Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparative efficacy and safety of antipseudomonal β-lactams for pediatric febrile neutropenia

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text Abstract Background: Antipseudomonal β-lactams have been used for the treatment of febrile neutropenia (FN); however, the efficacy and safety of antipseudomonal β-lactams in pediatric patients remain unclear. The aim of this study was to comprehensively compare the efficacy and side effects of optional antipseudomonal β-lactams for pediatric FN. Methods: PubMed, Embase, Medline, and Cochrane Library were systematically searched from their inception to December 18, 2020. Eligible randomized controlled trials in which pediatric FN patients were treated with an empiric monotherapy of antipseudomonal β-lactams were selected. Data synthesis was performed using WinBUGS 14.0 software and meta packages implemented in R 3.6. 2. Random-effects network meta-analysis was performed, and dichotomous data were pooled as odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals. The primary outcome was treatment success without modification; the secondary outcomes were adverse events (AEs), all-cause mortality, and new infections. The GRADE tool was used to assess the quality of the evidence. The protocol was registered with PROSPERO ID CRD42021226763. Results: Eighteen studies with 2517 patients were included. The results showed no statistically significant difference between the optional antipseudomonal β-lactams in the outcomes of treatment success without modification, all AEs, all-cause mortality, and new infections for pediatric FN. Based on the results of Bayesian rank probability, meropenem was ranked highest among all the treatment options with regard to treatment success without modification benefit; ceftazidime and meropenem were associated with a lower risk of AEs; cefoperazone/sulbactam and piperacillin/tazobactam were associated with a lower risk of mortality, and piperacillin/tazobactam and meropenem were associated with a lower risk of new infections. The quality of evidence was moderate. Conclusions: Meropenem and piperacillin/tazobactam were found to be better with regard to treatment success without modification, with a comparable safety profile. Therefore, our findings support the use of meropenem and piperacillin/tazobactam as a treatment option for pediatric FN patients.
Comprehensive assessment of deep generative architectures for de novo drug design

Recently, deep learning (DL)-based de novo drug design represents a new trend in pharmaceutical research, and numerous DL-based methods have been developed for the generation of novel compounds with desired properties. However, a comprehensive understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of these methods is still lacking. In this study, the performances of different generative models were evaluated by analyzing the properties of the generated molecules in different scenarios, such as goal-directed (rediscovery, optimization and scaffold hopping of active compounds) and target-specific (generation of novel compounds for a given target) tasks. In overall, the DL-based models have significant advantages over the baseline models built by the traditional methods in learning the physicochemical property distributions of the training sets and may be more suitable for target-specific tasks. However, both the baselines and DL-based generative models cannot fully exploit the scaffolds of the training sets, and the molecules generated by the DL-based methods even have lower scaffold diversity than those generated by the traditional models. Moreover, our assessment illustrates that the DL-based methods do not exhibit obvious advantages over the genetic algorithm-based baselines in goal-directed tasks. We believe that our study provides valuable guidance for the effective use of generative models in de novo drug design.
CD-MAWS: An Alignment-Free Phylogeny Estimation Method Using Cosine Distance on Minimal Absent Word Sets

Multiple sequence alignment has been the traditional and well established approach of sequence analysis and comparison, though it is time and memory consuming. As the scale of sequencing data is increasing day by day, the importance of faster yet accurate alignment-free methods is on the rise. Several alignment-free sequence analysis methods have been established in the literature in recent years, which extract numerical features from genomic data to analyze sequences and also to estimate phylogenetic relationship among genes and species. Minimal Absent Word (MAW) is an effective concept for representing characteristics of a sequence in an alignment-free manner. In this study, we present CD-MAWS, a distance measure based on cosine of the angle between composition vectors constructed using minimal absent words, for sequence analysis in a computationally inexpensive manner. We have benchmarked CD-MAWS using several AFProject datasets, such as Fish mtDNA, E.coli, Plants, Shigella and Yersinia datasets, and found it to perform quite well. Applied on several other biological datasets such as mammal mtDNA, bacterial genomes and viral genomes, CD-MAWS resolved phylogenetic relationships similar to or better than state-of-the-art alignment-free methods such as Mash, Skmer, Co-phylog and kSNP3.
Physician Experiences and Perceived Barriers to Providing Quality Infertility Care in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana

High-quality, patient-centered care is essential to achieving equity and dignity for individuals with infertility, yet few studies have explored quality of infertility care in sub-Saharan Africa. We interviewed 13 non-specialist physicians and 2 medical school faculty to explore experiences in and perceptions of providing infertility care in Greater Accra, Ghana. We used a patient-centered infertility care model to inform our analysis and results. Individualized care and taking time to counsel and emotionally support patients were perceived as the most important things a physician can do to provide quality infertility care. Financial costs and lack of infertility services within a single facility were the most common barriers reported to providing quality infertility care. To the best of our knowledge, our study is the first to explore quality of infertility care provided by physicians in public sector facilities in Ghana, shedding light on existing barriers and identifying strategies for improvement.
Conservation genetics as a management tool: The five best-supported paradigms to assist the management of threatened species

About 50 y ago, Crow and Kimura [An Introduction to Population Genetics Theory (1970)] and Ohta and Kimura [Genet. Res. 22, 201–204 (1973)] laid the foundations of conservation genetics by predicting the relationship between population size and genetic marker diversity. This work sparked an enormous research effort investigating the importance of population dynamics, in particular small population size, for population mean performance, population viability, and evolutionary potential. In light of a recent perspective [J. C. Teixeira, C. D. Huber, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 118, 10 (2021)] that challenges some fundamental assumptions in conservation genetics, it is timely to summarize what the field has achieved, what robust patterns have emerged, and worthwhile future research directions. We consider theory and methodological breakthroughs that have helped management, and we outline some fundamental and applied challenges for conservation genetics.
HES1 is a novel downstream modifier of the SHH-GLI3 Axis in the development of preaxial polydactyly

Sonic Hedgehog/GLI3 signaling is critical in regulating digit number, such that Gli3-deficiency results in polydactyly and Shh-deficiency leads to digit number reductions. SHH/GLI3 signaling regulates cell cycle factors controlling mesenchymal cell proliferation, while simultaneously regulating Grem1 to coordinate BMP-induced chondrogenesis. SHH/GLI3 signaling also coordinates the expression of additional genes, however their importance in digit formation remain unknown. Utilizing genetic and molecular approaches, we identified HES1 as a downstream modifier of the SHH/GLI signaling axis capable of inducing preaxial polydactyly (PPD), required for Gli3-deficient PPD, and capable of overcoming digit number constraints of Shh-deficiency. Our data indicate that HES1, a direct SHH/GLI signaling target, induces mesenchymal cell proliferation via suppression of Cdkn1b, while inhibiting chondrogenic genes and the anterior autopod boundary regulator, Pax9. These findings establish HES1 as a critical downstream effector of SHH/GLI3 signaling in the development of PPD.
Experimental and Theoretical Study of the Ultrafast Dynamics of a Ni2Dy2‐Compound in DMF After UV/Vis Photoexcitation

Abstract We present a combined experimental and theoretical study of the ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy results of a {Ni2Dy2}‐compound in DMF, which can be considered as a prototypic molecule for single molecule magnets. We apply state‐of‐the‐art ab initio quantum chemistry to quantitatively describe the optical properties of an inorganic complex system comprising ten atoms to form the chromophoric unit, which is further stabilized by surrounding ligands. Two different basis sets are used for the calculations to specifically identify two dominant peaks in the ground state. Furthermore, we theoretically propagate the compound's correlated many‐body wavefunction under the influence of a laser pulse as well as relaxation processes and compare against the time‐resolved absorption spectra. The experimental data can be described with a time constant of several hundreds of femtoseconds attributed to vibrational relaxation and trapping into states localized within the band gap. A second time constant is ascribed to the excited state while trap states show lifetimes on a longer timescale. The theoretical propagation is performed with the density‐matrix formalism and the Lindblad superoperator, which couples the system to a thermal bath, allowing us to extract relaxation times from first principles.
Internal state effects on behavioral shifts in freely behaving praying mantises (Tenodera sinensis)

How we interact with our environment largely depends on both the external cues presented by our surroundings and the internal state from within. Internal states are the ever-changing physiological conditions that communicate the immediate survival needs and motivate the animal to behaviorally fulfill them. Satiety level constitutes such a state, and therefore has a dynamic influence on the output behaviors of an animal. In predatory insects like the praying mantis, hunting tactics, grooming, and mating have been shown to change hierarchical organization of behaviors depending on satiety. Here, we analyze behavior sequences of freely hunting praying mantises (Tenodera sinensis) to explore potential differences in sequential patterning of behavior as a correlate of satiety. First, our data supports previous work that showed starved praying mantises were not just more often attentive to prey, but also more often attentive to further prey. This was indicated by the increased time fraction spent in attentive bouts such as prey monitoring, head turns (to track prey), translations (closing the distance to the prey), and more strike attempts. With increasing satiety, praying mantises showed reduced time in these behaviors and exhibited them primarily towards close-proximity prey. Furthermore, our data demonstrates that during states of starvation, the praying mantis exhibits a stereotyped pattern of behavior that is highly motivated by prey capture. As satiety increased, the sequenced behaviors became more variable, indicating a shift away from the necessity of prey capture to more fluid presentations of behavior assembly.
Synthesis and Application of Carbon Cryogel Beads Using Coconut Husk for Dye Removal

The production cost of carbon cryogels has been reduced by using alternative starting materials as precursor such as wattle tannin and furfural. In this study, a novel carbon cryogel beads were synthesized from low cost and abundant agricultural waste, coconut husk. Lignin was extracted and the percentages of lignin yield and lignin degradation were 27.63% and 13.39wt% respectively which were considered low due to the low operating temperature of lignin extraction in this study. The lignin extracted was then mixed with formaldehyde, sodium hydroxide, ethanol, and distilled water to undergo sol-gel polycondensation, followed by freeze drying and pyrolysis in an inert atmosphere to produce carbon cryogel beads. The adsorption of methyl blue on carbon cryogel beads increased with increasing with pH, initial dye concentration and temperature.
Receptor Models in Air Resources Management: A Summary of the APCA International Specialty Conference

An APCA (now, the Air Waste Management Association) International Specialty Conference was held in San Francisco, California in February 1988 to exchange new information on novel applications, model theory, measurement processes, and software related to receptor models used in the management of air resources. Forty-six papers were presented in eight sessions which addressed: (1) PM{sub 10} source apportionment for state implementation plan development; (2) measurements and source apportionment of pollutants other than PM{sub 10}; (3) the requirements and availability of receptor model data bases; (4) the implementation of receptor models and their input data bases on microcomputers; (5) source characterization methods and results; and (6) model evaluation and development.
Local adaptation of life cycles in a butterfly is associated with variation in several circadian clock genes

Many insects exhibit geographical variation in voltinism, the number of generations produced per year. This includes high‐latitude species in previously glaciated areas, meaning that divergent selection on life cycle traits has taken place during or shortly after recent colonization. Here, we use a population genomics approach to compare a set of nine Scandinavian populations of the butterfly Pararge aegeria that differ in life cycle traits (diapause thresholds and voltinism) along both north–south and east–west clines. Using a de novo‐assembled genome, we reconstruct colonization histories and demographic relationships. Based on the inferred population structure, we then scan the genome for candidate loci showing signs of divergent selection potentially associated with population differences in life cycle traits. The identified candidate genes include a number of components of the insect circadian clock (timeless, timeless2, period, cryptochrome and clockwork orange). Most notably, the gene timeless, which has previously been experimentally linked to life cycle regulation in P. aegeria, is here found to contain a novel 97‐amino acid deletion unique to, and fixed in, a single population. These results add to a growing body of research framing circadian gene variation as a potential mechanism for generating local adaptation of life cycles.
Current synthetic chemistry towards cyclic antimicrobial peptides

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have great potentials for developing novel antibiotics against multi‐drug resistant (MDR) bacteria. However, the clinical application of AMPs is limited due to their poor protease stability and high hemolytic toxicity. Various strategies have been widely explored to improve the pharmacological properties of natural or artificial antimicrobial peptides, including D‐ or non‐natural amino acid residue replacement, backbone modification, cyclization, PEGlytion, and lipidation. Among others, peptide cyclization, which has been widely applied to enhance the biostability and target selectivity of bioactive peptide, is a very appealing and promising strategy for developing novel antibiotics based on AMPs. Herein, we summarize the current strategies for synthesizing cyclic antimicrobial peptides and the resulting influence of peptide cyclization on the biological activities.
Optimized design of a micromachined G-switch based on contactless configuration for health care applications

This paper proposes design concept and fundamentals of a novel acceleration microswitch (G-switch), which is an integration of bimorph actuator and field effect transistor (FET). This micro-switch can be used to actuate the alarm system for call for helps - minimizing injuries after the fall among elderly; or trigger the air-inflatable hip protector for the fall prevention. The device can be attached to the developed MEMS-Wear smart shirt. Its structural design and switching FET are optimized using the global optimization method so that the bimorph as a movable gate can collapse on the gate insulating layer, when there is an impact force, which is greater than a threshold value (experimentally found to be 4.8g based on the previously published report). This contactless mechanism optimizes the field effect between the bimorph and the substrate causing an electrical current flow profusely with a sensitivity of 0.1 mA/V2 with a FET's ratio of ~19. The device will consume less power as the gate to source voltage (VGS) can be applied up to 4 V. All design parameters must satisfy the specified design constraints. In future, the optimized design will be fabricated and incorporated into the smart shirt for testing upon the fall events.
Data-dredging bias

Department of Philosophy, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA Institute for the Future of Knowledge, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park, Gauteng, South Africa Underwood International College, Yonsei University, Incheon, Seoul, Korea (the Republic of) University of Johannesburg Faculty of Humanities, Auckland Park, South Africa MetaResearch Innovation Center at Stanford (METRICS), Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
Evidence for initially independent monitoring of responses and response effects.

To act successfully, agents must monitor whether their behavior reached predicted effects. As deviations from predicted effects can result from own behavior (response-errors) or from circumstantial unreliability (effect-errors), both the own efferent activities and the accomplished environmental outcomes must be monitored. In three experiments, we examined response monitoring and effect monitoring using a dual-task setup. Task 1 consisted of a three-choice flanker task and effects were displayed after the response. Crucially, in some of the trials, an incorrect effect was displayed after a correct response, whereas in other trials, a correct effect was displayed after an incorrect response. This disentangled response-errors and effect-errors. Task 2 was a simple discrimination task and served to measure the monitoring process. Task 2 responses slowed down after both response-errors and effect-errors in Task 1. These influences were additive, suggesting two independent monitoring processes: one for responses, capturing errors in efferent activities, and one for response effects, checking for environment-related irregularities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
Prediction Model of in-Hospital Venous Thromboembolism in Chinese Adult Patients after Hernia Surgery: The CHAT Score

Background Venous thromboembolism (VTE) events after hernia surgery influence prognosis and life quality and may be preventable. This study aimed to develop a useful model for predicting in-hospital VTE in Chinese patients after hernia surgery. Methods Patients after hernia surgery were retrospectively recruited from 58 institutions (n = 14 322). Totally, 36 potential predictors were involved in the regression analysis. Weighted points were assigned to the predictors of in-hospital VTE identified in the multivariate logistic regression analysis and a prediction model was established. Decision curve analysis was performed to evaluate the net clinical benefit between the established and Caprini models. Results A total of 11 707 patients were included and five variables were explored as predictors related to in-hospital VTE: varicose veins of lower extremity, history of VTE, family history of thrombosis, interruption of antithrombotic agents, and reducible hernia. The prediction model (the CHAT score) revealed a good performance metrics (c-statistic, 0.81 [95% CI, 0.80 to 0.81]; Nagelkerke R2, 0.27 [95% CI, 0.26 to 0.30]; Brier score, 0.16 [95% CI, 0.13 to 0.23]). The rate of in-hospital VTE after hernia surgery at low-risk (−4 points), intermediate-risk (0-1 points), high-risk (4 points) and very high-risk (≥5 points) were 0.05%, 0.39%, 0.73% and 8.62%, respectively. The CHAT score identified a considerable variability (from 0.05% to 8.62%) for in-hospital VTE among the overall population after hernia surgery. Decision curve analysis found a superior net benefit of the established model than the Caprini score. Conclusions The CHAT score is likely to be a practical 5-item supporting tool to identify patients at high risk of in-hospital VTE after hernia surgery that might assist in decision making and VTE prevention. Further validated study will strengthen this finding.
Analysis of a technology for CZ bifacial solar cells

A bifacial cell technology for Cz Si and evaporated contacts is presented. A p/sup +/nn/sup +/ structure on high resistivity material gives 17.7% for n/sup +/ side illumination and 15.2% for p/sup +/ side illumination. Cell performance is analyzed by fitting experimental measurements with PC1D. Analysis shows that p/sup +/ layer puts a limit to cell performance, mainly due to a high surface recombination velocity. The boron depleted zone near the surface also enhances recombination, but its effect can be reduced by performing a boron etch-back step in the process. Cells with boron etch-back give higher short-circuit current and a reduction of open-circuit voltage of around 10 mV. These results are consistent with the PC1D model.
Health-Related Quality of Life in Metastatic, Hormone-Sensitive Prostate Cancer: ENZAMET (ANZUP 1304), an International, Randomized Phase III Trial Led by ANZUP

PURPOSE We previously reported that enzalutamide improved overall survival when added to standard of care in metastatic, hormone-sensitive prostate cancer. Here, we report its effects on aspects of health-related quality of life (HRQL). METHODS HRQL was assessed with the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer core quality-of-life questionnaire and QLM-PR25 at weeks 0, 4, 12, and then every 12 weeks until progression. Scores from week 4 to 156 were analyzed with repeated measures modeling to calculate group means and differences. Deterioration-free survival was from random assignment until the earliest of death, clinical progression, discontinuation of study treatment, or a worsening of 10 points or more from baseline in fatigue, physical function, cognitive function, or overall health and quality of life (OHQL). HRQL scores range from 0 (lowest possible) to 100 (highest possible). RESULTS HRQL was assessed in 1,042 of 1,125 participants (93%). Differences in means favored control over enzalutamide for fatigue (5.2, 95% CI, 3.6 to 6.9; P < .001), cognitive function (4.0, 95% CI, 2.5 to 5.5; P < .001), and physical function (2.6, 95% CI, 1.3 to 3.9; P < .001), but not OHQL (1.2, 95% CI, −0.2 to 2.7; P = .1). Deterioration-free survival rates at 3 years, and log-rank P values comparing the whole distributions, favored enzalutamide over control for OHQL (31% v 17%; P < .0001), cognitive function (31% v 20%; P = .001), and physical function (31% v 22%; P < .001), but not fatigue (24% v 18%; P = .16). The effects of enzalutamide on HRQL were independent of baseline characteristics. CONCLUSION Enzalutamide was associated with worsening of self-reported fatigue, cognitive function, and physical function, but not OHQL. Enzalutamide was associated with improved deterioration-free survival for OHQL, physical function, and cognitive function because delays in disease progression outweighed early deteriorations in these aspects of HRQL. Enzalutamide improved deterioration-free survival for OHQL, physical function, & cognitive function