetic susceptibility factors. Furthermore, mouse population-based approaches can be used to: 1) identify sensitive strains that can serve as a screening tool for next-in-class compounds, 2) identify genetic susceptibility factors that can be used for risk mitigation strategies, and 3) study mechanisms underlying drug toxicity. This review describes genetically diverse mouse populations and provides examples of their utility in investigating adverse drug response. It also explores recent efforts to adapt mouse population-based approaches to in vitro platforms, thereby enabling the incorporation of genetic diversity and the identification of genetic risk factors and mechanisms associated with drug toxicity susceptibility at all stages of drug development.
Antenna absorption efficiency and beam efficiency of a microwave power transmission system

Efficiency is one of the most important parameters in a microwave power transfer system. We proposed a wireless charging system for an electric truck via microwaves. Here we studied the antenna absorption efficiency of a finite receiving array antenna and the beam efficiency between a transmitting and receiving array antenna using finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulations. The antenna absorption efficiency of a finite receiving array antenna reaches 95.1% with a matched optimum load and the beam efficiency reaches 99.9% using a Gaussian beam with an optimum focal point.
Treatment for Alcohol Use Disorder: Progress in Predicting Treatment Outcome and Validating Nonabstinent End Points.

An emerging framework for multimodal assessment of addictions (Kwako et al., 2016), and expanded definitions of acceptable endpoints for alcohol treatment trials (Food and Drug Administration, 2006) are informing efforts toward personalized treatment of alcohol use disorder (AUD). A critical issue in determining for whom an intervention will work lies in the definition of clinical trial endpoints. The six articles in this virtual issue of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research illustrate recent progress in identifying predictors of alcohol treatment outcome, and pioneering work on the stability and validity of promising non-abstinent (e.g., low-risk drinking) clinical trial endpoints. As a set, the articles highlight how definitions of AUD treatment outcomes or trial end-points can influence the identification of predictors of clinical course. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Optimization of multiplex quantitative polymerase chain reaction based on response surface methodology and an artificial neural network-genetic algorithm approach

Multiplex quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) has found an increasing range of applications. The construction of a reliable and dynamic mathematical model for multiplex qPCR that analyzes the effects of interactions between variables is therefore especially important. This work aimed to analyze the effects of interactions between variables through response surface method (RSM) for uni- and multiplex qPCR, and further optimize the parameters by constructing two mathematical models via RSM and back-propagation neural network-genetic algorithm (BPNN-GA) respectively. The statistical analysis showed that Mg2+ was the most important factor for both uni- and multiplex qPCR. Dynamic models of uni- and multiplex qPCR could be constructed using both RSM and BPNN-GA methods. But RSM was better than BPNN-GA on prediction performance in terms of the mean absolute error (MAE), the mean square error (MSE) and the Coefficient of Determination (R2). Ultimately, optimal parameters of uni- and multiplex qPCR were determined by RSM.
Pulsed Radiofrequency on Dorsal Root Ganglion Relieved Neuropathic Pain Associated with Downregulation of the Spinal Interferon Regulatory Factor 8, Microglia, p38MAPK Expression in a CCI Rat Model.

BACKGROUND Interferon regulatory factor 8 (IRF8), which is induced by peripheral nerve injury (PNI), plays a key role in activating spinal microglia to release inflammatory cytokines in a p38-dependent way, thereafter results in formation of central sensitization. Pulsed radiofrequency (PRF) on dorsal root ganglion (DRG) alleviates neuropathic pain and inhibits the microglial activation in chronic constriction injury (CCI) rats. However, the consequences of PRF on spinal IRF8 of CCI rats remains unknown. OBJECTIVE We explore if PRF on DRG of rats with CCI could restrain IRF8, microglia, and p38 hyperactivity in the spinal cord to alleviate neuropathic pain. STUDY DESIGN A randomized, controlled animal study. SETTING Department of Pain Management, Fujian Provincial Hospital, Fujian Key Laboratory of Geriatrics, Provincial Clinic College of Fujian Medical University. METHODS The changes in pain behaviors and the expressions of IRF8, Iba1 and p-p38 in the spinal cord of CCI rats which were administrated with antisense/ mismatch oligodeoxynucleotide of IRF8 were studied. Rats in CCI+AS ODN group, CCI+MM ODN group or CCI+NS group were intrathecally treated with antisense oligodeoxynucleotide of IRF8, mismatch oligodeoxynucleotide of IRF8 or same volume 0.9% NaCl once daily respectively, beginning from the day after nerve transection 12 hours and lasting for 7 days. The effects of PRF on L4-5 DRG of rats with CCI were investigated. PRF was applied adjacent to the L4-5 DRG at an intensity of 45 V for 6 minutes after CCI, whereas the control rats were treated without radiofrequency current. The withdrawal thresholds were studied and the spinal levels of IRF8, ionized calcium-binding adapter molecule 1 (Iba1, microglia characteristic marker) and p-p38 were calculated by ELISA, western blot, RT-PCR, and immunofluorescence. RESULTS Intrathecal administration of antisense oligodeoxynucleotide of IRF8 led to the reversal of CCI-induced allodynia, lower activation of spinal microglia and p-p38. Withdrawal thresholds were partially recovered after a single PRF treatment for 14 days. CCI-induced IRF8 upregulation, microglia hyperactivity, and p38 phosphorylation in the spinal cord were reduced due to PRF treatment. However, PRF did not alter pain behaviors and pain signals in normal rats. LIMITATIONS In our study, one time point was selected just to assess the levels of microglia, and p-p38. The changes of IRF8, microglia, p-p38 in the ipsilateral DRG were not investigated. A more detailed study on how PRF on the DRG could further relieve NP is needed. CONCLUSIONS Restraining IRF8, microglia and p38 hyperactivity in the spinal cord of CCI rats involved in the contribution to the long-lasting analgesia of PRF. KEY WORDS Neuropathic pain, pulsed radiofrequency, dorsal root ganglion, microglia, p38MAPK, Interferon regulatory factor 8, chronic constriction injury of sciatic nerve.
Spontaneous posterior spinal artery infarction

Spinal cord infarctions (SCIs) predominantly affect the anterior spinal artery (ASA) territory and manifest with acute weakness and loss of pain and temperature sensation. In comparison, posterior spinal artery (PSA) infarctions are more rare,1 possibly due to paired PSAs with increased collateral arterial supply; the diagnosis may also be underrecognized.1–5 Reports on clinical and radiologic features and outcomes of PSA infarcts are scant. We sought to describe all PSA infarcts seen at Mayo Clinic (1997–2017) to improve the understanding and awareness of this uncommon myelopathy. All patients consented to use of their medical records for research.
Characterization of Parkinsonian Hand Tremor and Validation of a High-Order Tremor Estimator

Recent progress in wearable technology has made wearable tremor suppression devices (WTSDs) for Parkinson’s patients a potentially viable alternative solution for tremor management. So far, in contrast to wrist and elbow tremor, finger tremors have not been studied in depth despite the huge impact that they have on a patient’s daily life. In addition, more evidence has been found showing that the performance of current tremor estimators may be limited by their model order due to the multiple harmonics present in tremor. The aim of this paper is to characterize finger and wrist tremor in both the time and frequency domains, and to propose a high-order tremor estimation algorithm. Tremor magnitudes are reported in the forms of linear acceleration, angular velocity, and angular displacement. The activation of forearm flexor and extensor muscles is also investigated. The frequency analysis shows that Parkinsonian tremors produce oscillations of the hand with pronounced harmonics. At last, a high-order weighted-frequency Fourier linear combiner (WFLC)-based Kalman filter is proposed. The percentage estimation accuracy achieved from the proposed estimator is 96.3 ± 1.7%, showing average improvements of 28.5% and 48.9% over its lower-order counterpart and the WFLC. The proposed estimator shows promise for use in a WTSD.
$\mathcal{DBSDA}$ : Lowering the Bound of Misclassification Rate for Sparse Linear Discriminant Analysis via Model Debiasing

Linear discriminant analysis (LDA) is a well-known technique for linear classification, feature extraction, and dimension reduction. To improve the accuracy of LDA under the high dimension low sample size (HDLSS) settings, shrunken estimators, such as Graphical Lasso, can be used to strike a balance between biases and variances. Although the estimator with induced sparsity obtains a faster convergence rate, however, the introduced bias may also degrade the performance. In this paper, we theoretically analyze how the sparsity and the convergence rate of the precision matrix (also known as inverse covariance matrix) estimator would affect the classification accuracy by proposing an analytic model on the upper bound of an LDA misclassification rate. Guided by the model, we propose a novel classifier, <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mathcal {DBSDA}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, which improves classification accuracy through <italic>debiasing</italic>. Theoretical analysis shows that <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mathcal {DBSDA}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> possesses a reduced upper bound of misclassification rate and better asymptotic properties than sparse LDA (SDA). We conduct experiments on both synthetic datasets and real application datasets to confirm the correctness of our theoretical analysis and demonstrate the superiority of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mathcal {DBSDA}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> over LDA, SDA, and other downstream competitors under HDLSS settings.
Lens Antennas for 5G Communications Systems

Here, we explain the principles of operating lens antennas, and discuss their potential application for future 5G communications systems. We discuss the connection between the nomenclature employed in the optics and microwave communities, such as the direct relationship between aberrations and directivity and side lobe levels. Furthermore, we explain the potential of two innovative techniques: transformation optics and metasurfaces. Transformation optics, and specifically the concept of bespoke lenses, can be employed to make lenses ad hoc for specific feedings. Metasurfaces can be employed to produce two-dimensional low-cost lenses that can be fully metallic, which is an advantage in terms of losses. Finally, we introduce the concept of higher symmetries that can be used to increase the bandwidth of operation of these metasurfaces lenses.
Low serum prealbumin levels on admission can independently predict in-hospital adverse cardiac events in patients with acute coronary syndrome

Abstract The aim of this study is to evaluate if low prealbumin levels on admission predict subsequent adverse cardiac events in patients hospitalized with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). We designed a cohort study and enrolled 610 consecutive patients with ACS from whom venous blood for serum prealbumin measurement was drawn immediately upon hospital admission. Patients were classified in two groups according to prealbumin level: “normal” prealbumin levels (≥17 mg/dL, n=413) and “low” prealbumin (<17 mg/dL, n = 197). In-hospital adverse cardiac events were death, acute heart failure, reinfarction, and cardiogenic shock. Univariate and multivariable analyses were applied to evaluate the prediction value of low prealbumin. The incidence of in hospital adverse cardiac events is 10.8%. The proportion of adverse cardiac events was significantly higher in low prealbumin group as compared with normal prealbumin group (20.8% versus 6.1%, P < .001). Univariate analysis indicates that low prealbumin levels can predict in hospital adverse cardiac events (odds ratio [OR]: 0.834, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.785–0.886, P < .001). Multivariable analysis shows that low prealbumin level was an independent predictor for in hospital adverse cardiac events (adjusted OR: 0.918, 95% CI: 0.848–0.993, P = .033). Other independent predictors were lower in average hemoglobin level and Killip class II-IV on admission. Therefore, lower serum prealbumin levels on admission can independently predicts subsequent in hospital major adverse cardiac events in patients with ACS.
Immunodominance of Antigenic Site B in the Hemagglutinin of the Current H3N2 Influenza Virus in Humans and Mice

Influenza viruses rapidly evade humoral immunity through antigenic drift, making current vaccines poorly effective and antibody-mediated protection short-lived. The majority of neutralizing antibodies target five antigenic sites in the head domain of the hemagglutinin protein that are also the most sequence-variable regions. A better understanding of the contribution of each antigenic site to the overall antibody response to hemagglutinin may help in the design of improved influenza virus vaccines. ABSTRACT The hemagglutinin protein of H3N2 influenza viruses is the major target of neutralizing antibodies induced by infection and vaccination. However, the virus frequently escapes antibody-mediated neutralization due to mutations in the globular head domain. Five topologically distinct antigenic sites in the head domain of H3 hemagglutinin, A to E, have been previously described by mapping the binding sites of monoclonal antibodies, yet little is known about the contribution of each site to the immunogenicity of modern H3 hemagglutinins, as measured by hemagglutination inhibition activity, which is known to correlate with protection. To investigate the hierarchy of antibody immunodominance, five Δ1 recombinant influenza viruses expressing hemagglutinin of the A/Hong Kong/4801/2014 (H3N2) strain with mutations in single antigenic sites were generated. Next, the Δ1 viruses were used to determine the hierarchy of immunodominance by measuring the hemagglutination inhibition reactivity of mouse antisera and plasma from 18 human subjects before and after seasonal influenza vaccination in 2017-2018. In both mice and humans, mutations in antigenic site B caused the most significant decrease in hemagglutination inhibition titers compared to wild-type hemagglutinin. This study revealed that antigenic site B is immunodominant in the H3N2 influenza virus strain included in the current vaccine preparations. IMPORTANCE Influenza viruses rapidly evade humoral immunity through antigenic drift, making current vaccines poorly effective and antibody-mediated protection short-lived. The majority of neutralizing antibodies target five antigenic sites in the head domain of the hemagglutinin protein that are also the most sequence-variable regions. A better understanding of the contribution of each antigenic site to the overall antibody response to hemagglutinin may help in the design of improved influenza virus vaccines.