Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Auditory cortex conveys non-topographic sound localization signals to visual cortex

Perception requires binding spatiotemporally congruent multimodal sensory stimuli. The auditory cortex (AC) sends projections to the primary visual cortex (V1), which could provide signals for binding spatially corresponding audio-visual stimuli. However, it is unknown whether AC inputs in V1 encode sound location. We used dual-color two-photon axonal calcium imaging and an array of speakers to measure the auditory spatial information that AC transmits to V1. We found that AC relays information about the location of ipsilateral and contralateral sound sources to V1. Sound location could be accurately decoded by sampling AC axons in V1, providing a substrate for making location-specific audiovisual associations. However, AC inputs were not retinotopically arranged in V1, and audio-visual modulations of V1 neurons did not depend on the spatial congruency of the sound and light stimuli. The distributed, non-topographic sound localization signals provided by AC might allow the association of specific audiovisual spatial patterns in V1 neurons.
Influence of squeeze-film damping on the dynamic behavior of a curved micro-beam

A fixed–fixed curved micro-beam resonator under the influence of harmonic electrostatic field is considered. Due to the presence of incompressible fluid between the micro-beams and the electrode, a squeeze-film damping affects the dynamic behavior of the resonator. The combined effect of curved geometry and fluid squeeze-film damping is investigated for micro-beams with concave and convex geometries. A reduced-order model is obtained through the application of Galerkin discretization on a coupled fluid–structure system composed of the nonlinear Euler–Bernoulli beam equation and Burgdorfer’s model for the neighboring fluid. The dynamic behavior is assessed by investigating the influence of squeeze-film damping on the linear and nonlinear frequency response and the maximum resonant deflection of curved up and curved down micro-beams.
An Approximate Moving Boundary Method for American Options

We present a method to solve the free-boundary problem that arises in the pricing of classical American options. The method presented herein leverages on a one factor approximation and the moving boundary approach to yield an algorithm which has superior run times and accuracy as compared other computational methods that can solve the free-boundary problem. Exhaustive comparisons to other pricing methods are provided. We also discuss a variant of the proposed algorithm that allows the computation of only an option price rather than the entire price function, when the requirement is such.
Gradually weaning goat kids may improve weight gains while reducing weaning stress and increasing creep feed intakes

Most dairy goat farms rear kids on ad libitum milk replacer; calf research suggests this improves growth and welfare, but solid feed intakes are problematic. Weaning can be gradual (incremental milk reduction) or abrupt (sudden, complete milk removal, which evidence suggests reduces welfare). Three treatments were created: abrupt weaning (AW: ad libitum milk until weaning) and gradual weaning [milk ad libitum until day 35, then milk unavailable 3.5 h/day until day 45 when milk removal was a 7 h/day block (gradual weaning 1: GW1) or two 3.5 h/day blocks (gradual weaning 2; GW2)]; complete milk removal occurred at day 56 for all. Experiment 1 investigated on-farm feasibility, behavior, and average daily gain (ADG). Experiment 2 investigated feed intakes, behavior, and ADG for AW and GW2. Experiment 1 had 261 kids (nine pens of 25–32), CCTV recorded 6 h/day, and group-level scan sampling recorded target behaviors. Kruskal–Wallis tests showed GW2 kids spent more time feeding on solids during weaning (p = 0.001) and displayed lower levels of ‘frustrated suckling motivation’ PostWean (p = 0.008). However, feeding competition differed PreWeaning (p = 0.007). ADG data from 159 female kids analyzed by a general linear model (fixed factor: treatment; covariate: day 34 weight) found GW2 had the highest ADG from day 35–45 (p ≤ 0.001) and no differences from day 45 to 56, and AW had the highest ADG PostWean (day 56–60). Experiment 2 had two AW pens (9 kids/pen) and two GW2 pens (8 and 9 kids/pen). A computerized feeder recorded milk intakes from day 22 to 56. Pen-level solid feed/water intakes were recorded from day 14–70. General linear models (fixed factor: treatment; covariate: PreWean value) found GW2 kids had higher ADG (p = 0.046) and lower milk intake (p = 0.032) from day 45–55, and PostWean (day 56–70) trended toward GW2 higher ADG (p = 0.074). Mann–Whitney U tests showed pen-level feed intake differences: AW had higher creep and straw throughout, GW2 showed higher creep during weaning (day 35–55), and higher water PostWean (>56 d). Behavioral observations suggest that gradually weaned kids may have enhanced welfare. Pen-level gradual weaning is feasible and, while weight gain results were mixed, it reduced milk intake, increased creep intake, and therefore combined with behavioral evidence can be recommended.
Performance of SNP barcodes to determine genetic diversity and population structure of Plasmodium falciparum in Africa

Panels of informative biallelic single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have been proposed to be an economical method to fast-track the population genetic analysis of Plasmodium falciparum in malaria-endemic areas. Whilst used successfully in low-transmission areas where infections are monoclonal and highly related, we present the first study to evaluate the performance of these 24- and 96-SNP molecular barcodes in African countries, characterised by moderate-to-high transmission, where multiclonal infections are prevalent. For SNP barcodes it is generally recommended that the SNPs chosen i) are biallelic, ii) have a minor allele frequency greater than 0.10, and iii) are independently segregating, to minimise bias in the analysis of genetic diversity and population structure. Further, to be standardised and used in many population genetic studies, these barcodes should maintain characteristics i) to iii) across various iv) geographies and v) time points. Using haplotypes generated from the MalariaGEN P. falciparum Community Project version six database, we investigated the ability of these two barcodes to fulfil these criteria in moderate-to-high transmission African populations in 25 sites across 10 countries. Predominantly clinical infections were analysed, with 52.3% found to be multiclonal, generating high proportions of mixed-allele calls (MACs) per isolate thereby impeding haplotype construction. Of the 24- and 96-SNPs, loci were removed if they were not biallelic and had low minor allele frequencies in all study populations, resulting in 20- and 75-SNP barcodes respectively for downstream population genetics analysis. Both SNP barcodes had low expected heterozygosity estimates in these African settings and consequently biased analyses of similarity. Both minor and major allele frequencies were temporally unstable. These SNP barcodes were also shown to identify weak genetic differentiation across large geographic distances based on Mantel Test and DAPC. These results demonstrate that these SNP barcodes are vulnerable to ascertainment bias and as such cannot be used as a standardised approach for malaria surveillance in moderate-to-high transmission areas in Africa, where the greatest genomic diversity of P. falciparum exists at local, regional and country levels.
Evolution of the human tongue and emergence of speech biomechanics

The tongue is one of the organs most central to human speech. Here, the evolution and species-unique properties of the human tongue is traced, via reference to the apparent articulatory behavior of extant non-human great apes, and fossil findings from early hominids – from a point of view of articulatory phonetics, the science of human speech production. Increased lingual flexibility provided the possibility of mapping of articulatory targets, possibly via exaptation of manual-gestural mapping capacities evident in extant great apes. The emergence of the human-specific tongue, its properties, and morphology were crucial to the evolution of human articulate speech.
Editorial: The mechanism of metabolic immune microenvironment, inflammation and blood milk barrier in mastitis

COPYRIGHT © 2023 Guo, Fu, Liu and Zhu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. TYPE Editorial PUBLISHED 01 June 2023 DOI 10.3389/fimmu.2023. 1213826
Assessment of community pharmacists’ knowledge about drug-drug interactions in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Background: Drug-drug interactions (DDIs) have the potential to result in severe adverse drug events and profoundly affect patient outcomes. The pivotal role community pharmacists assume in recognizing and effectively managing these interactions necessitates a comprehensive understanding and heightened awareness of their implications. Such knowledge and awareness among community pharmacists are fundamental for ensuring the delivery of safe and efficacious care to patients. Aim: This study aimed to assess the knowledge of community pharmacists in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, regarding drug-drug interactions (DDIs). Method: A cross-sectional survey was administered to a cohort of 147 community pharmacists through the utilization of a self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire encompassed a comprehensive range of 30 multiple-choice questions, encompassing various facets pertaining to drug-drug interactions (DDIs). Results: A total of 147 community pharmacists working in Jeddah City, Saudi Arabia, completed the survey. The majority of them were male (89.1%, n = 131), and had bachelor’s degrees in pharmacy. Results showed that the lowest correct response of DDIs was between Theophylline/Omeprazole, while the highest was between amoxicillin and acetaminophen. Results revealed that among the 28 drug pairs, only six pairs were determined correctly by most participants. The study found that majority of the studied community pharmacist could not determine the correct answer on drug-drug interaction knowledge, as also seen with the measured below half mean DDIs knowledge of 38.22 ± 22.0 (min = 0, max = 89.29, median = 35.71). Conclusion: The study highlights the need for ongoing training and education programs for community pharmacists in Saudi Arabia to enhance their knowledge and understanding of DDIs, ultimately leading to improved patient care and safety.
Phase behavior of nematic-nanoparticle mixtures

We study the effects of nanoparticles (NPs) on thermotropic nematic liquid crystals (LCs) in relatively dilute NP–LC mixtures. We are interested in the fundamental generic mechanisms that quantitatively and qualitatively affect the phase behavior of LCs. A simple molecular field analysis shows that a phase transition will likely occur upon entry into the ordered phase. Moreover, the interaction between nematogenic NPs and LCs could force a sergeant–soldier-like behavior, in which only the phase behavior of one component is affected despite the symmetric appearance of the coupling term. When NPs are anisotropic, their influence on LC phase behavior can be qualitatively different depending on the anchoring, even in the absence of the disorder. We illustrate numerically that a random-field-type disorder might impose either short-range, quasi-long-range, or even long-range order, which might survive.
Integration of nurse-led virtual reviews with growth hormone device-linked patient adherence information: a mixed methods feasibility study

Introduction Easypod-connect™ for childhood growth disorders is a unique connected system that enables transmission of injection adherence information for recombinant human growth hormone (r-hGH). Although this system has the potential to facilitate greater adherence, observational studies have shown declining adherence over prolonged periods when used without additional support. Supplemental nurse practitioner support has been envisaged but not investigated; in this study, we have undertaken feasibility analysis of nurse-led virtual reviews (NVR) in combination with easypod-connect™ in a single centre using quantitative and qualitative analyses. Aims We aimed to test feasibility by assessing compliance with NVR, height standard deviation score (SDS) gain, adherence improvement and patient opinions. Methods Patients using easypod™ r-hGH were recruited prospectively to a 12-month study with two telephone NVR appointments in addition to standard of care in-person hospital outpatient visits. A subset was recruited for a semi-structured interview for qualitative thematic analysis. Results Forty-three patients of median (range) age 10.7 (6.7, 15.2) were recruited for a period of 1.1 (0.7, 1.8) years. Thirty-three (76.7%) patients were fully compliant with NVR integration with easypod-connect™, establishing feasibility. Median (inter-quartile range, IQR) height SDS improved from -1.85 (-2.44, -1.37) to -1.48 (-2.14, -1.07) (p<0.001) while adherence remained similar in the majority from study start [96.5 (88.8, 100.0)] to end [99.0 (94.0, 100.0)]. Qualitative analysis identified themes supporting patient benefit: practicalities of appointments, perceived purpose and significance of virtual reviews, and the importance of optimising growth. Four patients complained of injection pain, of whom two switched to an alternative r-hGH device. Conclusion Our study has demonstrated the feasibility of nurse-led virtual review integration with easypod-connect™ in a mixed methods study, laying the foundation for research in larger groups over longer periods. Nurse practitioner supported application of easypod-connect™ offers the potential for improved growth outcomes in all r-hGH devices providing adherence information.
Editorial: Circulating tumor DNA in cancer: a role as a response and monitoring “next-generation” biomarker in cancer therapy

COPYRIGHT © 2023 Latifi-Navid, Safaralizadeh and Wei. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. TYPE Editorial PUBLISHED 01 June 2023 DOI 10.3389/fonc.2023. 1210866
Design and operation of a Peucedani Radix weeding device based on YOLOV5 and a parallel manipulator

To avoid excessive use of herbicides in the weeding operations of Peucedani Radix, a common Chinese herb, a precision seedling avoidance and weeding agricultural robot was designed for the targeted spraying of herbicides. The robot uses YOLOV5 combined with ExG feature segmentation to detect Peucedani Radix and weeds and obtain their corresponding morphological centers. Optimal seedling avoidance and precise herbicide spraying trajectories are generated using a PSO-Bezier algorithm based on the morphological characteristics of Peucedani Radix. Seedling avoidance trajectories and spraying operations are executed using a parallel manipulator with spraying devices. The validation experiments showed that the precision and recall of Peucedani Radix detection were 98.7% and 88.2%, respectively, and the weed segmentation rate could reach 95% when the minimum connected domain was 50. In the actual Peucedani Radix field spraying operation, the success rate of field precision seedling avoidance herbicide spraying was 80.5%, the collision rate between the end actuator of the parallel manipulator and Peucedani Radix was 4%, and the average running time of the parallel manipulator for precision herbicide spraying on a single weed was 2 s. This study can enrich the theoretical basis of targeted weed control and provide reference for similar studies.
Theoretical insights into the methane catalytic decomposition on graphene nanoribbons edges

Catalytic methane decomposition (CMD) is receiving much attention as a promising application for hydrogen production. Due to the high energy required for breaking the C-H bonds of methane, the choice of catalyst is crucial to the viability of this process. However, atomistic insights for the CMD mechanism on carbon-based materials are still limited. Here, we investigate the viability of CMD under reaction conditions on the zigzag (12-ZGNR) and armchair (AGRN) edges of graphene nanoribbons employing dispersion-corrected density functional theory (DFT). First, we investigated the desorption of H and H2 at 1200 K on the passivated 12-ZGNR and 12-AGNR edges. The diffusion of hydrogen atom on the passivated edges is the rate determinant step for the most favourable H2 desorption pathway, with a activation free energy of 4.17 eV and 3.45 eV on 12-ZGNR and 12-AGNR, respectively. The most favourable H2 desorption occurs on the 12-AGNR edges with a free energy barrier of 1.56 eV, reflecting the availability of bare carbon active sites on the catalytic application. The direct dissociative chemisorption of CH4 is the preferred pathway on the non-passivated 12-ZGNR edges, with an activation free energy of 0.56 eV. We also present the reaction steps for the complete catalytic dehydrogenation of methane on 12-ZGNR and 12-AGNR edges, proposing a mechanism in which the solid carbon formed on the edges act as new active sites. The active sites on the 12-AGNR edges show more propensity to be regenerated due lower free energy barrier of 2.71 eV for the H2 desorption from the newly grown active site. Comparison is made between the results obtained here and experimental and computational data available in the literature. We provide fundamental insights for the engineering of carbon-based catalysts for the CMD, showing that the bare carbon edges of graphene nanoribbons have performance comparable to commonly used metallic and bi-metallic catalysts for methane decomposition.
New and Efficient Feature Extraction Methods Based on Maximum Margin Criterion

Based on the maximum margin criterion(MMC),a new algorithm of orthogonal optimal discriminant vectors and a new algorithm of statistically uncorrelated optimal discriminant vectors for feature extraction were proposed.The purpose of the maximum margin criterion is to maximize the inter-class scatter while simultaneously minimizing the intra-class scatter after the projection.Compared with original MMC method and principal component analysis(PCA)method,the proposed methods are better in terms of reducing or eliminating the statistically correlation between features and improving recognition rate.The experimental results on Olivetti Research Laboratory(ORL)face database and NUST603 face database show that the new feature extraction method of statistically uncorrelated maximum margin criterion(SUMMC)are better in terms of recognition rate and stability.Besides,the relations between maximum margin criterion and Fisher criterion for feature extraction were revealed.
Classification of group A rotavirus VP7 and VP4 genotypes using random forest

Introduction: Group A rotaviruses are major pathogens in causing severe diarrhea in young children and neonates of many different species of animals worldwide and group A rotavirus sequence data are becoming increasingly available over time. Different methods exist that allow for rotavirus genotyping, but machine learning methods have yet to be explored. Usage of machine learning algorithms such as random forest alongside alignment-based methodology may allow for both efficient and accurate classification of circulating rotavirus genotypes through the dual classification system. Methods: Random forest models were trained on positional features obtained from pairwise and multiple sequence alignment and cross-validated using methods of repeated 10-fold cross-validation thrice and leave one- out cross validation. Models were then validated on unseen data from the testing datasets to observe real-world performance. Results: All models were found to perform strongly in classification of VP7 and VP4 genotypes with high overall accuracy and kappa values during model training (0.975–0.992, 0.970–0.989) and during model testing (0.972–0.996, 0.969–0.996), respectively. Models trained on multiple sequence alignment generally had slightly higher overall accuracy and kappa values than models trained on pairwise sequence alignment method. In contrast, pairwise sequence alignment models were found to be generally faster than multiple sequence alignment models in computational speed when models do not need to be retrained. Models that used repeated 10-fold cross-validation thrice were also found to be much faster in model computational speed than models that used leave-one-out cross validation, with no noticeable difference in overall accuracy and kappa values between the cross-validation methods. Discussion: Overall, random forest models showed strong performance in the classification of both group A rotavirus VP7 and VP4 genotypes. Application of these models as classifiers will allow for rapid and accurate classification of the increasing amounts of rotavirus sequence data that are becoming available.
Case report: Shock after percutaneous vertebroplasty of the 5th thoracic vertebra

Background Percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP) is a common treatment for osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture (OVCF). Perioperative bleeding is usually rare, so there are few reports of shock. However, we developed shock after treating a case of OVCF of the 5th thoracic vertebra with PVP. Case presentation An 80 years old female patient received PVP due to OVCF of the 5th thoracic vertebra. The operation was successfully completed and the patient returned to the ward safely after the operation. At 90 min after operation, she developed shock, which was induced by subcutaneous hemorrhage up to 1500 ml at the puncture site. Before using vascular embolization, transfusion and blood transfusion were used to maintain blood pressure, and local ice bag compression was used to reduce swelling and stop bleeding, which achieved successful hemostasis. She recovered and discharged after 15 days, with the hematoma having absorbed. There was no recurrence during the 17-month follow-up. Conclusion Although PVP is considered to be a safe and effective method to treat OVCF, the possible hemorrhagic shock still needs to arouse the vigilance of surgeons.
Satellite cell contribution to disease pathology in Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Progressive muscle weakness and degeneration characterize Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a lethal, x-linked neuromuscular disorder that affects 1 in 5,000 boys. Loss of dystrophin protein leads to recurrent muscle degeneration, progressive fibrosis, chronic inflammation, and dysfunction of skeletal muscle resident stem cells, called satellite cells. Unfortunately, there is currently no cure for DMD. In this mini review, we discuss how satellite cells in dystrophic muscle are functionally impaired, and how this contributes to the DMD pathology, and the tremendous potential of restoring endogenous satellite cell function as a viable treatment strategy to treat this debilitating and fatal disease.