Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Slowing the Progression of Diabetic Kidney Disease

Diabetes is the most frequent cause of kidney disease that progresses to end-stage renal disease worldwide, and diabetic kidney disease is significantly related to unfavorable cardiovascular outcomes. Since the 1990s, specific therapies have emerged and been approved to slow the progression of diabetic kidney disease, namely, renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system blockers (including angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEi) angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs), the non-steroidal mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist (NS-MRA), finerenone, and sodium–glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors). Mechanistically, these different classes of agents bring different anti-inflammatory, anti-fibrotic, and complementary hemodynamic effects to patients with diabetic kidney disease such that they have additive benefits on slowing disease progression. Within the coming year, there will be data on renal outcomes using the glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist, semaglutide. All the aforementioned medications have also been shown to improve cardiovascular outcomes. Thus, all three classes (maximally dosed ACEi or ARB, low-dose SGLT-2 inhibitors, and the NS-MRA, finerenone) form the “pillars of therapy” such that, when used together, they maximally slow diabetic kidney disease progression. Ongoing studies aim to expand these pillars with additional medications to potentially normalize the decline in kidney function and reduce associated cardiovascular mortality.
A 4D feature‐tracking algorithm: A multidimensional view of cyclone systems

An objective four‐dimensional (4D) algorithm developed to track extratropical relative vorticity anomaly 3D structure over time is introduced and validated. The STACKER algorithm, structured with the TRACKER single‐level tracking algorithm as source of the single‐level raw tracks, objectively combines tracks from various levels to determine the 3D structure of the cyclone (or anticyclone) events throughout their life cycle. STACKER works progressively, beginning with two initial levels and then adding additional levels to the stack in a bottom‐up and/or top‐down approach. This allows an iterative stacking approach, adding one level at a time, resulting in an optimized 4D determination of relative vorticity anomaly events.
Basic Reading and Mathematics Skills and the Labour Market Outcomes of Young People: Evidence from PISA and Linked Administrative Data*

This paper uses Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) data linked to administrative data to track the educational and labour market outcomes of young people. Students with lower skills have lower rates of participation in further education. While men with low skills out-earn their higher-skilled counterparts when they are very young, their earnings are overtaken by those with higher skills when they are in their early twenties and earn around 15 % less by the age of 25. The diﬀerences among women are substantially larger - women with low skills earn about 35 % less than their higher-skilled counterparts by age 25.
Approximation techniques for measuring Function Points

The generic concepts of Function Points Analysis were published in the late 1970s, and later more detailed measurement rules were developed to improve consistency of measurement. Due to lack of good software documentation, it is not always possible to apply all the detailed rules, and measurers must fall back on approximation techniques. This paper presents an analysis of two such techniques: Function Points Simplified and “backfiring” with a ratio of lines of code per Function Point. Two verification criteria were selected from ISO 14143-3: accuracy and convertibility. Results from empirical studies with five data sets are reported.
Etiology of Idiopathic Macular Holes in the Light of Estrogen Hormone

The aim of this review was to identify a new potential explanation for the development of macular holes in relation to the female sex and to explain the possible underlying pathways. This approach was based on the evaluation of anatomical, physiological, and morphological analyses currently available in the literature. The findings showed that estrogen exerts a protective effect on the neuroretina and may influence Müller and cone cells. Both cell types are responsible for the building of the fovea structure. However, this protection may be lost due to the sudden decrease in estrogen levels during menopause. In conclusion, the fovea cones, through its sensitivity to estrogen and high energy consumption, may be very vulnerable to damage caused by a sudden changes in the concentration of estrogen in menopausal females. Such changes may result in cone degeneration, and thus a destroyed structure of the fovea, and may lead to the development of a hole in the fovea, as in the case of macular holes. This review revealed that under the decreasing influence of estrogen may cones play a key role with regard to the etiology of the development of macular holes. This aspect may be of strategic importance in prophylactic therapy for the prevention of the development of macular holes in premenopausal females or after ocular trauma.
Yao spanners for wireless ad hoc networks

Wireless nodes are often powered by batteries and have limited memory resources. These characteristics make it critical to compute and maintain, at each node, only a subset of neighbors that the node communicates with. These subsets of neighbors define a topology and the problem of choosing “appropriate” subsets of neighbors is called the topology control problem. Highly relevant to the topology control problem is the class of Yao graphs, defined as follows. Let P be a set of points in the plane. The Yao graph Yk(P ), for k > 2, is defined as follows. At each point u ∈ P , any k equal-separated rays originated at u define k cones; in each non-empty cone Cu, pick the shortest edge {u, v} connecting u to its nearest neighbor v ∈ Cu (breaking ties arbitrarily), and add {u, v} to Yk. For a fixed value t ≥ 1, a graph G embedded in the plane is a length t-spanner if, for all pairs of vertices u, v ∈ P , the shortest path in G from u to v is no longer than t · |uv|; here |uv| denotes the Euclidean distance between u and v. It is a standing open question to decide whether the Yao structure Yk, for k ≤ 5, is a length t-spanner or not, for some constant t. We make progress towards resolving this question by showing that Y4 is a length spanner for sets of points in convex position. We prove that Y2 and Y3 are not length spanners. We show that a related structure, called Yao-Yao, is a length spanner for any set of points of bounded aspect ratio (defined as the ratio between the largest to the smallest interpoint distances).
The development of arable cultivation in the south-east of England and its relationship with vegetation cover: A honeymoon period for biodiversity?

The onset of prehistoric farming brought unprecedented changes to landscapes and their biodiversity. Past biodiversity patterns are broadly understood for different parts of Europe, and demonstrate trajectories that have been linked to prehistoric and historic demographic transitions, and associated land-use practices. To our knowledge, this paper is the first attempt to directly link evidence of agricultural practice from the archaeological record to biodiversity patterns. Records of fossil pollen are used to estimate plant and landscape diversity patterns, and novel approaches are employed to analyse 1194 harmonised archaeobotanical samples (plant macrofossil remains) spanning the prehistoric and Roman periods, from southern England. We demonstrate changes in the use of crops and gathered edible plants and non-linear trends in cultivation practices. Whilst, overall, cereal production is characterised by ever larger and extensive regimes, different trajectories are evident for most of early prehistory, the Middle Iron Age and the Late Roman period. Comparisons with the Shannon diversity of fossil pollen records from the same region suggest a positive relationship between developing agricultural regimes and landscape scale biodiversity during the prehistoric period. The Roman period represents a tipping point in the relationship between expanding agriculture and pollen diversity, with declining pollen diversity evident in the records from the region.
Distribution LMP-based Transactive Day-ahead Market with Variable Renewable Generation

The largescale penetration of variable renewable energy (VRE) and their generation uncertainties poses a major challenge for the distribution system operator (DSO) to efficiently determine the day-ahead real and reactive power distribution locational marginal prices (DLMPs) and their underlying components. In this paper, we propose a DLMP-based transactive day-ahead market (DAM) model, that in addition to energy and losses, determines prices for creating congestions and voltage violations under peak-load and large-scale stochastic VRE penetration conditions. To account for the VRE uncertainties and the effect of their large-scale penetration on the DLMP components and distributed energy resources' (DERs) schedules, we propose a novel data-driven probability efficient point (PEP) method that computes the optimal total VRE generation at different confidence (risk) levels to incorporate in the proposed transactive DAM model. We perform a wide range of simulation studies on a modified IEEE 69-node system to validate the proposed methods and demonstrate the effect of peak load conditions, large-scale VRE penetration, and inclusion of battery energy storage systems (BESS) on the resulting positive or negative real and reactive power DLMPs and their components.
Unraveling the Mechanisms of Ch-SeNP Cytotoxicity against Cancer Cells: Insights from Targeted and Untargeted Metabolomics

Although chitosan-stabilized selenium nanoparticles (Ch-SeNPs) have emerged as a promising chemical form of selenium for anticancer purposes, gathering more profound knowledge related to molecular dysfunctions contributes significantly to the promotion of their evolution as a chemotherapeutic drug. In this sense, metabolites are the end products in the flow of gene expression and, thus, the most sensitive to changes in the physiological state of a biological system. Therefore, metabolomics provides a functional readout of the biochemical activity and cell state. In the present study, we evaluated alterations in the metabolomes of HepG2 cells after the exposure to Ch-SeNPs to elucidate the biomolecular mechanisms involved in their therapeutic effect. A targeted metabolomic approach was conducted to evaluate the levels of four of the main energy-related metabolites (adenosine triphosphate (ATP); adenosine diphosphate (ADP); nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+); and 1,4-dihydronicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH)), revealing alterations as a result of exposure to Ch-SeNPs related to a shortage in the energy supply system in the cell. In addition, an untargeted metabolomic experiment was performed, which allowed for the study of alterations in the global metabolic profile as a consequence of Ch-SeNP exposure. The results indicate that the TCA cycle and glycolytic pathways were impaired, while alternative pathways such as glutaminolysis and cysteine metabolism were upregulated. Additionally, increased fructose levels suggested the induction of hypoxia-like conditions. These findings highlight the potential of Ch-SeNPs to disrupt cancer cell metabolism and provide insights into the mechanisms underlying their antitumor effects.
An Analysis of HOTS Level Questions on the Indonesian Objective Tests

This study aimed to describe HOTS-level questions in the objective tests at the end-of-semester Indonesian exam for class XII at SMA Negeri 3 Bengkulu Tengah. The researcher's description was based on Anderson & Krathwohl's theory. This research was a qualitative descriptive study. The data source in this study was in the form of documents for the end-of-semester exams for class XII Indonesian at SMA Negeri 3 Bengkulu Tengah, totaling 105 questions using documentation data collection techniques. The analysis showed that HOTS questions still tend to be few and have not fully used HOTS-level questions. 11 questions meet the characteristics of HOTS questions or the equivalent of 10% of the data used. 10% of HOTS questions were dominated by the C4 thinking process dimension (analyzing), which consists of 6 questions (6%), the C5 thinking process dimension (evaluating) 4%, and the C6 thinking process dimension (creating) 1%. For the knowledge dimension, the HOTS questions were dominated by questions that measure the conceptual knowledge dimension.
The Effect of Earning Persistence and Growth Opportunities on Future Earning Response Coefficient with Public Ownership as Moderation

The role of public ownership in moderating the effect of earning persistence and growth opportunities on the future earnings responses’ coefficient is the focus of this study. Understanding the background of these concepts provides context for the research. This study aims to determine the role of public ownership in moderating the effect of earning persistence and growth opportunities on future earnings responses coefficient. This research uses companies in the Consumer Cyclicals sector and the Consumer Non-Cyclicals sector during the 2018-2021 period. Sampling method with purposive sampling. The results of this study indicate that earnings persistence affects the Future Earning Responses Coefficient. Growth Opportunities have no effect on the Future Earning Responses Coefficient. The role of public ownership is able to strengthen the effect of earning persistence and Growth Opportunities on Future Earning Responses Coefficient.
Circadian Regulation of Macrophages and Osteoclasts in Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) represents one of the best examples of circadian fluctuations in disease severity. Patients with RA experience stiffness, pain, and swelling in afflicted joints in the early morning, which tends to become milder toward the afternoon. This has been primarily explained by the higher blood levels of pro-inflammatory hormones and cytokines, such as melatonin, TNFα, IL-1, and IL-6, in the early morning than in the afternoon as well as insufficient levels of anti-inflammatory cortisol, which rises later in the morning. Clinical importance of the circadian regulation of RA symptoms has been demonstrated by the effectiveness of time-of-day-dependent delivery of therapeutic agents in chronotherapy. The primary inflammatory site in RA is the synovium, where increased macrophages, T cells, and synovial fibroblasts play central roles by secreting pro-inflammatory cytokines, chemokines, and enzymes to stimulate each other, additional immune cells, and osteoclasts, ultimately leading to cartilage and bone erosion. Among these central players, macrophages have been one of the prime targets for the study of the link between circadian rhythms and inflammatory activities. Gene knockout experiments of various core circadian regulators have established that disruption of any core circadian regulators results in hyper- or hypoactivation of inflammatory responses by macrophages when challenged by lipopolysaccharide and bacteria. Although these stimulations are not directly linked to RA etiology, these findings serve as a foundation for further study by providing proof of principle. On the other hand, circadian regulation of osteoclasts, downstream effectors of macrophages, remain under-explored. Nonetheless, circadian expression of the inducers of osteoclastogenesis, such as TNFα, IL-1, and IL-6, as well as the knockout phenotypes of circadian regulators in osteoclasts suggest the significance of the circadian control of osteoclast activity in the pathogenesis of RA. More detailed mechanistic understanding of the circadian regulation of macrophages and osteoclasts in the afflicted joints could add novel local therapeutic options for RA.
Utilizing Sewage Sludge Slag, a By-Product of the Circulating Fluidized Bed Combustion Process, to Efficiently Remove Copper from Aquatic Environment

Currently, one of the greatest threats to the aquatic environment is industrial wastewater containing heavy metals and other toxic substances. Hence, it seems necessary to search for ecological and cheap technologies for removing metals from wastewater. In this research, slag was used as waste obtained in the circulating fluidized bed combustion technology (CFBC), which is considered to be a modern, clean, and very effective method of incineration of municipal sewage sludge. The physicochemical properties of the waste material were characterized using selected analytical techniques. Next, the processes of adsorption of Cu(II) ions on slag in aqueous solutions were investigated. The results showed a high metal removal efficiency of 98.8% at pH 1.8 and slag dosage 5 g/L. Numerous studies have demonstrated that high process efficiency at a level of at least 90% is attainable. Based on the Langmuir equation, the maximum adsorption capacity was calculated to be 70.3 mg/g. Kinetic analysis revealed that the process fits better into the pseudo-second-order reaction model and the Freundlich isotherm. The intraparticle diffusion model was considered as a rate-controlling step for Cu(II) adsorption. In summary, the slag waste produced in the CFBC technology seems to be a highly effective adsorbent for potential use in adsorption processes to remove heavy metals from the aquatic environment. This solution is in line with the current European ‘zero waste’ strategy and the assumptions of a sustainable development economy.
Experiments on critical Reynolds number and global instability in roughness-induced laminar–turbulent transition

The effects of isolated, cylindrical roughness elements on laminar–turbulent transition in a flat-plate boundary layer are investigated in a laminar water channel. Our experiments aim at providing a comparison to global linear stability theory (LST) by means of hot-film anemometry and particle image velocimetry. Although the critical Reynolds number from theory does not match the transition Reynolds number observed in experiments, there are distinct experimental observations indicating a changeover from purely convective to absolute/global instability very close to the critical Reynolds number predicted by theory. Forcing with a vibrating wire reveals the evolution of the system dynamics from an amplifier to a wavemaker when the critical Reynolds number is exceeded. The mode symmetry is varicose for thick roughness elements and a changeover from varicose to sinuous modes is observed at the critical Reynolds number for thin roughness elements. Therefore, most predictions by global LST can be confirmed, but additional observations in the physical flow demonstrate that not all features can be captured adequately by global LST.
Periacetabular Osteotomy for Hip Dysplasia in a NCAA Division I Female Water Polo Athlete

OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of applying a very minimal weight bearing in the early phase of a general rehabilitation program for returning to sports after periacetabular osteotomy for developmental dysplasia of the hip in physically active populations.METHODS A 22 year-old NCAA Division I female water polo player, with no prior history of hip injury and no signs of developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH), reported to athletic training facility early season complaining of right hip pain after stationary bike workout. The athlete reported hearing and feeling a sudden “pop” within the right hip with immediate hip pain when she was pedaling at moderate intensity of a stationary bike. Numbness and tingling was felt initially with the mechanism. Tender to palpate at the right hip flexor and anterior hip joint, as well as the greater trochanter. The athlete’s chief complaints were pain with walking and prolonged sitting. Antalgic gait noticed during evaluation. A 6-, 12-, and 24-week rehabilitation protocol were performed.RESULTS X-ray and MRI images showed no avascular necrosis or fracture. An abnormal alpha angle found and no bursitis or tendonitis was shown. A periacetabular osteotomy (PAO) was performed to rotate the acetabular fragment into optimal position and fixed to the pelvis with 3 screws. During the initial 6-week of post-surgical rehabilitation, the level of pain and edema were minimized, the athlete was able to perform toe-touch and partial weight-bearing with crutches, and restored hip ROMs. From 6 to 10 weeks, the athlete recovered full hip ROMs and able to perform lunges, leg press, deadlifts, mini squats back to pre-injury status. The athlete was able to return to activities of daily living (ADLs) after 12 weeks. At 24 weeks, the athlete was able to fully participate in sports without limitations.CONCLUSIONS This case describes the rehabilitation program employed following PAO for an atypical case of DDH in a water polo athlete who had no signs and symptoms of DDH prior to sports participation. At the end of the season, the athlete opted to undergo PAO given the risks and underwent a 6-month rehabilitation before a full return to function. This case report aides with treatment knowledge and postsurgical rehabilitation techniques for athletic trainers.
Video-Based Heart Rate Measurement: Recent Advances and Future Prospects

Heart rate (HR) estimation and monitoring is of great importance to determine a person’s physiological and mental status. Recently, it has been demonstrated that HR can be remotely retrieved from facial video-based photoplethysmographic signals captured using professional or consumer-level cameras. Many efforts have been made to improve the detection accuracy of this noncontact technique. This paper presents a timely, systematic survey on such video-based remote HR measurement approaches, with a focus on recent advancements that overcome dominating technical challenges arising from illumination variations and motion artifacts. Representative methods up to date are comparatively summarized with respect to their principles, pros, and cons under different conditions. Future prospects of this promising technique are discussed and potential research directions are described. We believe that such a remote HR measurement technique, taking advantages of unobtrusiveness while providing comfort and convenience, will be beneficial for many healthcare applications.