Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Policy Challenges of Indonesia’s Local Content Requirements on Power Generation and Turbine Production Capability

The demand for electricity in Indonesia will continue to increase. Thus, the market opportunity for the power generation industry needs to be optimally utilized by domestic business actors through the Local Content Requirements (LCR) policy. Through exploratory techniques, the primary goal of this research is to assess the capability of Indonesia’s national turbine industries and research institutions, as well as to develop policy recommendations for maximizing the use of local content in order to comply with the Ministry of Industry’s Domestic Component Level Regulation, also known as Local Content Requirements (LCR). There are at least three challenges that need attention, namely technology capability and efforts, infrastructure, and institution. Although Indonesia has good prospects and opportunities to develop large-scale turbines, the challenges ahead in developing coal-fired turbines will be more complex due to the strengthening of the clean development paradigm. Thus, it is important to rethink the direction of developing LCR policies for coal-fired turbines. The study recommended budget allocation for ensuring continuity of turbine prototyping, simplify the process to obtain technology licensing, and developing industries that can support materials for turbine industries.
Transcatheter aortic valve implantation. First experience of minimally invasive treatment in the Republic of Moldova

Background : Aortic stenosis (AS) is the most prevalent primary heart valve disease and the third most prevalent cardiovascular disease in the world, having a severe and slowly progressive evolution. The implementation of Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) is necessary because the population is constantly ageing, and most elderly people have various comorbidities, which places them among patients with high surgical risk. The aim was to report immediate and 9 months follow-up results of first TAVI implantations in the Republic of Moldova. Material and methods : Three patients with severe symptomatic AS and high surgical risk underwent TAVI implantation using Portico valves. Results : The mean age was 76.7 ± 1.2 years, 2 women and 1 man. The mean Logistic EuroSCORE II was 5.68 ± 0.67%. Procedural success was achieved in all (100%) patients. After the intervention, it was shown that the GP mean decreased by an average of 20.27±1.61 mmHg, the Vmax of the jet through AoV decreased on average by 2.05±0.19 m/s, and they were maintained all over the nine months follow-up period. Quality of life, using the TASQ (Toronto Aortic Stenosis Quality of Life) questionnaire, was improved by 62.3 ± 2.2 points. Conclusions : TAVI, as a new minimally invasive method of treatment for aortic valve stenosis appears to be safe, with a low rate of early and late complications in elderly patients at high surgical risk, with good clinical outcomes at 9 months. Its implementation in the Republic of Moldova is welcome in the conditions of continuously ageing population and the prevalence of associated comorbidities.
Divide and Conquer: Phenotypic and Temporal Heterogeneity Within CD8+ T Cell Responses

The advent of technologies that can characterize the phenotypes, functions and fates of individual cells has revealed extensive and often unexpected levels of diversity between cells that are nominally of the same subset. CD8+ T cells, also known as cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs), are no exception. Investigations of individual CD8+ T cells both in vitro and in vivo have highlighted the heterogeneity of cellular responses at the levels of activation, differentiation and function. This review takes a broad perspective on the topic of heterogeneity, outlining different forms of variation that arise during a CD8+ T cell response. Specific attention is paid to the impact of T cell receptor (TCR) stimulation strength on heterogeneity. In particular, this review endeavors to highlight connections between variation at different cellular stages, presenting known mechanisms and key open questions about how variation between cells can arise and propagate.
Prediction of Prognosis in Patients With Endometrial Carcinoma and Immune Microenvironment Estimation Based on Ferroptosis-Related Genes

Background: Ferroptosis, a form of non-apoptotic cell death, has aroused worldwide interest in cancer researchers. However, the current study about the correlation between ferroptosis-related genes (FRGs) and endometrial cancer (EC) remains limited. Methods: First, the transcriptome profiling and clinical data of EC patients were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium (CPTAC) program as the training group and testing group, respectively. FRGs were acquired through literature mining. Then, we used R 4.1. 1 software to screen the differently expressed FRGs from TCGA, which was also connected with the prognosis of EC patients. Subsequently, the risk score of each tumor sample was identified by LASSO regression analysis, and we classified these samples into the high- and low-risk groups in the light of the median risk score. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis and Kaplan-Meier analysis were performed to assess the accuracy of this signature. Significantly, the data from CPTAC was used to validate the prediction model externally. Furthermore, we evaluated the immune microenvironment in this model via single-sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA). Results: Among the 150 FRGs, 6 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) based on TCGA had a relationship with the prognosis of EC patients, namely, TP53, AIFM2, ATG7, TLR4, PANX1 and MDM2. The survival curve indicated a higher survival probability in the low-risk group. Moreover, the FRGs-based signature acted well in the prediction of overall survival (OS). The results of external verification confirmed the prediction model we established. Finally, ssGSEA revealed significant differences in the abundance of 16 immune cells infiltration and the activity of 13 immune functions between different risk groups. Conclusion: We identified a novel ferroptosis-related gene signature which could concisely predict the prognosis and immunotherapy in EC patients.
Adjunctive Treatment With Eslicarbazepine Acetate for Adults and Children With Focal-Onset Epilepsy: A Meta-Analysis

Background The efficacy and tolerability of eslicarbazepine acetate (ESL) in adults and children with focal-onset epilepsy (FOE) according to the dose remain to be validated. A meta-analysis based on randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was therefore conducted as a summary. Methods Relevant RCTs were collected by systematic searching the electronic databases of PubMed, Cochrane's Library, Embase, Wanfang and CNKI from inception to May 16, 2022. The random-effect model was adopted to pool the results by incorporating the possible heterogeneity. Efficacy outcomes including responsive rate and effective rate, defined as cases with 50 and ≥75% reduction in seizure frequency compared to baseline, were determined, respectively. Incidence of severe adverse events (AE) leading to drug discontinuation was also evaluated. Results Ten studies including 2,565 people with epilepsy contributed to the meta-analysis. For adults, ESL 400 mg/d did not improve the response rate or the effective rate; ESL 800 mg/d was associated with improved response rate (odds ratio [OR] 2.16, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.65–2.83, p < 0.001) and effective rate (OR 2.16, 95% CI: 1.41–3.30, p < 0.001) without significantly increased severe AE (OR 1.58, 95% CI: 0.90–2.78, p = 0.11); ESL 1,200 mg/d improved response rate (OR 2.49, p < 0.001) and effective rate (OR 3.09, p = 0.04), but significantly increased severe AE (OR 3.72, p < 0.001). For children, ESL also did not significantly improve the response rate (OR 1.76, p = 0.22) or the effective rate (OR 2.17, p = 0.13). Conclusion ESL 800 mg/d is effective and well-tolerated as adjuvants for adults with FOE. Efficacy of ESL in children with FOE should be further evaluated.
Adult Critical Care Electroencephalography Monitoring for Seizures: A Narrative Review

Electroencephalography (EEG) is an important and relatively inexpensive tool that allows intensivists to monitor cerebral activity of critically ill patients in real time. Seizure detection in patients with and without acute brain injury is the primary reason to obtain an EEG in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). In response to the increased demand of EEG, advances in quantitative EEG (qEEG) created an approach to review large amounts of data instantly. Finally, rapid response EEG is now available to reduce the time to detect electrographic seizures in limited-resource settings. This review article provides a concise overview of the technical aspects of EEG monitoring for seizures, clinical indications for EEG, the various available modalities of EEG, common and challenging EEG patterns, and barriers to EEG monitoring in the ICU.
The Role of The Tumor Microbiome in Tumor Development and Its Treatment

Commensal bacteria and other microorganisms that reside in the human body are closely associated with the development and treatment of cancers. Recently, tumor microbiome (TM) has been identified in a variety of cancers such as pancreatic, lung, and breast cancers. TM has different compositions in different tumors and has different effects on tumors. TM plays an important role in the formation of the tumor microenvironment, regulation of local immunity, and modification of tumor cell biology, and directly affects the efficacy of drug treatment for tumors. TM is expected to be a biomarker for tumors, and engineered tumor-targeting bacteria and anti-cancer microbial agents (GEN-001) have an important role in the treatment of tumors. This paper reviews the relevant studies on TM in recent years and describes its distribution in different tumors, its correlation with clinical features, its effect on local immunity, and the research directions of TM in tumor treatment.
Influence of Adjuvant Radiotherapy Timing on Survival Outcomes in High-Risk Patients Receiving Neoadjuvant Treatments

Purpose To determine the relationship between time to radiotherapy (TTR) and survival outcomes in breast cancer (BC) patients treated with neoadjuvant treatments (NATs). Methods Continuous non-metastatic BC patients receiving NAT and adjuvant radiotherapy (RT) from 2009 to 2016 were retrospectively reviewed. A multivariable Cox model with restricted cubic splines (RCSs) was used to determine the panoramic relationship between TTR and survival outcomes. Multivariable analysis was used to control for confounding factors between the groups of TTR. Results A total of 315 patients were included. The RCS modeling demonstrated a non-linear relationship between TTR and survival outcomes. The lowest risk for distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) was observed at the TTR of 12 weeks, and the lowest risk of BC-specific survival (BCSS) at 10 weeks. TTR was accordingly transformed into categorical variables as ≤10, 11–20, and >20 weeks. Multivariable analysis revealed that the TTR of ≤10 weeks was an independent prognostic factor for worse DMFS (HR = 2.294, 95% CI 1.079–4.881) and RFS (HR = 2.126, 95% CI 1.038–4.356) compared with the TTR of 10–20 weeks, while the is no difference in DMFS, RFS, and BCSS between TTR >20 weeks and TTR of 10–20 weeks. Conclusion There exists a non-linear relationship between TTR after surgery and survival outcomes in patients treated with NAT. Early initiation of RT following surgery does not seem to be associated with a better therapeutic outcome. A relatively flexible recommendation of TTR could be adopted in clinical practice.
Gender Differences in the Psychopharmacological Treatment of Forensic In-Patients With Schizophrenia

Background In forensic psychiatry, psychopharmacological treatment plays a crucial role for patients with schizophrenia in improving their medical as well as legal prognosis. However, an increase in the number of females entering forensic treatment has yet to yield empirical research on the outcome of psychopharmacological treatment of female patients with schizophrenia in terms of efficacy and tolerability. Aims The aim of the present study is to elucidate pharmacological treatment strategies of women with schizophrenia in forensic psychiatry in comparison with men. Methods This study compares psychopharmacological treatment strategies, psychopathological features, as well as neurological and metabolic side effects of treatment between 29 female and 29 male in-patients with schizophrenia in three forensic facilities in Bavaria, Germany. Results Results show significant differences between genders. Poorer psychopathological and neurological features were found in the female sample, while men registered worse metabolic parameters. In terms of psychopharmacological treatment strategies, female in-patients were more often prescribed second-generation depot antipsychotics. Surprisingly, the potency of the dosages did not differ between genders. The results suggest that female forensic patients with schizophrenia have more severe and refractory diseases than their male counterparts. Conclusion Recommendations for gender-specific treatment strategies are derived.
The novel ZmTCP7 transcription factor targets AGPase-encoding gene ZmBt2 to regulate storage starch accumulation in maize

The process of starch biosynthesis is a major developmental event that affects the final grain yield and quality in maize (Zea mays L.), and transcriptional regulation plays a key role in modulating the expression of the main players in the pathway. ZmBt2, which encodes the small subunits of AGPase, is a rate-controlling gene of the pathway; however, much remains unknown about its transcriptional regulation. Our earlier study identifies a short functional fragment of ZmBt2 promoter (394-bp), and further shows it contains multiple putative cis-acting regulatory elements, demonstrating that several transcription factors may govern ZmBt2 expression. Here, we identified a novel TCP transcription factor (TF), ZmTCP7, that interacted with the functional fragment of the ZmBt2 promoter in a yeast one hybrid screening system. We further showed that ZmTCP7 is a non-autonomous TF targeted to the nucleus and predominantly expressed in maize endosperm. Using promoter deletion analyzes by transient expression in maize endosperm protoplasts combined with electrophoretic mobility shift assays, we found that ZmTCP7 bound to GAACCCCAC elements on the ZmBt2 promoter to suppress its expression. Transgenic overexpression of ZmTCP7 in maize caused a significant repression of ZmBt2 transcription by ~77.58%, resulting in a 21.51% decrease in AGPase activity and a 9.58% reduction in the endosperm starch content of transgenic maize. Moreover, the expressions of ZmBt1, ZmSSI, ZmSSIIa, and ZmSSIIIa were increased, while those of ZmSh2 and ZmSSIV reduced significantly in the endosperm of the transgenic maize. Overall, this study shows that ZmTCP7 functions as a transcriptional repressor of ZmBt2 and a negative regulator of endosperm starch accumulation, providing new insights into the regulatory networks that govern ZmBt2 expression and starch biosynthesis pathway in maize.
Diverse Effects of Amino Acids on Monascus Pigments Biosynthesis in Monascus purpureus

Amino acids could act as nitrogen sources, amido group donors, or bioactive molecules in fungi fermentation, and consequently, play important roles in Monascus pigments (MPs) biosynthesis. But the understanding of the effects of various amino acids on MPs biosynthesis is still incomprehensive. In this work, 20 free amino acids were added to the fermentation medium to evaluate their effects on MPs biosynthesis in Monascus purpureus RP2. Six amino acids, namely, histidine (HIS), lysine (LYS), tyrosine (TYR), phenylalanine (PHE), methionine (MET), and cysteine (CYS), were selected as the valuable ones as they exerted significant effects on the production yield and even on the biosynthesis metabolic curves of MPs. Moreover, the dose-dependent and synergistic effects of valuable amino acids on MPs biosynthesis were observed by tests of serial concentrations and different combinations. In addition, it revealed that HIS and MET were the prominent amino acids with dominant and universal influences on MPs biosynthesis. The analog compounds of HIS (amitrole) and MET [calcium 2-hydroxy-4-(methylthio)] were added to the fermentation medium, and the results further confirmed the extraordinary effects of HIS and MET and their analogs on MPs biosynthesis. Furthermore, the gene transcription profile indicated that a differential expression pattern was observed in the polyketide synthase (PKS) cluster responsible for MPs biosynthesis in response to HIS and MET, revealing that they could oppositely regulate MPs biosynthesis in different ways. These findings would benefit the understanding of MPs biosynthesis regulation mechanism in M. purpureus and contribute to the industrial production of MPs by fermentation.
Mining of Marburg Virus Proteome for Designing an Epitope-Based Vaccine

Marburg virus (MARV) is one of the most harmful zoonotic viruses with deadly effects on both humans and nonhuman primates. Because of its severe outbreaks with a high rate of fatality, the world health organization put it as a risk group 4 pathogen and focused on the urgent need for the development of effective solutions against that virus. However, up to date, there is no effective vaccine against MARV in the market. In the current study, the complete proteome of MARV (seven proteins) was analyzed for the antigenicity score and the virulence or physiological role of each protein where we nominated envelope glycoprotein (Gp), Transcriptional activator (VP30), and membrane-associated protein (VP24) as the candidates for epitope prediction. Following that, a vaccine construct was designed based on CTL, HTL, and BCL epitopes of the selected protein candidates and to finalize the vaccine construct, several amino acid linkers, β-defensin adjuvant, and PADRE peptides were incorporated. The generated potential vaccine was assessed computationally for several properties such as antigenicity, allergenicity, stability, and other structural features where the outcomes of these assessments nominated this potential vaccine to be validated for its binding affinity with two molecular targets TLR-8 and TLR-4. The binding score and the stability of the vaccine-receptor complex, which was deeply studied through molecular docking-coupled dynamics simulation, supported the selection of our designed vaccine as a putative solution for MARV that should be validated through future wet-lab experiments. Here, we describe the computational approach for designing and analysis of this potential vaccine.
Mechanisms of Post-critical Illness Cardiovascular Disease

Prolonged critical care stays commonly follow trauma, severe burn injury, sepsis, ARDS, and complications of major surgery. Although patients leave critical care following homeostatic recovery, significant additional diseases affect these patients during and beyond the convalescent phase. New cardiovascular and renal disease is commonly seen and roughly one third of all deaths in the year following discharge from critical care may come from this cluster of diseases. During prolonged critical care stays, the immunometabolic, inflammatory and neurohumoral response to severe illness in conjunction with resuscitative treatments primes the immune system and parenchymal tissues to develop a long-lived pro-inflammatory and immunosenescent state. This state is perpetuated by persistent Toll-like receptor signaling, free radical mediated isolevuglandin protein adduct formation and presentation by antigen presenting cells, abnormal circulating HDL and LDL isoforms, redox and metabolite mediated epigenetic reprogramming of the innate immune arm (trained immunity), and the development of immunosenescence through T-cell exhaustion/anergy through epigenetic modification of the T-cell genome. Under this state, tissue remodeling in the vascular, cardiac, and renal parenchymal beds occurs through the activation of pro-fibrotic cellular signaling pathways, causing vascular dysfunction and atherosclerosis, adverse cardiac remodeling and dysfunction, and proteinuria and accelerated chronic kidney disease.
The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis-Calcium Score Improves Statin Treatment Allocation in Asymptomatic Adults

Background The current categorization of cardiovascular (CV) risk broadens the indications for statin therapy. Coronary artery calcium (CAC) identifies those who are most likely to benefit from primary prevention with statin therapy. The multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis-calcium (MESA-C) includes CAC for CV risk stratification. Objective We aimed to establish whether the MESA-C score improves allocation to statin treatment in a cohort of asymptomatic adults. We also analyzed patient survival according to their risk score calculation. Design A retrospective analysis of asymptomatic adults. Participants A total of 632 consecutive subjects free of coronary artery disease (CAD) and/or stroke, mean age 56 ± 7 years, 84% male, underwent clinical evaluations and CAC measurements. Main Measures PCE and MESA-C risk scores were calculated for each subject. According to the 10-year risk for CV events, subjects were classified into moderate and high CV risk (≥7.5%) for whom a statin is clearly indicated, or borderline and low CV risk (<7.5%). Key Results During mean follow-up of 6.5 ± 3.3 years, 52 subjects experienced their first CV event. Those with a MESA-C risk score < 7.5% had favorable outcomes even when the PCE indicated a risk of ≥ 7.5%. The MESA-C score improved the discrimination of CV risk with the ROC curves C-statistics increasing from 0.653 for the PCE to 0.770 for the MESA-C. Of those, 84% (99/118) with borderline CV risk (5–7.5%) according to the PCE score, were reallocated by the MESA-C score into a higher (≥7.5%) or lower (<5%) CV risk category. Furthermore, subjects with low MESA-C scores had the highest survival rate regardless of the PCE risk, while those with high MESA-C risks had the lowest survival rate regardless of the PCE risk. Conclusion In asymptomatic subjects, the MESA-C score improves allocation to statin treatment and CV risk discrimination, while both scores are essential for more precise survival estimations.
Learning barriers at the workplace: Development and validation of a measurement instrument

While facilitating factors to learning at the workplace have been well investigated, throughout the past decade less has emerged about the barriers that occur when approaching a learning activity at the workplace. Barriers to learning at the workplace are factors that hinder the initiation of successful learning, interrupt learning possibilities, delay proceedings or end learning activities much earlier than intended. The aim of this study is to develop and validate an instrument that measures barriers to informal and formal learning at the workplace. An interview pre-study asked 26 consultants about their learning barriers based on existing instruments. Using this data as groundwork, a novel measuring instrument of barriers to informal and formal learning was developed. The instrument is comprised of five factors with items on individual barriers, organizational/structural barriers, technical barriers, change and uncertainty. To validate the scales, a cross-sectional questionnaire with 112 consultancy employees and freelancers was conducted. The validation included exploratory factor analysis, internal consistency assessment, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and convergent validity assessment. The results generated a three-factor scale barrier measurement for formal learning and a two-factor scale barrier measurement for informal learning. All scales featured Cronbach’s alpha values ranging between 0.80 and 0.86. With this developed and validated scales it is intended to help offer insights into factors that hinder individuals from learning at the workplace, and show organizations their potential for change.