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Chloroplast and mitochondrial DNA (cpDNA and mtDNA) are apart from nuclear DNA (nuDNA) in a eukaryotic cell. The transcription system of chloroplasts differs from those of mitochondria and eukaryotes. In contrast to nuDNA and animal mtDNA, the transcription of cpDNA is still not well understood, primarily due to the unresolved identification of transcription initiation sites (TISs) and transcription termination sites (TTSs) on the genome scale. In the present study, we characterized the transcription of chloroplast (cp) genes with greater accuracy and comprehensive information using PacBio full-length transcriptome data from Arabidopsis thaliana. The major findings included the discovery of four types of artifacts, the validation and correction of cp gene annotations, the exact identification of TISs that start with G, and the discovery of polyA-like sites as TTSs. Notably, we proposed a new model to explain cp transcription initiation and termination at the whole-genome level. Four types of artifacts, degraded RNAs and splicing intermediates deserve the attention from researchers working with PacBio full-length transcriptome data, as these contaminant sequences can lead to incorrect downstream analysis. Cp transcription initiates at multiple promoters and terminates at polyA-like sites. Our study provides new insights into cp transcription and new clues to study the evolution of promoters, TISs, TTSs and polyA tails of eukaryotic genes.

TSS (Total Suspended Solid) is an optical turbidity parameter to assess water quality and provide essential information for the water environment. Particularly, the degradation of watersheds creates immense pressure on water quality, especially in arid and semiarid regions. However, concentrations of TTS in water are also due to the effects of pollution, and activities on the surface. Therefore, factual information regarding determining the effective depth of TSS is essential for the estimation of the water column. To address this problem, we collected 100 water samples from 10 different sites of the wells at Medokan Ayu District, Surabaya (Indonesia). To investigate the TSS concentrations. The results showed that the quality of well water for the turbidity parameter did not exceed the standard of clean water quality, where the highest value was found in well 7: 17.97 NTU, for the Manganese parameter in wells that exceeded the quality standard, it was found in Well 2: 1.4 mg/L. , well 5: 1.7 mg/L, well 6: 1.8 mg/L, well 7 : 8.6 mg/L and well 9: 4.3 mg/L. Well TSS parameters that exceed quality standards are found at Well 1: 1,200 mg/L, Well 3: 1,200 mg/L, Well 5: 800 mg/L, Well 6: 1,600 mg/L, Well 7: 1,600 mg/L, Well 8 : 1,200 mg/L, Well 9 : 1,200 mg/L, and Well 10 : 1,200 mg/L. The pattern of distribution of pollution levels using surfer software mapping, three wells have the highest concentrations of Manganese, TSS, and Turbidity found in wells number 6, 7, and 9

Pemanfaatan teknologi informasi dan komunikasi dalam pembelajaran semakin luas, salah satunya dimanfaatkan guru untuk pembuatan media pembelajaran. Berdasar hasil supervisi akademik Kepala sekolah diketahui bahwa kompetensi guru dalam pembuatan media pembelajaran berbasis teknologi informasi masih rendah. Penelitian bertujuan untuk mengetahui apakah melalui workshop dapat meningkatkan kompetensi guru dalam pembuatan media Crossword Puzzle dan Canva serta untuk mengetahui bagaimana langkah pelaksanaan workshop untuk meningkatkan kompetensi guru dalam pembuatan media Crossword Puzzle dan Canva. Jenis penelitian yang digunakan adalah penelitian tindakan sekolah. Subyek penelitian ini adalah para guru SMA Negeri 1 Tempel yang berjumlah 24 orang. Obyek penelitian adalah kompetensi guru dalam pembuatan media Crossword Puzzle dan Canva. Penelitian dilaksanakan dalam 2 siklus yang tiap siklus terdiri atas 2 pertemuan. Tiap pertemuan meliputi 4 tindakan yaitu perencanaan, pelaksanaan, observasi, dan refleksi. Pengumpulan data melalui observasi, tes pemahaman materi, dan penilaian produk workshop. Simpulan hasil workshop telah terjadi peningkatan kompetensi guru dalam pembuatan media pembelajaran sebanyak 79,17% pada siklus I dan 83,33% pada siklus II.

Shayan Hobbi,1,2 Patrick Saunders-Hastings,3 Cindy Ke Zhou,4 Jeffrey Beers,1 Ananth Srikrishnan,1 Aaron Hettinger,5,6 Aarthi Shenoy,5 Timothy Burrell,1 Keran Moll,1 Patricia C Lloyd,4 Steven A Anderson,4 Azadeh Shoaibi,4 Hui-Lee Wong4 1IBM Consulting, Bethesda, MD, USA; 2Accenture Federal Services, Arlington, VA, USA; 3Accenture, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; 4Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, US Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, USA; 5MedStar Health Research Institute, Washington, DC, USA; 6School of Medicine, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USACorrespondence: Patrick Saunders-Hastings, Accenture, 45 O’Connor Street, Suite 1100, Ottawa, Ontario, K1P 1A4, Canada, Tel +1 343 998 3459, Email p.saunders.hastings@accenture.comIntroduction: Thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) has been reported following receipt of adenoviral vector-based COVID-19 vaccines. However, no validation studies evaluating the accuracy of International Classification of Diseases-10-Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM)-based algorithm for unusual site TTS are available in the published literature.Methods: The purpose of this study was to assess the performance of clinical coding to 1) leverage literature review and clinical input to develop an ICD-10-CM-based algorithm to identify unusual site TTS as a composite outcome and 2) validate the algorithm against the Brighton Collaboration’s interim case definition using laboratory, pathology, and imaging reports in an academic health network electronic health record (EHR) within the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Biologics Effectiveness and Safety (BEST) Initiative. Validation of up to 50 cases per thrombosis site was conducted, with positive predictive values (PPV) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) calculated using pathology or imaging results as the gold standard.Results: The algorithm identified 278 unusual site TTS cases, of which 117 (42.1%) were selected for validation. In both the algorithm-identified and validation cohorts, over 60% of patients were 56 years or older. The positive predictive value (PPV) for unusual site TTS was 76.1% (95% CI 67.2– 83.2%) and at least 80% for all but one individual thrombosis diagnosis code. PPV for thrombocytopenia was 98.3% (95% CI 92.1– 99.5%).Discussion: This study represents the first report of a validated ICD-10-CM-based algorithm for unusual site TTS. A validation effort found that the algorithm performed at an intermediate-to-high PPV, suggesting that the algorithm can be used in observational studies including active surveillance of COVID-19 vaccines and other medical products.Keywords: thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome, TTS, COVID-19, validation, electronic health records

Abstract Background Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection (SCAD) and Takotsubo Syndrome (TTS) are two different entities with several shared risk factors, but their management is different. They can co-exist in patients with chest pain which affects their management. We present two cases of combined SCAD and TTS in patients presented with chest pain. Case presentation Case 1: 80F admitted with typical chest pain and dynamic ECG changes on the background of known anxiety/depression and social stresses. Her coronary angiogram showed SCAD affecting distal LAD. The left ventriculogram (LV gram) showed apical ballooning consistent with Takotsubo Syndrome (TTS). Patient was discharged on aspirin as well as angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB). Case 2: 60F admitted with typical chest pain in the setting of emotional trauma on the background of known cardiovascular risk factors. She was found to have ST elevation in inferior leads with no reciprocal changes. Subsequently, coronary angiogram showed SCAD affecting mid-left anterior descending artery (LAD) with normal distal wrap around LAD. Her LV gram showed apical ballooning consistent with TTS. However, transthoracic echocardiogram showed akinetic left ventricular apex. She was discharged on aspirin as well as an ACE inhibitor and warfarin to prevent LV thrombus. Conclusions SCAD and TTS can co-exist in patients with chest pain. It is important to identify SCAD in patients with TTS as it may affect their short as well as long-term management.

Background: The aim of this study was to propose and validate a novel indicator that characterizes the potential effects of exposure to hand–arm vibration (HAV) and evaluates the increasing risk of neurosensory components of hand–arm vibration syndrome (HAVS). The author focused on a quantity calculated from ascending and descending thresholds and residual shifts in vibrotactile perception thresholds (VPTs) observed at the fingertips in the recovery process after exposure to HAV. Methods: Thirty subjects—10 old exposed (G1), 10 old non-exposed (G2), and 10 young non-exposed subjects (G3)—were required to perform a series of grip tasks with exposure to two intensities of HAV, which was followed by 90 s of vibration perception measurements at the tip of each subject’s right index finger. Vibrotactile perception was measured every 5 min for 30 min. Results: Mean differences between ascending and descending thresholds (VPTWs) for G2 and G3 remained nearly unchanged over time after exposure to HAV. In contrast, the mean VPTWs for G1 gradually increased over time after exposure to HAV. The mean VPTWs for G1 were always larger than those for G2 and G3. TTS recovery was observed at 125 Hz under both of the HAV exposure conditions in each group. TTSs of nearly zero were observed for the low-HAV condition in G3. TTS recovery after exposure to HAV was not observed at 31.5 Hz in any of the subject groups. Regardless of elapsed time, the mean TTSs for G2 and G3 were smaller than those for G1. Negative TTS values showing a lower TTS than the baseline were sometimes observed for the low-HAV condition in G3. Conclusions: VPTWs can be a screening parameter that detects potential patients with only neurosensory components observed as an early sign of HAVS.

Aurora OS is a POSIX-compatible mobile Linux distribution designed for enterprise and business purposes. The main application area of devices based on Aurora OS is corporations in Russia. For example, such devices are used by field workers to receive tasks and send reports. The reports are generated by filling out complex forms with a large number of input fields and options to choose from. Speech recognition allows to significantly speed up this process. Aurora OS has no built-in tools to implement such functions, so developers of software for field workers need to use a third-party solution. There are several voice recognition engines for POSIX-compatible systems, but only those that support the Russian language, can work locally on devices, and have a free license are suitable for the task. The only solution for the task that meets the criteria is the Kaldi engine. However, it depends on libraries implemented using Fortran, and Aurora OS does not support this programming language. Therefore, it was necessary to develop a way to use software implemented in Fortran in an environment that does not have a native support for it. This paper proposes an approach for solving such a problem, which can be applied to all similar cases.

Takotsubo syndrome (TTS), also known as the transient left ventricular apical ballooning syndrome, is in contemporary times known as novel acute cardiac syndrome. It is characterized by transient left ventricular apical akinesis and hyperkinesis of the basal left ventricular portions. Although the precise etiology of TTS is unknown, events like the sudden release of stress hormones, such as the catecholamines and the increased inflammatory status might be plausible causes leading to the cardiovascular pathologies. Recent studies have highlighted that an imbalance in lipid accumulation might promote a deviant immune response as observed in TTS. However, there is no information on comprehensive profiling of serum lipids of TTS patients. Therefore, we investigated a detailed quantitative lipid analysis of TTS patients using ES-MSI. Our results showed significant differences in the majority of lipid species composition in the TTS patients compared to the control group. Furthermore, the computational analyses presented was able to link the altered lipids to the pro-inflammatory cytokines and disseminate possible mechanistic pathways involving TNFα and IL-6. Taken together, our study provides an extensive quantitative lipidome of TTS patients, which may provide a valuable Pre-diagnostic tool. This would facilitate the elucidation of the underlying mechanisms of the disease and to prevent the development of TTS in the future.

Summary: Background: Vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT) is a severe adverse event of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. We describe the characteristics of patients reported in Germany based on the Brighton Collaboration (BC) case definition criteria for Thrombosis and Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS) and focus on patients with complete anti-platelet factor 4 (PF4)-antibody laboratory work up. Methods: The adverse drug reaction database of the Paul-Ehrlich Institute was queried for TTS cases following ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccination from February 1, until May 21, 2021. Cases with reports from the Greifswald laboratory were analysed in detail. Findings: PF4 antibody tests were available for 69 suspected TTS cases reported to the Paul-Ehrlich Institute, of whom 52 patients fulfilled the BC case definition; 37 (71%) women, 15 (29%) men, median age 46·0 years (interquartile range 31·0-60·3 years). Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis was confirmed in 37 (71%), (additional) multiple thromboses in 19 (37%) patients. Twelve patients died. Non-survivors showed lower platelet counts compared to survivors (median nadir 15,000/µL vs 49,000/µL; p

Speech segmentation is the process of dividing speech signal into distinct acoustic blocks that could be words, syllables or phonemes. Phonetic segmentation is about finding the exact boundaries for the different phonemes that composes a specific speech signal. This problem is crucial for many applications, i.e. automatic speech recognition (ASR). In this paper we propose a new model-based text independent phonetic segmentation method based on wavelet packet speech parametrization features and using the sparse representation classifier (SRC). Experiments were performed on two datasets, the first is an English one derived from TIMIT corpus, while the second is an Arabic one derived from the Arabic speech corpus. Results showed that the proposed wavelet packet decomposition features outperform the MFCC features in speech segmentation task, in terms of both F1-score and R-measure on both datasets. Results also indicate that the SRC gives higher hit rate than the famous k-Nearest Neighbors (k-NN) classifier on TIMIT dataset

The dissolution of cellulosic flax fibres in the ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ([C2mim][OAc]) with cosolvent dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) has been studied. The fibres were submerged in the ionic liquid/DMSO mixtures at different temperatures for a range of dissolution times, then coagulated in water. After drying, cross sections of the fibres were analysed using an optical microscope, which was used to track the fraction of coagulated fibre. The temperature dependence of this coagulated fraction is found to follow an Arrhenius equation with a single activation energy of 100±10 kJ/mol. This value is, remarkably, independent of the weight fraction of DMSO used. This work quantifies the composition for the peak dissolution rate, which occurs at an equal weight fraction of DMSO and [C2mim][OAc]. Finally, this study reveals an equivalence between time, temperature and DMSO weight fraction in the dissolution of flax fibres.

A high-performance versatile computer-assisted pronunciation training (CAPT) system that provides the learner immediate feedback as to whether their pronunciation is correct is very helpful in learning correct pronunciation and allows learners to practice this at any time and with unlimited repetitions, without the presence of an instructor. In this paper, we propose deep learning-based techniques to build a high-performance versatile CAPT system for mispronunciation detection and diagnosis (MDD) and articulatory feedback generation for non-native Arabic learners. The proposed system can locate the error in pronunciation, recognize the mispronounced phonemes, and detect the corresponding articulatory features (AFs), not only in words but even in sentences. We formulate the recognition of phonemes and corresponding AFs as a multi-label object recognition problem, where the objects are the phonemes and their AFs in a spectral image. Moreover, we investigate the use of cutting-edge neural text-to-speech (TTS) technology to generate a new corpus of high-quality speech from predefined text that has the most common substitution errors among Arabic learners. The proposed model and its various enhanced versions achieved excellent results. We compared the performance of the different proposed models with the state-of-the-art end-to-end technique of MDD, and our system had a better performance. In addition, we proposed using fusion between the proposed model and the end-to-end model and obtained a better performance. Our best model achieved a 3.83% phoneme error rate (PER) in the phoneme recognition task, a 70.53% F1-score in the MDD task, and a detection error rate (DER) of 2.6% for the AF detection task.

Since the appearance of the 3D printing in the 1980s it has revolutionized many research fields including the pharmaceutical industry. The main goal is to manufacture complex, personalized products in a low-cost manufacturing process on-demand. In the last few decades, 3D printing has attracted the attention of numerous research groups for the manufacturing of different drug delivery systems. Since the 2015 approval of the first 3D-printed drug product, the number of publications has multiplied. In our review, we focused on summarizing the evolution of the produced drug delivery systems in the last 20 years and especially in the last 5 years. The drug delivery systems are sub-grouped into tablets, capsules, orodispersible films, implants, transdermal delivery systems, microneedles, vaginal drug delivery systems, and micro- and nanoscale dosage forms. Our classification may provide guidance for researchers to more easily examine the publications and to find further research directions.

In this paper, the development of Android-based Indonesian Text-to-Speech (TTS) utilizing API Google for English TTS as a data voice has been proposed. Using this approach, a lightweight and mobile Indonesian TTS application can be realized. The utilization of English data voice is carried out by cutting off (hyphenate) Indonesian words into syllables using Finite State Automata method, then searching for equivalent syllables in English which have similar pronunciation. Using FSA method, this system is able to hyphenate all Indonesian words up to 95.19%. This application has Mean Opinion Score (MOS) value of understanding the words criteria of 3.31 and MOS value of smoothness pronunciation criteria of 3.46 (in a scale of 5).

The objective of this paper is to present a software system architecture developed to render the printed documents in a vocal form. On the other hand, in the paper are described the software solutions that exist as software components and are necessary for documents processing as well as for multimedia device controlling used by the system. The usefulness of this system is for people with visual disabilities that can access the contents of documents without that they be printed in Braille system or to exist in an audio form.