Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Polydatin Attenuates Intra-Uterine Growth Retardation-Induced Liver Injury and Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Weanling Piglets by Improving Energy Metabolism and Redox Balance

The present study investigated the potential of polydatin to protect against liver injury and the mitochondrial dysfunction of weanling piglets suffering from intra-uterine growth retardation (IUGR). Thirty-six normal birth weight weanling piglets and an equal number of IUGR littermates were given a basal diet with or without polydatin (250 mg/kg) from 21 to 35 d of age. Plasma and liver samples were collected to measure biochemistry parameters at 35 d of age. IUGR caused hepatic apoptosis, mitochondrial dysfunction, and oxidative damage, along with a lower efficiency of energy metabolism and inferior antioxidant ability. Polydatin decreased apoptotic rate, improved the features of mitochondrial damage, inhibited mitochondrial swelling and superoxide anion formation, and preserved mitochondrial membrane potential in the liver. Concurrently, polydatin promoted mitochondrial biogenesis, increased sirtuin 1 activity, and upregulated the expression levels of several genes related to mitochondrial function and fitness. Polydatin also facilitated mitochondrial oxidative metabolism with a beneficial outcome of increased energy production. Furthermore, polydatin mitigated the IUGR-induced reduction in manganese superoxide dismutase activity and prevented the excessive accumulation of oxidative damaging products in the liver. These findings indicate that polydatin confers protection against hepatic injury and mitochondrial dysfunction in the IUGR piglets by improving energy metabolism and redox balance.
Frailty and Multimorbidity Among Community-Dwelling Older People in Vietnam

and hospitalization. 3 Frailty and multimorbidity have a bidirectional relationship, 4 with frailty potentially originating from the existence of comorbidities and also predisposing older adults to multimorbidity. 3 According to Rockwood’s concept, frailty involved the accumulation of multiple deficits, including chronic diseases. 2 Moreover, both frailty and multimorbidity are associated with increased risks of hospitalization, mortality, and disabilities. 5 Previous studies have suggested that, in Vietnam, ABSTRACT Background/Purpose: This study aimed to identify the prevalence of frailty and multimorbidity, as well as their interrelationship, among communitydwelling older people in Vietnam. Methods: This cross-sectional study involved face-to-face interviews with community-dwelling older people who living in Ho Chi Minh City. Frailty was assessed according to Fried’s criteria, and multimorbidity was defined as the coexistence of ≥2 chronic diseases. Results: The study included 598 participants (mean age: 71.2±7.8 years, 67.2% female). The prevalence of multimorbidity was 55.5%. The prevalence of frailty was 18.1%, was significantly higher among participants with multimorbidity (multimorbidity: 23.1% vs. no multimorbidity: 11.5%, p <0.001). Multivariate analysis revealed that multimorbidity was an independent factor that associated with frailty (adjusted odds ratio: 1.92, 95% confidence interval: 1.17-3.17, p =0.010). Conclusion: The prevalences of frailty and multimorbidity were very high among community-dwelling older people in Vietnam. Furthermore, multimorbidity was an independent factor that associated with frailty. Therefore, early health interventions are needed to prevent and manage both frailty and multimorbidity in this vulnerable population.
(Overcoming) Maternity Bias in the Workplace: A Systematic Review

Maternity, a period of transition beginning with prenatal bodily changes and progressing through postnatal lactation, is experienced by up to 66% of working women. Over the past several decades, research on maternity in the workplace has grown exponentially to reveal salient maternity biases that plague women as they navigate their employee and motherhood identities. With the aim of providing information that aids scholars and practitioners in better understanding the experiences of working mothers, we conducted a systematic review of 239 papers on maternity bias (i.e., formal, interpersonal, and internalized). Our interdisciplinary review discusses these three forms of bias and how they might present across different career stages for working mothers. Additionally, we review the antecedents that may drive maternity bias and the outcomes that result for working mothers who perceive or anticipate bias at work. Finally, we discuss areas of previous research aimed at overcoming maternity bias from the perspective of working mothers, their colleagues, and their organization. We conclude by discussing the trends brought to light in our review, the collective strengths and weaknesses of commonly adopted theoretical perspectives of the research reviewed, implications for combating maternity bias for women and their organizations, and recommendations for future research. Our model of maternity bias comprehensively reviews past work to provide insights into the bias that working mothers endure at work but also provides a path forward, as better understanding these biases empower organizations, coworkers, and employees to remediate maternity bias.
Mapping the impact of non-linear gradient fields on diffusion MRI tensor estimation

Non-linear gradients impact diffusion weighted (DW) MRI by corrupting the experimental setup and lead to problems during image encoding including the effects in-plane distortion, in-plane shifts, intensity modulations and phase errors. Recent studies have been shown this may present significant complication in the interpretation of results and conclusion while studying tractography and tissue microstructure in data. To interpret the degree in consequences of gradient non-linearities between the desired and achieved gradients, we introduced empirically derived gradient non linear fields at different orientations and different tensor properties. The impact is assessed through diffusion tensor properties including mean diffusivity (MD), fractional anisotropy (FA) and principal eigen vector (PEV). The study shows lower FA are more susceptible to LR fields and LR fields with determinant <1 or <1 corrupt tensor more. The corruption can result in significantly different FA based on true-FA and LR field. Apparent MD decreases for negative determinant, on the other hand positive determinant shows the opposite effect. LR field have a larger impact on PEV when FA value is small. The results are dependent on the underlying orientation, non-linear field corruption can cause both increase and decrease of estimated FA, MD and PEV value. This work provides insight into characterizing the non-linear gradient error and aid in selecting correction techniques to address the inaccuracies in b-values.
Estimation and Analysis of the Electric Arc Furnace Model Coefficients

This paper is devoted to electric arc furnace (EAF) modeling using a random differential equation based on the power balance equation. The proposed approach broadens and improves the model through the introduction of stochastic processes in place of existing coefficients. The paper presents a method which enables the estimation of EAF model coefficients with the help of measurement data - voltage and current waveforms recorded during the melting stage of an EAF work cycle. The estimation process is conducted with a Monte Carlo method and genetic algorithm, which is applied iteratively to each of the defined frames of the input signal. The estimated coefficients have been analyzed with respect to their time variability as well as the probability distributions of their values and increments. The results have been extensively visualized. Next, the identification of the stochastic processes representing the model coefficients has been carried out. Based on the previous results and autocorrelation functions, the density functions and parameters of discrete-time stochastic processes were identified. The paper presents solutions validated with statistical tests.
Role of radiosurgery in the treatment of Cushing's disease

Radiotherapy is a useful adjuvant treatment for patients with Cushing's disease that is not cured by surgery. In particular, Gamma Knife radiosurgery (GKRS) has been increasingly used worldwide as the preferred radiation technique in patients with persistent or recurrent Cushing's disease. The most widely accepted criterion for hormonal remission after GKRS is normalization of urinary free cortisol (UFC) levels. When a clear biological target is not identified, irradiation of the whole pituitary gland can be considered. The 5‐year probability of remission is 65%–75%. Normalization of hypercortisolism usually occurs within 3 years from GKRS treatment and control of tumor growth is optimal, approaching more than 90%. No clear predictor of a favorable outcome has emerged up to now, except for the experience of the treating team. In the largest series, development of partial or complete hypopituitarism occurred between 15% and 36%. Severe side effects of GKRS, such as optic neuropathy and oculomotor palsy, are uncommon but have been documented in patients previously exposed to radiation. Recurrence of disease has been reported in as high as 16%–18% of the patients who achieved normalization of UFC levels in the two largest series, whereas smaller series did not describe late failure of GKRS. The reason for this discrepancy is unclear, as is the relationship between hormonal and tumoral recurrence. Another unresolved issue is whether treatment with adrenal blocking drugs can jeopardize the results of GKRS. GKRS is an effective second‐line treatment in patients with Cushing's disease not cured by surgery. Hypopituitarism is the most frequent side effect of GKRS, whereas severe neurologic complications are uncommon in radiation‐naïve patients.
ESL/EFL LEARNERS’ POOR PERFORMANCE IN ENGLISH: THE FACTORS

This paper deals with the factors that are responsible for the ESL/EFL learners’ poor performance in English. The study was conducted in Bangladesh in nine selected secondary institutions from three different districts (i.e. Dhaka, Khulna, and Satkhira) covering urban, suburban, and rural areas. Data were collected through closed type questionnaire survey from students, and unstructured interview of the teachers. To collect and analyze the data, both qualitative and quantitative approaches of research were used. It was found from the study that so many factors lied for the ESL/EFL learners ‘poor performance in English like learners’ psychological factors, teachers’ factors, factors related to teaching procedures, teaching and learning environment, syllabus and curriculum.
Consistency and Specificity of Attachments to Parents, Friends, and Romantic Partners in Emerging Adulthood

The idea of a general working model of attachment suggests a high consistency among the attachments to different attachment figures. However, many empirical results show that attachments to different attachment figures differ substantially. In this study, 512 emerging adults rated their attachment quality to one parent, the romantic partner, and several friends over three measurement occasions. We used a multilevel structural equation model to examine the degree of consistency and different aspects of specificity. Attachment to parents was strongly associated with the attachment to friends (around r = .4) and less strongly with the attachment to romantic partners (around r = .3). However, most of the variance was specific to the different attachment figures. Attachments to different friends were more strongly correlated with each other than with the attachments to figures of other domains. The results hint at the existence of specific attachment patterns for every domain of attachment figures.
Are emojis processed visuo-spatially or verbally? Evidence for dual codes

ABSTRACT While some argue that emojis are processed like words, opponents note dissimilarities. We used a divided attention (DA) technique to examine whether memory for emojis, relative to words, engages primarily verbal or visuo-spatial cognitive representations. We compared the decline in memory output experienced when participants freely recalled a list of studied words or emojis under dual-task conditions with a concurrently performed distracting task. Participants encoded either words or emojis (between-subjects) under full attention (FA), and later recalled them under FA or while concurrently performing a 1-back task to words (DA Words), emojis (DA Emojis), or stars (DA Stars), manipulated within-subject. Emoji memory was higher overall compared to words. Word recall was unaffected by the DA Stars condition, but significantly worse in the DA Words-and to a lesser degree DA Emojis-condition, relative to FA. Results suggest that memory for words relies primarily on reactivation of verbal representations, which is hampered when the distracting task also requires verbal, but not visuo-spatial, processing. In contrast, small but significant declines in recall were observed for emojis across all DA conditions relative to FA. Results suggest that unlike words, representing and retrieving emojis engages both verbal and visuo-spatial processing.
Good Corporate Governance in Mediating the Effects of Intellectual Capital and CSR on Company Performance: Empirical on BUMN in Indonesia

Finance is a vital aspect for companies, especially State-Owned Enterprise (BUMN). In Indonesia, the trend of financial markets determines the company’s profit. It oriented this study to get empirical evidence about the effect between intellectual capital and corporate social responsibility (CSR) on company performance, where the relationship is determined by good corporate governance (GCG) which acts as a moderator for BUMN companies. The sample includes 13 state-owned companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) through a purposive sampling stage. Interpreting the data using the model is the SEM structural equation method (SEM) for the period 2012-2020. The statistical software is supported by SmartPLS. The results of the analysis conclude that intellectual capital and CSR have a significant effect on company performance. Then, GCG has no significant effect on the relationship between intellectual capital and company performance. Interestingly, GCG also does not significantly moderate the relationship between CSR and company performance. The limitations of the study need to be discussed.
Imetelstat Induces Leukemia Stem Cell Death in Pediatric Acute Myeloid Leukemia Patient-Derived Xenografts

Simple Summary About 20% of children with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) experience refractory disease or relapse, despite receiving intensive therapy. Leukemia stem cells (LSC) have the ability to evade chemotherapy and propagate the disease leading to chemoresistance and relapse. Therefore, treatment options that are able to eliminate LSCs are likely to be more effective in prolonging disease-free survival. We have tested the effect of imetelstat, a potent inhibitor of telomerase activity that specifically kills LSCs, on pediatric AML cells in culture and in mouse models. Imetelstat was effective in specifically killing LSCs and extended animal survival when used as a single agent or in combination with chemotherapy or epigenetic drug azacitidine. Abstract Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in children remains deadly, despite the use of maximally intensive therapy. Because leukemia stem cells (LSCs) significantly contribute to chemoresistance and relapse, therapies that specifically target the LSCs are likely to be more beneficial in improving outcome. LSCs are known to have high telomerase activity and telomerase activity is negatively correlated with survival in pediatric AML. We evaluated the preclinical efficacy of imetelstat, an oligonucleotide inhibitor of telomerase activity in patient-derived xenograft (PDX) lines of pediatric AML. Imetelstat treatment significantly increased apoptosis/death of the LSC population in a dose-dependent manner in six pediatric AML PDX lines ex vivo, while it had limited activity on the stem cell population in normal bone marrow specimens. These results were validated in vivo in two distinct PDX models wherein imetelstat as single agent or in combination with chemotherapy greatly reduced the LSC percentage and prolonged median survival. Imetelstat combination with DNA hypomethylating agent azacitidine was also beneficial in extending survival. Secondary transplantation experiments showed delayed engraftment and improved survival of mice receiving imetelstat-treated cells, confirming the diminished LSC population. Thus, our data suggest that imetelstat represents an effective therapeutic strategy for pediatric AML.
Comparison of Dechlorane Plus Concentrations in Sequential Blood Samples of Pregnant Women in Taizhou, China

To develop an appropriate sampling strategy to assess the intrauterine exposure to dechlorane plus (DP), we investigated DP levels in sequential maternal blood samples collected in three trimesters of pregnancy, respectively, from women living in Taizhou. The median concentration of DPs (sum of syn-DP and anti-DP) in all samples was 30.5 pg g−1 wet-weight and 5.01 ng g−1 lipid-adjusted weight, respectively. The trimester-related DP concentrations were consistently strongly correlated (p < 0.01), indicating that a single measurement of DP levels could represent intrauterine exposure without sampling from the same female repeatedly; however, the wet-weight levels significantly increased across trimesters (p < 0.05), while the lipid-adjusted levels did not significantly vary. Notably, whether lipid-adjusted weight or wet-weight levels, the variation extent of DP across trimesters was found to be less than 41%, and those for other persistent organic pollutants (POPs) reported in the literature were also limited to 100%. The limitation in variation extents indicated that, regardless of the time of blood collection during pregnancy and how the levels were expressed, a single measurement could be extended to screen for exposure risk if necessary. Our study provides different strategies for sampling the maternal blood to serve the requirement for assessment of in utero exposure to DP.
Cloning, Expression, and In Silico Analysis of Class IV Poly-(R)-3-hydroxybutyrate Genes from New Strain of Bacillus thuringiensis TH-01

Poly-(R)-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) is a bioplastic derivative of polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) which can be synthesized by bacteria under certain growth conditions. Previous study has reported a new strain of Bacillus thuringiensis TH-01 isolated from thermite, which found to accumulate PHB. This research aimed to clone PHB biosynthesis genes from B. thuringiensis TH-01 and study its expression as well as predict the tertiary structure of the enzymes. The clone of phaA gene, which encodes PhaA, was obtained as 1182 bp. On the other hand, 2546 bp clone of phaRBC gene cluster was obtained to consist of 744 bp phaB, 1086 bp phaC, and 483 bp phaR, encoding respective PhaB, PhaC, and PhaR proteins. In silico analysis indicated that PhaA, PhaB, PhaC, and PhaR, revealed to have 393, 247, 361, and 160 amino acid, respectively. The predicted model of PhaA, PhaB, and PhaC showed dominant structure of α/β folding motif, while PhaR was dominated by a helix-loop-helix motif. The catalytic residues of PhaA were Cys88, His349, and Cys379, whereas the catalytic residues of PhaB were Ser142, Tyr155, and Lys159. These catalytic residues were identical to those residues obtained in other PHB biosynthetic enzymes reported elsewhere, confirming that our clones were of PHB biosynthetic genes.
COVID-19, Financial Anxiety and the Psychological Well-being of Hotel Workers

ABSTRACT The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has inflicted unprecedented damage on the hospitality and tourism industry. However, the mental health fallout of COVID-19 on hotel employees is yet to receive empirical attention. This study, therefore, examines the consequences of COVID-19 on the psychological well-being and financial anxiety of hotel employees. An online survey distributed via a social networking site generated 173 responses, which were analyzed using descriptive statistics and PLS-SEM. The results of the study indicated that COVID-19 risk perception intensified financial anxiety among hotel employees while reducing their social functioning capability. Financial anxiety elicits psychological distress among hotel workers while weakening their social functioning. The relationship between COVID-19 risk perception and psychological distress was mediated by financial anxiety. Implications for hotel practitioners and policymakers are discussed.
Strategic Direction of Information Technology on Sustainable Supply Chain Practices: Exploratory Case Study on Fashion Industry in Malaysia

A growing body of research emphasises sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) in contrary with limited studies exploring role of information technology (IT) in sustainable supply chain activities. Moreover, little is known on SSCM implementation in niche industries like fashion/textile-apparel industry. As most studies concentrated on investigating IT impact on business performance and profitability in supply chain, integrating sustainable practice with IT is still scarce. The aim of this study is to identify current SSCM practices with the focus on IT role in supporting SSCM in fashion industry. For that purpose, this study applies the sustainable key practices framework discussed in the literature of SSCM and adopted previous study framework that differentiates four IT roles for sustainability. Using the proposed frameworks, interviews were conducted with five fashion practitioners that are currently engaged with SSCM practices. The findings from this study highlight the existence of SSCM practices in fashion industry. Finally, this finding enhances the current understanding of how IT can support SSCM practices and helps future research in exploring the IT implementation, challenges and benefit towards SSCM.
Computational studies on pressure distribution around a bending 5:1 rectangular cylinder

This paper describes the development and testing of a numerical model, based around the Large Eddy Simulation model, of a flexible 5:1 rectangular cylinder. We report on the vortex-induced vibration (VIV) of the bending cylinder, which is an analogue for a flexible bridge deck. Compared with a 3D heaving sectional model, distinct differences in surface pressure distributions and Strouhal number in the span-wise direction were found. In addition, certain span-wise flow features were thought to trigger the lock-in when the flexible model underwent the bending VIV response.