Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cluster-specific gene markers enhance Shigella and enteroinvasive Escherichia coli in silico serotyping

Shigella and enteroinvasive Escherichia coli (EIEC) cause human bacillary dysentery with similar invasion mechanisms and share similar physiological, biochemical and genetic characteristics. The ability to differentiate Shigella and EIEC from each other is important for clinical diagnostic and epidemiologic investigations. The existing genetic signatures may not discriminate between Shigella and EIEC. Phylogenetically, Shigella and EIEC strains composed of multiple clusters and are different forms of E. coli. In this study, we identified 10 Shigella clusters, 7 EIEC clusters and 53 sporadic types of EIEC by examining over 17,000 publicly available Shigella/EIEC genomes. We compared Shigella and EIEC accessory genomes to identify the cluster-specific gene markers or marker sets for the 17 clusters and 53 sporadic types. The gene markers showed 99.63% accuracy and more than 97.02% specificity. In addition, we developed a freely available in silico serotyping pipeline named Shigella EIEC Cluster Enhanced Serotype Finder (ShigEiFinder) by incorporating the cluster-specific gene markers and established Shigella/EIEC serotype specific O antigen genes and modification genes into typing. ShigEiFinder can process either paired end Illumina sequencing reads or assembled genomes. ShigEiFinder provided nearly perfect differentiation of Shigella from EIEC with 99.70% and 99.81% accuracy to assign isolates to the correct clusters for the assembled genomes and reads mapping respectively. ShigEiFinder was able to serotype over 59 Shigella serotypes and 22 EIEC serotypes and provided a high specificity with 99.40% for assembled genomes and 99.38% for reads mapping for serotyping. The cluster markers and our new serotyping tool, ShigEiFinder, will be useful for epidemiologic and diagnostic investigations. Data summary Sequencing data have been deposited at the National Center for Biotechnology Information under BioPreoject number PRJNA692536.
Disseminated Candidiasis and Candidemia Caused by Candida palmioleophila in a Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas)

Simple Summary A sub-adult green sea turtle was rescued and treated for shell fractures on the carapace and plastron. During the first 2 months, the turtle was kept dry-docked with a placement of an intravenous catheter. Pain management, antibiotic and anthelmintic therapy, fluid therapy, human albumin, force feeding, and wound debridement were provided to manage the shell fractures and to control the infection. After 2 months of care, small budding yeasts were noted on the turtle’s blood smears. Blood cultures yielded yeast-like colonies that were later identified as Candida palmioleophila. The patient was then treated with an antifungal agent and the catheter was removed. Approximately 3.5 months later, the carapace and plastron wounds had healed. However, the turtle died at 7.5 months after rescue. The postmortem examination revealed disseminated yeast in joints, bones, brain, and lungs. This study aims to improve the veterinary medical care and, therefore, enhance the conservation of endangered sea turtles by describing a rare report of systemic C. palmioleophila infection. Abstract A sub-adult green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) was rescued and treated for carapace and plastron shell fractures. The turtle was kept dry-docked for the first 2 months with a placement of a long-term jugular central venous catheter (CVC). Pain management, aggressive antibiotic and anthelmintic therapy, fluid therapy, force feeding, and wound debridement were provided to manage the shell fractures and control bacteremia. Human albumin was administered to treat severe hypoalbuminemia. On day 59, small budding yeasts were noted on the blood smears. Candidemia was confirmed by blood culture, as the yeasts were identified as Candida palmioleophila by the molecular multi-locus identification method. The CVC was removed, and the patient was treated with itraconazole. Although the carapace and plastron wounds had epithelized by 5.5 months after the rescue, the turtle died unexpectedly by 7.5 months. The postmortem examination revealed numerous necrogranulomas with intralesional yeasts, morphologically compatible with Candida spp. , in joints, bones, brain, and lungs, suggestive of disseminated candidiasis. We describe a rare case of candidemia in the veterinary field. To our knowledge, this is the first report of candidiasis caused by C. palmioleophila in a reptile. The present results should improve veterinary medical care and, therefore, enhance the conservation of endangered sea turtle species.
Direct Coil Cooling of a High Performance Switched Reluctance Machine (SRM) for EV/HEV Applications

This paper presents the development of a novel direct coil cooling approach which can enable high performance for electric traction motor, and in further significantly reduce motor losses. The proposed approach focuses on bypassing critical thermal resistances in motor by cooling coils directly in stator slots with oil flow. Firstly, the basic configuration and features are shown: sealed stator slots to air gap, pressure reservoirs on both side of the slots and slot channels for oil flow. The key to enhance thermal performance of the motor here is based on introducing fluid guiding structure in the slot channels. Next, heat transfer in the channel with guiding structure is investigated by CFD and compared with bare slot channel without guiding structure. For studying the effectiveness of proposed cooling concept, numerical analysis is conducted to compare it with HEV favored oil impingement cooling. Finally, thermal performance of the proposed cooling approach is verified and compared with water/glycol jacket cooling on a switched reluctance machine prototype for EV application inside a public funded project ODIN.
Cardiotoxicity and Chemotherapy—The Role of Precision Medicine

Cancer and cardiovascular disease are the leading causes of death in the United Kingdom. Many systemic anticancer treatments are associated with short- and long-term cardiotoxicity. With improving cancer survival and an ageing population, identifying those patients at the greatest risk of cardiotoxicity from their cancer treatment is becoming a research priority and has led to a new subspecialty: cardio-oncology. In this concise review article, we discuss cardiotoxicity and systemic anticancer therapy, with a focus on chemotherapy. We also discuss the challenge of identifying those at risk and the role of precision medicine as we strive for a personalised approach to this clinical scenario.
Modeling Routing Behavior for Vacant Taxicabs in Urban Traffic Networks

Taxicabs account for a significant portion of traffic in many Asian cities, and route choice by taxi drivers is an active research area. The routing objectives of a taxi driver vary, depending on taxi occupancy. If a taxi is occupied by customers, then a least-cost path is usually sought. Several paradigms in the literature are related to such a routing objective. However, the taxi driver's route choice behavior when a taxi is vacant is not well understood. A routing model for vacant taxis is proposed in which taxi drivers are assumed to minimize the expected search time for customers when making routing decisions at intersections. A probabilistic dynamic programming formulation of the problem and the solution algorithm are presented. A numerical analysis was conducted on a hypothetical network resembling the traffic network structure in the city of Taipei, Taiwan. The proposed model exhibited realistic and reasonable properties. This research sheds light on the routing decisions of taxi drivers and therefore directly supports areawide traffic management.
A Multi-Mode Broadband Vibration Energy Harvester Based on MEMS 3D Coils

This paper presents an electromagnetic vibration energy harvester utilizing 3D MEMS coils and multi-mode structure to improve the output power and broaden the frequency band. We fabricated and assembled the prototype, with a pair of 3D coils fabricated by lithography, silicon etching, silicon direct bonding and copper electroplating, et al., which are compatible with CMOS processes. The numerical simulation was conducted to analysis the vibration modes of the spring-mass system, which revealed the multi-mode mechanism of serpentine springs. We also tested the output power-frequency curves for different load and excitation acceleration to investigate the optimal load resistance and the influence of excitation. The test results showed that the proposed prototype can generate 1. 2μW power under 992Hz for 1g acceleration with a half-power bandwidth of 65Hz, which are higher than some recent published data, proving the superiority of proposed structure.
Artificial Sinks: Opportunities and Challenges for Managing Offsite Nitrogen Losses

Advanced control measures are needed after nitrogen (N) leaves agricultural fields and begins to flow through a catchment. Bioreactors – simple, wood-chip filled trenches – and constructed wetlands afford additional treatment to reduce N from agricultural lands, but their success requires informed adoption and placement. Rates of N removal in field studies of bioreactors vary based on carbon substrate, hydrologic setting, temperature, N loading and hydraulic residence time. From limited measures in constructed wetlands, N removal can be substantial and influenced by seasonality. Additional research is needed to understand uncertainty and variability associated with these systems. Further synthesis of data from research and demonstration sites combined with geospatial tools will help guide the design and siting of these systems at regional and local scales. Professional and student training and web-based data information exchange will advance the adoption and strategic placement of appropriate bioreactor and constructed wetland designs to remove edge-of-field N contributions.
The Implementation of Performance Measurement System (PMS): Malaysian Facilities Management (FM) Industry

Performance Measurement System (PMS) is an effective performance measurement tool and technique that is being widely implemented in the global industries. Literature has suggested the significant contributions of its implementation in enhancing the strategic service delivery and performance. However, there is little study undertaken to explore the PMS implementation in Facilities Management (FM) industry, particularly focusing on Malaysia. This study explores the PMS practice among FM practitioners and their knowledge in Performance Measurement (PM) generally. Findings from this study also proposed the 20 contributing factors that the FM practitioners believed are the barriers in implementing PMS. This research also suggests the future research opportunities in developing a PMS framework that can be used as guidance for FM service delivery in Malaysia.
NLRP3 Inflammasome in Diabetic Cardiomyopathy and Exercise Intervention

Diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM), as a common complication of diabetes, is characterized by chronic low-grade inflammation. The NLRP3 inflammasome is a key sensor mediating innate immune and inflammatory responses. However, the mechanisms initiating and promoting NLRP3 inflammasome activation in DCM is largely unexplored. The aim of the present review is to describe the link between NLRP3 inflammasome and DCM, and to provide evidence highlighting the importance of exercise training in DCM intervention. Collectively, this evidence suggests that DCM is an inflammatory disease aggravated by NLRP3 inflammasome-mediated release of IL-1β and IL-18. In addition, chronic exercise intervention is an effective preventive and therapeutic method to alleviate DCM via modulating the NLRP3 inflammasome.
Some Compatible and Weakly-Compatible Four Self-Mapping Results Approach to Nonlinear Integral Equations in Fuzzy Cone Metric Spaces

This paper is aimed at proving some unique common fixed point theorems by using the compatible and weakly-compatible four self-mappings in fuzzy cone metric (FCM) space. We prove the results under the generalized rational contraction conditions in FCM spaces with the help of one self-map are continuous. Furthermore, we prove some rational contraction results with the weaker condition of the self-mapping continuity. Ultimately, our theoretical work has been utilized to prove the existence solution of the two nonlinear integral equations. This is an illustrative application of how FCM spaces can be used in other integral type operators.
NEONATAL SEIZURE STATES

In the March issue of Pediatrics two corrections should be made in the article by Drs. Rose and Lombroso: Page 406: Table III, second footnote should read † 1. Two siblings with seizures which continued and were accompanied by mental retardation. 2. A case of transient familial neonatal seizures occurring in three generations and followed by normal development. 3. One sibship and a sporadic case of pyridoxine dependency. 4. A case of hypernatremia associated with hypocalcemia of unknown etiology. 5. A case of hemorrhagic disease of the newborn. 6. A case of congenital heart disease with transient seizures. Page 418: Table referred to in second line, section on Pathologic Findings, should be XII rather than II.
Consequences of COVID-19 on Banking Sector Index: Artificial Neural Network Model

The World Health Organization officially declared COVID-19 a global pandemic on 11 March 2020. In this study, we examine the effect of COVID-19 indicators and policy response on the Saudi banking index. COVID-19 variables that were applied are: new confirmed and fatal COVID-19 cases in Saudi Arabia; lockdowns; first and second decreases in interest rates; regulations, and oil prices. We implemented the analysis by running a stepwise regression analysis then building an artificial neural network (ANN) model. According to regression findings, oil prices and new confirmed cases have had a significant positive effect on the Saudi banking index. Nevertheless, the lockdown announcements in Saudi Arabia and the first decrease in interest rates had a significant negative effect on the Saudi banking index. To enhance the performance of the linear regression model, the ANN model was built. Findings showed that the ranking of the variables in terms of their importance is: oil price, number of confirmed cases, lockdown announcements, decrease in interest rates, and lastly, regulations.
North Hoyle offshore wind farm: design and build

North Hoyle is the UK's first major offshore wind farm. It comprises 30 wind turbine generators each capable of generating up to 2MW. The total installed capacity is therefore 60MW and enough electricity is generated each year for some 40 000 homes. The wind farm offsets an annual release of about 160 000 tonnes of carbon dioxide. Initial site investigations began in the summer of 1999 and by April 2001 a Development Licence was awarded by Crown Estate and the Department for Trade and Industry (DTI). Public consultation commenced in July 2001 and the Consent Application was submitted in February 2002. All the required consents were granted by October 2002. Following a competitive bidding process, a design and build contract was awarded to the North Hoyle Consortium (comprising Vestas Celtic Wind Turbines and Mayflower Energy) in the autumn of 2002. Onshore construction commenced in November 2002 with offshore construction commencing in April 2003. First offcial generation from the site was in mid November.
Impact of Hyperparameter Tuning on Machine Learning Models in Stock Price Forecasting

Stock price forecasting has been reported as a challenging task in the scientific and financial communities due to stock prices’ nonlinear and dynamic nature. Machine learning models exhibit capabilities that allow them to handle nonlinear data and be candidate tools for stock price forecasting. In this study, an empirical evaluation of eight conventional machine learning models’ is conducted to forecast the stock price of eleven companies belonging to the Saudi Stock Exchange. Moreover, the optimal configuration of hyperparameters in each machine learning model is identified. Forecasting performance is evaluated by two well-known error metrics: Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) and Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE). Wilcoxson effect size is utilized to determine the impact of hyperparameter tuning by comparing tuned and un-tuned machine learning models’ forecasting performance. Empirical results indicate there are varying impacts of hyperparameter tuning of machine learning models in forecasting stock price. After tuning the hyperparameters, Support Vector Regression outperforms other forecasting models with a significant statistical difference. In contrast, Kernel Ridge Regression shows noteworthy forecasting performance without hyperparameter tuning with respect to other un-tuned forecasting models. However, Decision Tree and K-Nearest Neighbour are the poor-performing models which demonstrate inadequate forecasting performance even after hyperparameter tuning.
A 1550-nm millimeter-wave photodetector with a bandwidth-efficiency product of 2.4 THz

The monolithic integration of an optical preamplifier and a waveguide p-i-n photodiode has resulted in a 1550-nm photodetector having an external quantum efficiency of 72 (a responsivity of 89 A/W) and an electrical bandwidth of 33.5 GHz. These figures combine to give a bandwidth efficiency product of 2.4 THz, which is approximately one hundred times higher than for any other type of millimeter-wave photodetector published to date. In addition, the preamplifier performance is supplemented by wide optical bandwidth (60 nm), low polarization sensitivity (1 dB), near traveling wave amplification (1-dB maximum gain ripple), and high saturated output power (+11 dBm). The principal advance over work reported earlier is the traveling wave operation of the monolithic optical preamplifier. >
Frequency conversion of flicker noise in bipolar junction transistors

A novel experimental system for the investigation of frequency-translated flicker noise in bipolar junction transistors is demonstrated. First, transistors are characterized for their base-emitter junction behavior and flicker noise parameters in steady state. Then the conversion gain of the baseband flicker noise to the sidebands of the carrier is measured for several different carrier levels upon the application of a large-signal carrier to the transistors under test. The measured conversion gain is compared to that predicted using a harmonic balance noise simulation. Discrepancies between measurement and simulation indicate the presence of an effect not currently addressed in the literature.
77 K versus 300 K operation: the quasi-saturation behavior of a DMOS device and its fully analytical model

A simulation study on the 77-K versus 300-K operation in terms of the quasi-saturation behavior of a DMOS device using low-temperature PISCES is discussed. From the analysis, a closed-form analytical quasi-saturation model for DMOS devices has been derived. Based on the analysis, for a lightly doped substrate (1*10/sup 15/ cm/sup -3/), at 77 K, the drain current at quasi-saturation is higher than that at 300 K. For a heavily doped-substrate (1*10/sup 16/ cm/sup -3/), at 77 K, the drain current at quasi-saturation is lower. The difference in drain current at quasi-saturation between 77 K and 300 K for different substrate doping densities is attributed to the incomplete ionization and saturated velocity effects. >
Differential Accumulation of Misfolded Prion Strains in Natural Hosts of Prion Diseases

Prion diseases, also known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), are a group of neurodegenerative protein misfolding diseases that invariably cause death. TSEs occur when the endogenous cellular prion protein (PrPC) misfolds to form the pathological prion protein (PrPSc), which templates further conversion of PrPC to PrPSc, accumulates, and initiates a cascade of pathologic processes in cells and tissues. Different strains of prion disease within a species are thought to arise from the differential misfolding of the prion protein and have different clinical phenotypes. Different strains of prion disease may also result in differential accumulation of PrPSc in brain regions and tissues of natural hosts. Here, we review differential accumulation that occurs in the retinal ganglion cells, cerebellar cortex and white matter, and plexuses of the enteric nervous system in cattle with bovine spongiform encephalopathy, sheep and goats with scrapie, cervids with chronic wasting disease, and humans with prion diseases. By characterizing TSEs in their natural host, we can better understand the pathogenesis of different prion strains. This information is valuable in the pursuit of evaluating and discovering potential biomarkers and therapeutics for prion diseases.
STEEP WALL MONITORING USING SWITCHED ANTENNA ARRAYS AND PERMANENT GPS NETWORKS

The use of permanent GPS networks for small to medium scale high precision deformation monitoring projects is often discounted due to the high capital cost involved in establishing geodetic GPS receivers at each monitoring point. This paper presents an alternative to the traditional permanent multi-reference GPS network that offers similar levels of precision, at a lower per point cost. This is achieved using a switched GPS antenna array system, in which multiple GPS antennas are connected to a single GPS receiver at the deformation site. By periodically switching between antennas, it is possible to sample and record GPS observations from different stations quasi-continuously. Moreover, the system has been designed to operate in near real-time, whereby data from all monitoring stations are relayed to a computer, then processed automatically. This enables a cumulative station coordinate time series to be generated ‘on-the-fly’, from which deformation, such as wall movement, can be assessed. This paper describes the results achieved using the switched GPS antenna array deformation monitoring system, installed on an unstable wall of an open-pit mine and operating continuously for a total of 8 weeks. Multiple reference stations, on assumed stable ground, have been used to improve the reliability of the resultant coordinate time series from that used using a single baseline approach. Coordinate precisions of 4mm in plan and 10mm in height were obtained, from which three-dimensional deformations of as little as 2mm/week were detected. The proposed configuration has proved to be a viable, much cheaper alternative to using a separate receiver and antenna for each monitoring station.
On optimum phase-locked loop

In communication engineering the problem of synchronization is important and is usually achieved by use of a phase-locked loop. If for any reason synchronization is lost, then it is not only necessary that it be restored but it be done so in the shortest possible time. This paper considers precisely this problem. It is shown in Proposition 1 of the paper that the optimum non-linear device used in the feedback path of the phase-locked loop, which attains synchronization in the shortest possible time, is the ‘ oil-off ’ device. In § 3 approximation of this device by a continuous non-linear one is suggested and the corresponding results are presented both for fixed and variable input-phase angles. The conclusion of Proposition 1 is true under the assumption that the forward filter G IB an ideal low-pass filter. In § 4 steps are suggested for finding the optimal feedback device /∗ in case the filter G is not an ideal filter.