jimnoneill/paper-to-field-training huggingface dataset:
Effect of aging on antibody production against the receptor binding domain of Clostridioides difficile toxin B in a murine model

Field: Immunology and Microbiology (Life Sciences)

Clostridioides difficile is a spore producing, gram positive, anaerobic bacillus which produces toxins and causes antibiotic associated diarrhea. The main risk factor for infection is disruption of the normal gut flora from antibiotic use, allowing overgrowth of C. difficile in the colon. Toxins can cause severe diarrhea and pseudomembranous colitis. Current therapies for acute infection are Fidaxomicin, Vancomycin, or Metronidazole. C. difficile infections (CDI) are an urgent problem, and developing effective vaccines should be a priority. The current aim of vaccine development has surrounded the receptor binding domain of the toxin B protein (rTcdB) because of its increased immunogenicity and non-toxicity. CDI are frequently acquired in hospitals and nursing homes, leaving the elderly population at a higher risk of developing CDI. Additionally, immunosenescence, decreased immune functioning in older individuals, only furthers their risk. Given that most murine vaccine studies use younger mice, and the increased risk of severe infection in the elderly, it is important that the efficacy of any vaccine be tested in this population. Our lab has studied the effect of aging on IgG production against rTcdB protein in a murine model. In our pilot study, we vaccinated young (6 weeks old) and elderly (72 weeks old) C57BL/6 mice with purified recombinant protein corresponding to the receptor binding domain of C. difficile toxin B (rTcdB). Each mouse received by intraperitoneal injection of 3 doses of 20µg rTcdB mixed with Alum or saline only. Our study showed that in both young and elderly mice, rTcdB vaccination induced antigen specific IgGs in serum collected 2 weeks post vaccination. Interestingly, our novel study showed a decreased IgG response in older mice when compared to the younger group, which could indicate a decreased defense against C. difficile infection in older mice. Our study suggests that the immune system of elderly individuals may not respond as robustly against rTcdB, which could reduce the efficacy of a vaccine based on this protein. More work can be done to investigate how to support gut microbiota and reduce severity of acute CDI in at risk populations. We are currently working on exploring the role of micronutrient supplementation to improve vaccine efficiency.
“Dishonourable disobedience” – Why refusal to treat in reproductive healthcare is not conscientious objection

Field: Medicine (Health Sciences)

In medicine, the vast majority of conscientious objection (CO) is exercised within the reproductive healthcare field – particularly for abortion and contraception. Current laws and practices in various countries around CO in reproductive healthcare show that it is unworkable and frequently abused, with harmful impacts on women's healthcare and rights. CO in medicine is supposedly analogous to CO in the military, but in fact the two have little in common. This paper argues that CO in reproductive health is not actually Conscientious Objection, but Dishonourable Disobedience (DD) to laws and ethical codes. Healthcare professionals who exercise CO are using their position of trust and authority to impose their personal beliefs on patients, who are completely dependent on them for essential healthcare. Health systems and institutions that prohibit staff from providing abortion or contraception services are being discriminatory by systematically denying healthcare services to a vulnerable population and disregarding conscience rights for abortion providers. CO in reproductive healthcare should be dealt with like any other failure to perform one's professional duty, through enforcement and disciplinary measures. Counteracting institutional CO may require governmental or even international intervention.
The accuracy of polyuria, polydipsia, polyphagia, and Indian Diabetes Risk Score in adults screened for diabetes mellitus type-II

Field: Medicine (Health Sciences)

Context: The World Health Organization report suggests that over 19% of the world's diabetic population currently resides in India. Unfortunately, >50% of the diabetics in India are unaware about their diabetic status. In the poor income country like India, it is essential to use cost-effective methods for screening for diabetes, and traditionally using three classical symptoms and Indian Diabetes Risk Score (IDRS) tool is helpful but, data regarding their diagnostic accuracy is very less. Objective: (1) To assess the diagnostic accuracy of polyuria, polydipsia, polyphagia, and IDRS for detecting diabetes. Settings and Design: Six hundred and seventy-seven adult individuals> 20 years of age were screened for diabetes and assessed polyuria, polydipsia, polyphagia, and IDRS score. All were subjected for postprandial blood glucose level. Subjects and Methods: For diagnostic accuracy sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, likelihood ratios (LRs, for positive and negative tests), and accuracy was calculated for each symptom. Similarly, by receiver operative curve (ROC) curve analysis, we carried out sensitivity and specificity of IDRS. Results: There was statistically significant association between these three classical symptoms and diabetes status of individuals. When present, all these three symptoms carried 7.34% sensitivity and 98.42% specificity with positive predictive value 47.06% and NPV 84.70%, LR+4.36, LR−0.94 with accuracy of 85%. The optimum cutoff value of IDRS score was> 50, which carried sensitivity 73%, specificity 58.7%, and area under curve for ROC was 68% (P < 0.001). Conclusions: This study has shown highest specificity for these three classical symptoms in diagnosing diabetes, but these symptoms were insensitive to detect all diabetic subjects.
Acaulospora as the Dominant Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi in Organic Lowland Rice Paddies Improves Phosphorus Availability in Soils

Field: Agricultural and Biological Sciences (Life Sciences)

Flooding in rainfed lowlands greatly impairs the mutualistic relationship between indigenous arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and rice. In flooded soils, root colonization by AMF is arrested, but some AMF genera, defined as the core AMF, remain present. However, the core AMF in rainfed lowlands and their symbiotic roles remain unknown. Here, we showed that Acaulospora fungi were the core AMF in rice seedling roots of the Sangyod Muang Phatthalung (SMP) landrace rice variety grown in non-flooded and flooded paddy soils. Subsequently, indigenous Acaulospora spores were propagated by trap cultures using maize as the host plants. Therefore, to clarify the roles of cultured Acaulospora spores in a symbiotic partnership, the model japonica rice variety Nipponbare was grown in sterile soil inoculated with Acaulospora spores, and recolonized with a native microbial filtrate from the organic rice paddy soil. Our data demonstrated that the inoculation of Acaulospora spores in well-drained soil under a nutrient-sufficient condition for six weeks enabled 70 percent of the rice roots to be colonized by the fungi, leading to higher phosphate (Pi) accumulation in the mycorrhizal roots. Unexpectedly, the growth of rice seedlings was significantly suppressed by inoculation while photosynthetic parameters such as fractions of incoming light energy and relative chlorophyll content were unaltered. In the soil, the Acaulospora fungi increased soil phosphorus (P) availability by enhancing the secretion of acid phosphatase in the mycorrhizal roots. The findings of this work elucidate the symbiotic roles of the dominant Acaulospora fungi from lowland rice paddies.
Impacts of data consistency levels in cloud-based NoSQL for data-intensive applications

Field: Computer Science (Physical Sciences)

Abstract When using database management systems (DBMSs), it is common to distribute instance replicas across multiple locations for disaster recovery and scaling purposes. To efficiently geo-replicate data, it is crucial to ensure the data and its replicas remain consistent with the same and the most up-to-date data. However, DBMSs’ inner characteristics and external factors, such as the replication strategy and network latency, can affect system performance when dealing with data replication, especially when the replicas are deployed far apart from the others. Thus, it is essential to comprehend how achieving high data consistency levels in geo-replicated systems can impact systems performance. This work analyzes various data consistency settings for the widely used NoSQL DBMSs, namely MongoDB, Redis, and Cassandra. The analysis is based on real-world experiments in which DBMS nodes are deployed on cloud platforms in different locations, considering single and multiple region deployments. Based on the results of the experiments, we provide a comprehensive analysis regarding the system throughput and response time when executing reading and writing operations, pointing out scenarios where each DBMS could be better employed. Some of our findings include, for instance, that opting for strong data consistency significantly impacts Cassandra’s reading operations in the single-region deployment, while MongoDB writing operations are most affected in a multi-region scenario. Additionally, all of these DBMSs exhibit statistically significant variations across all scenarios in the multi-region setup when the data consistency is switched from weak to stronger level.
Faster data structures and graphics hardware techniques for high performance rendering

Field: Computer Science (Physical Sciences)

Computer generated imagery is used in a wide range of disciplines, each with different requirements. As an example, real-time applications such as computer games have completely different restrictions and demands than offline rendering of feature films. A game has to render quickly using only limited resources, yet present visually adequate images. Film and visual effects rendering may not have strict time requirements but are still required to render efficiently utilizing huge render systems with hundreds or even thousands of CPU cores. In real-time rendering, with limited time and hardware resources, it is always important to produce as high rendering quality as possible given the constraints available. The first paper in this thesis presents an analytical hardware model together with a feed-back system that guarantees the highest level of image quality subject to a limited time budget. As graphics processing units grow more powerful, power consumption becomes a critical issue. Smaller handheld devices have only a limited source of energy, their battery, and both small devices and high-end hardware are required to minimize energy consumption not to overheat. The second paper presents experiments and analysis which consider power usage across a range of real-time rendering algorithms and shadow algorithms executed on high-end, integrated and handheld hardware. Computing accurate reflections and refractions effects has long been considered available only in offline rendering where time isn’t a constraint. The third paper presents a hybrid approach, utilizing the speed of real-time rendering algorithms and hardware with the quality of offline methods to render high quality reflections and refractions in real-time. The fourth and fifth paper present improvements in construction time and quality of Bounding Volume Hierarchies (BVH). Building BVHs faster reduces rendering time in offline rendering and brings ray tracing a step closer towards a feasible real-time approach. Bonsai, presented in the fourth paper, constructs BVHs on CPUs faster than contemporary competing algorithms and produces BVHs of a very high quality. Following Bonsai, the fifth paper presents an algorithm that refines BVH construction by allowing triangles to be split. Although splitting triangles increases construction time, it generally allows for higher quality BVHs. The fifth paper introduces a triangle splitting BVH construction approach that builds BVHs with quality on a par with an earlier high quality splitting algorithm. However, the method presented in paper five is several times faster in construction time.
Ambiguity in language networks

Field: Computer Science (Physical Sciences)

Human language defines the most complex outcomes of evolution. The emergence of such an elaborated form of communication allowed humans to create extremely structured societies and manage symbols at different levels including, among others, semantics. All linguistic levels have to deal with an astronomic combinatorial potential that stems from the recursive nature of languages. This recursiveness is indeed a key defining trait. However, not all words are equally combined nor frequent. In breaking the symmetry between less and more often used and between less and more meaning-bearing units, universal scaling laws arise. Such laws, common to all human languages, appear on different stages from word inventories to networks of interacting words. Among these seemingly universal traits exhibited by language networks, ambiguity appears to be a specially relevant component. Ambiguity is avoided in most computational approaches to language processing, and yet it seems to be a crucial element of language architecture. Here we review the evidence both from language network architecture and from theoretical reasonings based on a least effort argument. Ambiguity is shown to play an essential role in providing a source of language efficiency, and is likely to be an inevitable byproduct of network growth.
Association between serum homocysteine and arterial stiffness in patients with Behçet’s disease

Field: Medicine (Health Sciences)

Aim of the work: To study the effects of serum homocysteine (Hcy) on arterial wall properties, as a contributing risk factor for arterial atherosclerosis and thrombosis. Patients and methods: Fifty Behçet's disease (BD) patients (M/F:37/13; age:34.8 ± 8.5 years) along with 50 healthy controls (M/F:32/18; age:31.9 ± 8.1 years) matched for age, sex, blood pressure, heart rate, height, total cholesterol and glucose levels were included. All were recruited Zagazig University Hospitals between January 2018 and December 2018. Disease activity was assessed using the Behçet's Disease Current Activity Form (BDCAF). Total Hcy was assayed by the Axis-Shield Homocysteine Enzyme Immunoassay (EIA) in serum. All subjects underwent carotid Doppler ultrasound to measure carotid artery intima-media thickness (C-IMT), arterial distensibility coefficient, Beta-stiffness index (ß) and carotid- femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV). Results: The main findings were significantly increased C-IMT (0.75 ± 0.71 mm), beta stiffness index (3.55 ± 0.34) and PWV (6.55 ± 1.07 m/second) and decreased distensibility (23.39 ± 1.89·10−3 × kPa−1) in patients compared to control (p < 0.001, p < 0.001, p = 0.02 and p < 0.001 respectively). The Hcy level was significantly higher in BD patients (17.3 ± 4.2 μmol/L) vs control (8.9 ± 2.3 μmol/L). The Hcy level > 15 μmol/L significantly correlated with the C-IMT (r = 0.54, p < 0.001), ß index (r = 0.78, p < 0.001), PWV (r = 0.56, p < 0.001) and distensibility (r = −0.65, p < 0.001) as well as with the presence of vascular lesions (r = 0.59, p < 0.001) with a tendency to correlate with the BDCAF (r = 0.11, p = 0.07). Conclusions: These findings suggest higher risk for development of atherosclerosis and endothelial dysfunction in BD patients and highlights that future researches should focus on identification and prophylactic treatment of patients at risk of cardiovascular disease. Keywords: Behçet's disease, Homocysteine, Carotid intima-media thickness, Arterial distensibility
Personal music experience : uMusic II

Field: Computer Science (Physical Sciences)

Web 3.0 is believed to be more intelligent and information recommendation will be as big as search in tackling information explosion. This project aims to apply recommendation to music and delivers a hassle-free personalized music system with automatic music selection and maintenance of the smart playlists according to user's music preference. It also focuses on cloud music technology to achieve low setup cost, consumer paying less and music video content. Most existing music sites/tools only provide basic listening experience. Users are burdened with the manual maintenance of their playlists. A lot of efforts have been spent in searching for music but users are much confused by the large amount of new music (songs), they usually do not know what to select. uMusic also wants to infuse the initiative to discourage music piracy and enhance social integration. Many users around the world utilize YouTube as an alternative service for music. With YouTube’s integration, uMusic will indirectly counter piracy without the need for users to own copyright tracks. uMusic will integrate social networking features to allow users to share playlist and tracks with their friends. uMusic focuses on portability for desktop and mobile users. The desktop application empowers users with all uMusic features from an outstanding homepage design concept with a strong visual impact. The uMusic Mobile provides uMusic users the convenience for their listening pleasure while on the move.
Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation as a bridging therapy for patients with thiamine deficiency-induced pulmonary arterial hypertension

Field: Medicine (Health Sciences)

Thiamine deficiency is characterized by a deficiency of thiamine (vitamin B1), lactic acidosis, pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), right-sided heart failure, and peripheral nerve damage.Thiamine deficiency is easily misdiagnosed and missed during clinical practice and is associated with death in severe cases. [1,2]Here we reported a patient who was admitted to the hospital with severe metabolic acidosis and pulmonary hypertension and finally diagnosed with thiamine deficiency by detecting plasma vitamin B1 levels.Since clinically obvious thiamine deficiency is rare, and cases of thiamine deficiency requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) treatment are rarer, we believe that our case will be helpful for emergency clinicians.
Inhibition of aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase from Micrococcus percitreus by substrate analogs.

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (Life Sciences)

Inhibition of a constitutive aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase from Micrococcus percitreus AJ 1065 was investigated to obtain some information about the reaction mechanism of the enzyme and the physiological role of the enzyme in the bacterium. Decarboxylation of L-tryptophan by the enzyme was inhibited by the other substrates and by aromatic amines such as β-phenylethylamine, tyramine, dopamine, epinephrine, norepinephrine, and 3-indoleacetamide and 3-indolealdehyde which correspond to or are related to the substrates of the enzyme. To study the mechanism of inhibition by 3, 4-dihydroxyphenyl-L-alanine, the nonenzymatic reaction product of pyridoxal 5'-phosphate and 3, 4-dihydroxyphenyl-L-alanine was prepared and was identified as 7, 8-dihydroxy-1-[2'-methyl-3'-hydroxy-5'-phosphohydroxymethyl-4'-pyridyl]-3-carboxy-l, 2, 3, 4-tetrahydroisoquinoline.
Stigmatization of Individuals Who Receive Psychotherapy: An Interaction Between Help-seeking Behavior and the Presence of Depression

Field: Psychology (Social Sciences)

The nature and extent of stigmatization attached to individuals who seek outpatient psychotherapy for depression was investigated. Three hundred and eighty undergraduates were presented one of four case vignettes that were identical, with the exception of the last paragraph in which the treatment history (sought help vs. did not seek help) and type of problem (depression vs. back pain) of the target were manipulated. Participants rated the target on various personality dimensions. An interaction between help-seeking behavior and problem type in perceptions of emotional instability was found. Specifically, whereas an individual experiencing depression was viewed as more emotionally unstable than one who had a back injury, the target who sought help for his depression was viewed as particularly unstable. The findings are discussed in the context of disorders that might go untreated due to stigmatization.
Impact Of Global Warming on Tropical Cyclones in The Northwest Pacific Ocean

Field: Environmental Science (Physical Sciences)

Tropical cyclones are meteorological phenomena that can affect mid to low latitudes around the world. This Paper systematically summarizes and reviews the main characteristics, potential influencing factors, and influencing mechanisms of tropical cyclones in Northwestern Pacific, and summarizes and analyzes their changing trends in the context of global change. Global warming will affect the generation and development of tropical cyclones from multiple dimensions, with the most intuitive being the surface temperature of seawater. Through the analysis of global surface temperature and tropical cyclones in the Northwest Pacific, it is shown that as global climate warms, the frequency of tropical cyclones in the Northwest Pacific decreases, the extreme central pressure decreases, and the extreme maximum central wind speed increases, there is no significant trend in the average minimum pressure and average maximum wind speed of tropical cyclones. In other words, the extreme intensity of tropical cyclones strengthens; In the 2010s, this relationship was particularly prominent.
Umbelliferae of the East Kazakhstan region

Field: Agricultural and Biological Sciences (Life Sciences)

The territory of the East Kazakhstan region is located in two floristic regions – Circumboreal and Iran-Turan. On the territory of the East Kazakhstan region 97 species of Umbelliferae are found. 20 species are found only in Circumboreal and 30 species only in the Iran-Turan floristic regions. About half of the species (47) distributes in both of floristic regions. Many species are on the limit of distribution in the territory of the East Kazakhstan region. Two new species were found in the region of Middle Asia and Kazakhstan (Peucedanum vaginatum, Aegopodium podagraria). Pachypleurum altaicum is considered to be a teratic form of Pachypleurum alpinum. Prangos didyma was included in the synonyms of Prangos cachroides. Haloselinum (=Peucedanum) falcaria was excluded from the flora of the region. The presence of Bupleurum tianschanicum and B. rotundifolium is not confirmed for the East Kazakhstan region by herbarium material. The specimens in herbaria LE, MW, AA, TK, ALTB, UKSPI, KUZ (Kuzbass Botanical Garden) and in the herbarium of Altai Botanical Garden (Ridder) were examined. An annotated synopsis of East Kazakhstan Umbelliferae which includes a list of species, their main synonyms, and citations is presented. For all species of East Kazakhstan Umbelliferae we also compiled point maps. Original identification key for 97 species of East Kazakhstan Umbelliferae is presented.
Genetic and immunological basis of autoimmune diabetes in the NOD mouse.

Field: Immunology and Microbiology (Life Sciences)

The non-obese diabetic (NOD) mouse is an animal model of human insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM). Most NOD mice show insulitis at several weeks of age, and 60-90% of the female mice develop overt diabetes after 20-30 weeks of age. NOD mice share many features of human IDDM. As in human IDDM, the disease development in NOD mice is controlled by a number of disease susceptibility or resistant genes (Idds), including the major histocompatibility complex locus. Cumulative evidence suggests that Thl CD4+ T cells play a critical role in the autoimmune process leading to beta cell destruction. In addition to CD4+ T cells, CD8+ cells and B cells also participate in the pathogenesis. There are several candidate antigens recognized by autoreactive T cells such as glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD), insulin and heat shock protein (HSP) 60. Treatment by these antigens suppresses IDDM development in NOD mice, suggesting that they may initiate the autoimmune process of NOD mice.