Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Characterisation of Lipoma-Preferred Partner as a Novel Mechanotransducer in Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells

In arteries and arterioles, a chronic increase in blood pressure raises wall tension. This continuous biomechanical strain causes a change in gene expression in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) that may lead to pathological changes. Here we have characterised the functional properties of lipoma-preferred partner (LPP), a Lin11–Isl1–Mec3 (LIM)-domain protein, which is most closely related to the mechanotransducer zyxin but selectively expressed by smooth muscle cells, including VSMCs in adult mice. VSMCs isolated from the aorta of LPP knockout (LPP-KO) mice displayed a higher rate of proliferation than their wildtype (WT) counterparts, and when cultured as three-dimensional spheroids, they revealed a higher expression of the proliferation marker Ki 67 and showed greater invasion into a collagen gel. Accordingly, the gelatinase activity was increased in LPP-KO but not WT spheroids. The LPP-KO spheroids adhering to the collagen gel responded with decreased contraction to potassium chloride. The relaxation response to caffeine and norepinephrine was also smaller in the LPP-KO spheroids than in their WT counterparts. The overexpression of zyxin in LPP-KO VSMCs resulted in a reversal to a more quiescent differentiated phenotype. In native VSMCs, i.e., in isolated perfused segments of the mesenteric artery (MA), the contractile responses of LPP-KO segments to potassium chloride, phenylephrine or endothelin-1 did not vary from those in isolated perfused WT segments. In contrast, the myogenic response of LPP-KO MA segments was significantly attenuated while zyxin-deficient MA segments displayed a normal myogenic response. We propose that LPP, which we found to be expressed solely in the medial layer of different arteries from adult mice, may play an important role in controlling the quiescent contractile phenotype of VSMCs.
Transformation of phosphorus forms and its regulation on phosphorus availability across differently degraded marsh soils

Soil phosphorus (P) is a vital nutrient that controls wetland productivity and ecological functions. However, the effects of soil P forms on P availability during wetland degradation are relatively unknown. We selected differently degraded marshes, including non‐degraded marsh (NDM), lightly degraded marsh (LDM), moderately degraded marsh (MDM), and heavily degraded marsh (HDM), to research the changes in soil P forms by sequential chemical extraction and its regulation on P availability in the Zoige Plateau, China. The results showed that compared with the 0–30 cm soil layers of NDM, the main changes in total P concentration were a significant increase of 31.6%–44.2% in LDM and MDM, and the available P concentration increased by 28.7%–76.2% in LDM and MDM but decreased by 4.0%–47.5% in HDM with a lower P activation coefficient. Marsh degradation increased the concentration of soil dicalcium phosphates, P occluded in iron hydroxides, and organic P from the entire profile by 46.7%–137.7%, 31.7%–49.3%, and 78.1%–82.1%, respectively, while it decreased that of iron oxide surface adsorbed P and apatite P by 17.2%–32.2% and 15.3%–27.8%, respectively. Soil available P was mainly related to organic P and P non‐occluded in iron oxide minerals, which might also be a non‐negligible direct source of available P. The transformation from apatite P to organic P was an important regulatory mechanism of P availability in soils during marsh degradation. This study revealed the transformation trajectory of soil P forms owing to soil desiccation accompanied by plant community changes and overgrazing during alpine marsh degradation, and the risk of P limitation in HDMs with low soil available P. For degraded marsh restoration, some measures for improving P availability should be implemented in the future, such as grazing exclusion and the application of organic fertilizer.
Locally and socially embedded tourism clusters in rural Greece.

Creating a local identity through clustering of attractions, services and products in a region seems to be the contemporary answer in maintaining economic and social viability. Despite the growing interest in tourism clusters, it is still a field that remains unexplored especially in rural areas which have additional drawbacks to entrepreneurship. In this paper we will focus on the development of tourism clusters within the framework of Community Initiative LEADER+ in rural areas in Greece. Both qualitative and quantitative data from several case studies of clustering in Northern Greece and a survey on 110 cluster members are used to answer our basic research questions. Evidence from our study suggest that those tourism clusters are locally and socially embedded, are driven from different networking norms and levels of trust amongst members and are in need of motivation, encouragement and assistance from local stakeholders.
On Dispersion of a Reactive Solute in a Pulsatile Flow of a Two-Fluid
 Model

The present paper is a study on dispersion of reactive solute in an oscillatory flow of a two luid, three-layer Casson-Newtonian continuum using Aris -fluid model of blood flow has been considered, the fluid in the central region is taken to be a Casson fluid (a core of red blood cell suspension) and a peripheral layer of plasma modelled as Newtonian fluid. The governing equatio ns for the velocity distribution have been solved using a perturbation technique, and the effective dispersion coefficient has been evaluated numerically (FDM) by solving the moment equations. Using the Hermite polynomial representation of central moments the axial distribution of mean concentration is determined. The main objective is to look into the impact of yield stress, peripheral layer thickness, irreversible and reversible reaction rate on the dispersion process. The study has significant applicatio ns n the transport of species in a blood flow system.
High resting energy expenditure, less fat-free mass, and less muscle strength in HIV-infected children: a matched, cross-sectional study

Background and aims Many improvements have been made in the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in pediatric patients; however, challenges remain in terms of achieving normal growth, body composition, and metabolism during treatment, etc. Current nutritional recommendations are based on studies performed in adults, with limited data on the HIV-infected pediatric population. Therefore, this study aimed to compare the resting energy expenditure (REE) of asymptomatic HIV-infected pediatric patients with healthy counterparts and to compare body composition, dietary intake, and physical activity between the two groups. Methods This was a cross-sectional study of asymptomatic HIV-infected children who were receiving antiretroviral therapy; the infected group was compared with the uninfected group, matched by age (± 6 months), sex, and body mass index (± 0.5 z-score). Participants were recruited between 2021 and 2022, as outpatients. In both groups, REE was determined by indirect calorimetry and body composition by bioelectrical impedance analysis and hand strength, measured using a hydraulic hand dynamometer. Results Seventy-eight participants were enrolled, where n = 39 HIV-infected children and n = 39 controls, with a mean age of 11.6 ± 3.4 years old. REE was significantly higher in the HIV group (1254.4 ± 334.7 kcal/day vs. 1124.7 ± 321 kcal/day, p = 0.013) than in the control group. Fat-free mass (FFM) was lower in the HIV group (28.2 ± 10.5 kg vs. 32 ± 11.2 kg, p = 0.001); this trend continued when the index skeletal muscle was evaluated (7.2 ± 1.2 vs. 7.6 ± 1.5, p = 0.04). The strength of the dominant hand was also lower in the HIV group (12 (8–18) kg vs. 20 (10.5–26) kg, p < 0.0001). Conclusions Children with asymptomatic HIV infection have higher REE than their uninfected peers. They also present decreased FFM, skeletal muscle mass index, and muscle strength. These parameters should be considered during nutritional assessment in this population to have a favorable impact on nutritional status and growth.
Personality–brain connection: Based on resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data-driven exploration

Background: The personality-brain association mechanism has been a topic of interest in the field of neuroscience. Usually, the previous research strategy was to first group the population based on different personality traits, and then explore the brain mechanisms corresponding to different personality groups. At present, a “brain-first” research strategy, which uses data-driven approaches instead of personality traits to first group the population, has been adopted to further enhance study objectivity. Methods: Here, we used a data-driven approach following the “brain-first” research strategy to deeply mine the resting-state brain functional magnetic resonance imaging data of 119 healthy participants, classified subjects into different groups based on brain image characteristics, and used the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire to explain the variabilities of resting-state brain characteristics between different groups. Results: We have identified 3 personality–brain connections, including the privateness–left frontoparietal network, liveliness–sensory–motor network, and vigilance–sensory–motor network. Conclusion: We conclude that the above-mentioned three personality factors are based on brain neural activity, independent of the subjective experience of the personality scale creator, and have stronger explanatory power of brain imaging features.
Causal Paradigm Between Common Comorbidities of Cardiovascular and Metabolism-Related Diseases in Elderly: Evidence from Cross-Sectional and Mendelian Randomization Studies

Background Comorbidity is a common problem among elderly people, significantly damaging individuals’ health and healthcare systems. However, observational studies may be susceptible to residual confounding factors and bias. The present study aimed to assess the causal effect of common chronic disease comorbidity using the Mendelian randomization (MR) approach. Methods Data for the present study were obtained from a community survey conducted between 2018 and 2020 in four counties in Ganzhou City, southern China. A cross-sectional survey was conducted using a multi-stage stratified random sampling method. A total of 1756 valid questionnaires were collected to analyze common chronic disease comorbidities. Genetic variants associated with hypertension, diabetes, stroke, and hyperlipidemia-related factors were selected as instrumental variables for univariate and multivariate MR analyses. Results The self-reported prevalence of chronic disease in the older adult population in Southern China was 68.1%, with hypertension (46.1%), diabetes (10.5%), and hyperlipidemia (8.5%) being the three most common conditions. The prevalence of chronic disease comorbidity was 20.7% among the 12 chronic diseases studied. Hypertension was identified as a predictor of diabetes (OR [95% CI]: 1.114 [1.049, 1.184], p < 0.001), and diabetes mellitus was equally identified as a risk factor for hypertension (OR [95% CI]: 1.118 [1.069, 1.187], p < 0.001). Furthermore, high triglyceride levels were identified as a risk factor for hypertension (OR [95% CI]: 1.262 [1.129, 1.411], p < 0.001). In contrast to intracranial hemorrhages, hypertension had a significant impact on ischemic stroke (OR [95% CI]: 1.299 [1.161, 1.454], p < 0.001). Conclusion The causal association between multiple cardiovascular and metabolism-related diseases is mediated by hypertension, with a bidirectional cause-and-effect relationship between hypertension and diabetes. Hypertension is a risk factor for ischemic stroke, and the hyperlipidemia-related factor triglycerides (TG) influence hypertension. Therefore, prioritizing hypertension prevention and control in the elderly is critical for effective chronic disease management.
Systematic Development of AI-Enabled Diagnostic Systems for Glaucoma and Diabetic Retinopathy

With the rapid advancements in artificial intelligence, particularly in machine learning and deep learning, automated disease diagnosis is becoming increasingly feasible. Generating larger databases is crucial for training and validating the performance of models for chronic diseases such as glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy, which progress slowly and unnoticed. Automated procedures for retinal vessel segmentation and optic cup/disk localization are preferred for large-scale screening of the public, contributing to the early detection and treatment of eye diseases, preventing blindness, and improving public health. This paper focuses on the challenges involved in segmenting the retinal vessels from fundus images and presents a modified ColonSegNet model for retinal vessel segmentation that includes efficient methods for locating the true vessels and applies data augmentation to overcome the issue of fewer graded images. The paper uses the optimal values for the contrast enhancement of retinal fundus images using intelligent evolution algorithms. The central vessel reflex, bifurcation, crossover, thin vessels, and lesion presence are highlighted as significant challenges in retinal vessel segmentation. The proposed method achieves high sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy, {0.839, 0.979, 0.966}, {0.865, 0.979, 0.971}, and {0.867, 0.981, 0.972}, segmenting retinal vessels on DRIVE, CHASE_DB, and STARE. The work is crucial in developing automated systems for the early detection and treatment of eye diseases, thereby improving public health.
An algorithmic approach for a system of extended multi-valued variational-like inclusions in Banach spaces

In this paper, we pursue two purposes. Our first goal is to study a new system of extended multi-valued nonlinear variational inclusions in Banach spaces and to establish its equivalence with a system of fixed point problems with the help of the concept of (H, ? )-proximal mapping. The obtained alternative equivalent formulation is used and a new iterative algorithm for finding its approximate solution is proposed. Under some appropriate assumptions imposed on the mappings and parameters involved in the system of extended multi-valued nonlinear variational inclusions, the existence of solution for the system mentioned above is proved and the convergence analysis of the sequences generated by our suggested iterative algorithm is discussed. The second objective of this paper is to investigate and analyze the notion of Cn-? -monotone mapping, which is an extension of the concept of Cn-monotone mapping, and to point out some remarks relating to Cn-? -monotone mapping and the results concerning it appeared in the literature. The results presented in this paper are new, and improve and generalize many known corresponding results.
Wave modes in a cold pair plasma: the complete phase and group diagram point of view

We present a complete analysis of all wave modes in a cold pair plasma, significantly extending standard textbook treatments. Instead of identifying the maximal number of two propagating waves at fixed frequency $\unicode[STIX]{x1D714}$ , we introduce a unique labelling of all 5 mode pairs described by the general dispersion relation $\unicode[STIX]{x1D714}(k)$ , starting from their natural ordering at small wavenumber $k$ . There, the 5 pairs start off as Alfvén (A), fast magnetosonic (F), modified electrostatic (M) and electromagnetic O and X branches, and each $\unicode[STIX]{x1D714}(k)$ branch smoothly connects to large wavenumber resonances or limits. For cold pair plasmas, these 5 branches show avoided crossings, which become true crossings at exactly parallel or perpendicular orientation. Only for those orientations, we find a changed connectivity between small and large wavenumber behaviour. Analysing phase and group diagrams for all 5 wave modes, distinctly different from the Clemmow–Mullaly–Allis representation, reveals the true anisotropy of the A, M and O branches.
Hurricanes, fertility, and family structure: a study of early 20th century Jamaica

ABSTRACT This study investigates the impact of hurricanes on fertility and the role of family structure in early 20th century Jamaica. Importantly, this was a time period in which there were no storm warnings or other formal disaster mitigation policies in place, allowing one to arguably identify the causal effect of storms on births without any policy interference. To this end, historical hurricane tracks and an exhaustive register of births are used to create a parish level monthly data set on births and hurricane destruction for the period 1901 to 1929. The regression analysis reveals that hurricanes impact excess births for close to 2 years after the event, with the average damaging storm causing a reduction in births of around 13%. Most of the negative effect is due to lower post-storm fertility rather than a fall in births by women affected while pregnant. There is no evidence that the fall in births was driven by fertile females dying as a result of the hurricane. Similarly, there was no discernible differential impact between single mother and two parent registered births, where the impact on the latter appears to be driven by non-marital conjugal unions.
The habitual characteristic of smart phone use under relevant cues among Chinese college students

Excessive smartphone use may be habitual behavior induced by cues associated with the phone. Habitual behavior occurs outside of awareness and is characterized by lack of control. It is not like problematic smartphone use (PSU) (Brand et al., 2016), which is used to either limit behavior or produce pleasure and relieve feelings of pain, stress, and failure despite significant harmful consequences. 62 college students participated in experiments to test the effects of visual cues and self-control, which are the important characteristic of habitual behavior in smartphone-related behavior. The results showed that a significantly larger amount of cue-related phone use behavior occurred in the setting where participants (a) had their smartphones in sight and (b) were given no instructions to exert self-control, compared to when neither of the two conditions was imposed. The habitual model is a useful framework for understanding PSU and can help people avoid it with less stress. The results provide substantial implications for reducing the frequency and duration of smartphone use among college populations.
cGAS–STING pathway in ischemia-reperfusion injury: a potential target to improve transplantation outcomes

Transplantation is an important life-saving therapeutic choice for patients with organ or tissue failure once all other treatment options are exhausted. However, most allografts become damaged over an extended period, and post-transplantation survival is limited. Ischemia reperfusion injury (IRI) tends to be associated with a poor prognosis; resultant severe primary graft dysfunction is the main cause of transplant failure. Targeting the cGAS–STING pathway has recently been shown to be an effective approach for improving transplantation outcomes, when activated or inhibited cGAS–STING pathway, IRI can be alleviated by regulating inflammatory response and programmed cell death. Thus, continuing efforts to develop selective agonists and antagonists may bring great hopes to post-transplant patient. In this mini-review, we reviewed the role of the cGAS–STING pathway in transplantation, and summarized the crosstalk between this pathway and inflammatory response and programmed cell death during IRI, aiming to provide novel insights into the development of therapies to improve patient outcome after transplantation.
Residue Monitoring and Dietary Risk Evaluation of Fungicide Propiconazole in Leafy Vegetables under Greenhouse Conditions

Residue monitoring of propiconazole (PCZ) in cabbage, shallot, and spinach was conducted under multi-trial greenhouse conditions. This study aimed to understand the fate of the applied fungicide in these vegetables. Furthermore, the associated health risk of PCZ in leafy vegetables was assessed through dietary risk assessment. Commercially available PCZ (22% suspension concentrate) was administered thrice according to the OECD fungicide application interval guideline. The plant samples were extracted using a slightly modified QuEChERS technique and analyzed using gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The average PCZ recovery was between 84.5% and 117.6%, with a <5% coefficient of variance. The dissipation of PCZ residue in cabbage, shal-lot, and spinach after 14 days was 96%, 90%, and 99%, respectively, with half-lives of <5 days. Meanwhile, dietary risk assessments of PCZ residues in the studied vegetables
Simplified description of hard particles in tribological systems using statistical sample particles

Technical applications often include tribological systems in which friction and wear occur. Hard particles, such as sand, are often present in the contact between the surfaces of two bodies in contact and affect both the system dynamics and the resulting surface topography of the contacting bodies. Real tribological systems can contain a very high number of particles. Hence, for performance reasons of numerical studies, the explicit representation of each particle in a simulation is often not practical. The approach presented here is based on a model simplification by grouping several particles to form statistical sample particles (SSPs). SSPs can only move as a whole, and thereby simplify the motions of the individual particles, but the contact stiffness and orientation dependence of the force are still determined by the set of individual particles that are part of the statistical sample. Using sample size 1, each individual particle is represented without simplification, while using a sample size larger than one, the total number of particles in the system reduces to a minimum of one SSP representing all particles in the system. This approach provides a very efficient way to specify the model complexity and desired level of detail for the particle representation within a model of a tribological system.
The Global Pigeon

The pigeon is the quintessential city bird. Domesticated thousands of years ago as a messenger and a source of food, its presence on our sidewalks is so common that people consider the bird a nuisance - if they notice it at all. Yet pigeons are also kept by people all over the world for pleasure, sport, and profit, from the "pigeon wars" waged by breeding enthusiasts in the skies over Brooklyn to the Million Dollar Pigeon Race held every year in South Africa. Drawing on more than three years of fieldwork across three continents, Colin Jerolmack traces our complex and often contradictory relationship with these versatile animals in public spaces such as Venice's Piazza San Marco and London's Trafalgar Square and in working-class and immigrant communities of pigeon breeders in New York and Berlin. By exploring what he calls "the social experience of animals," Jerolmack shows how our interactions with pigeons offer surprising insights into city life, community, culture, and politics. Theoretically understated and accessible to interested readers of all stripes, "The Global Pigeon" is one of the best and most original ethnographies to be published in decades.