Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Clinicopathological and Prognostic Value of Survivin Expression in Surgically Resected Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

Simple Summary In spite of recent optimisation of surgical therapy and multimodal treatment options, late diagnosis and devastating overall prognosis continue to characterise pancreatic cancer. The inhibitor of apoptosis protein survivin has been established as a relevant if not unambiguously understood factor in the formation and progression of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) being upregulated already in the early stages of tumourigenesis. Therefore, we analysed the expression of survivin in primary PDAC and lymph node metastases in an ample collective of 236 patients and demonstrated that cytoplasmic as nuclear overexpression of the protein correlated significantly with clinicopathological indicators of disease progression and, accordingly, showed prognostic relevance. The findings support the use of survivin as a biomarker to further explore the aggressiveness of PDAC subtypes and encourage its therapeutic approach as a molecular target to expand current chances for disease survival and potential cure. Abstract Background: Survival after surgery for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remains poor. Thus, novel therapeutic concepts focus on the development of targeted therapies. In this context, inhibitor of apoptosis protein (IAP) survivin is regarded as a promising oncotherapeutic target. However, its expression and prognostic value in different tumour compartments of PDAC have not been studied. Methods: Immunohistochemical analysis of survivin in different PDAC tumour compartments from 236 consecutive patients was correlated with clinicopathological variables and survival. Results: In comparison to healthy pancreatic tissue high nuclear (p < 0.001) and high cytoplasmic (p < 0.01) survivin expression became evident in the tumour centre, along the invasion front and in lymph node metastases. Cytoplasmic overexpression of survivin in tumour centres was related to the presence of distant metastasis (p = 0.016) and UICC III/IV stages (p = 0.009), while high cytoplasmic expression at the invasion front grouped with venous infiltration (p = 0.022). Increased nuclear survivin along the invasion front correlated with perineural invasion (p = 0.035). High nuclear survivin in tumour centres represented an independent prognostic factor for overall survival of pancreatic tail carcinomas (HR 13.5 95%CI (1.4–129.7)) and correlated with a limited disease-free survival in PDAC (HR 1.80 95%CI (1.04–3.12)). Conclusion: Survivin is associated with advanced disease stages and poor prognosis. Therefore, survivin will help to identify patients with aggressive tumour phenotypes that could benefit from the inclusion in clinical trials incorporating survivin inhibitors in PDAC.
Biological Control of Halyomorpha halys (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) Using Native Natural Enemies in Michigan

BIOLOGICAL CONTROL OF HALYOMORPHA HALYS (HEMIPTERA: PENTATOMIDAE) USING NATIVE NATURAL ENEMIES IN MICHIGAN By Kristin Rae Poley The goal of this thesis was to investigate top-down pressures that exist at the beginning of the biological invasion process and to translate this into potential sources of biological control for a novel pest in Michigan’s agroecosystems. Halyomorpha halys (Stål) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) is an invasive agricultural pest and the potential for a biological control program that utilizes existing natural enemies for H. halys is currently unknown. I deployed sentinel egg masses under video surveillance to determine a baseline frequency of natural enemy activity. Six predators were observed attacking eggs. Forficulidae attacked the highest number of eggs, followed by Gryllidae, then Miridae. Parasitoids were less prevalent than predators, occurring only in the first year. We found the baseline frequency of natural enemy activity to be a minimum of 2.2% and a maximum of 3.1% when considering eggs that were likely missing due to natural enemy activity. I then selected predators we observed and determined their functional response to H. halys eggs in a laboratory environment. Four generalist predatorsAcheta domesticus L. (Gryllidae), Melanoplus femurrubrum DeGeer (Acrididae), Orius insidiosus Say (Anthocoridae), and Conocephalus fasciatus DeGeer (Tettigoniidae)were tested against four densities of H. halys eggs. A. domesticus was the only predator that exhibited a Type II response with viable estimates of handling time and attack rate produced, suggesting the potential to be a density dependent mortality factor when H. halys egg densities are low. The remaining predators exhibited a Type I response and are unlikely to be a stabilizing force in H. halys population dynamics.
Indefinite linear quadratic optimal control for discrete time‐varying linear rectangular descriptor systems

In this article, the indefinite linear quadratic (LQ) optimal control problem for discrete time‐varying rectangular descriptor systems is investigated, in which the indefinite weight matrices are considered in the quadratic cost function. With a suite of equivalent transformations, the indefinite LQ problem for discrete time‐varying rectangular descriptor systems can be substituted by an equivalent indefinite LQ problem for standard state space systems. Then, the transformed equivalent indefinite LQ problem is solved by establishing a dual Krein space model, and the optimal control and optimal cost value are obtained by invoking the Kalman filter of Krein space. The form of state feedback optimal control corresponding to the original system is given. Next, to guarantee the dynamic part for the resulting optimal closed‐loop system has a unique solution, some necessary and sufficient conditions are proposed. Finally, a numerical example is carried out to demonstrate the availability of established results.
Shedding light on the reverse logistics’ decision-making: a social-media analytics study of the electronics industry in developing vs developed countries

ABSTRACT Growing population leads to generating more waste and depletion of natural resources. Moreover, the cost of supplying some resources has increased substantially. Hence, the manufacturer is trying to focus on planning to get back old or partially/wholly unusable products and make the best disposition decisions on them. This research aims to build a multi-industry applied model using the deep learning method in social media analysis to make the best decision for returning products in reverse logistics, along with the sustainability and circular economy concerns. Furthermore, we outline the usage of social network analytics in aligning consumers’ expectations with supply chain policies, strategies, and decisions. An industry benchmark concerning circular economy concepts can be attained by applying the proposed model to different industries. We have proposed a generalisable model using social media analytics, consumer sentiment analysis, reverse logistics, and circular economy theory to attain a circular supply chain regarding sustainability concerns. Applying the proposed model to the electronics industry as a case study, the model was further validated with Twitter data analysis of developing versus developed countries for laptop devices. We collected over 70-million tweets using the Twitter Application Programming Interface (API) over fifteen months. The results approved the proposed model by leveraging the Twitter geolocation attribute to extract Twitter data from developing and developed countries. Moreover, the model is general enough to be used on various industries’ supply chains and provides managers and policymakers with deep insight into reverse logistics’ decision-making. It would be interesting to use real-time analytics and improve accuracy in future works. We made original contributions to reverse logistics decision-making in the circular economy context. Previous research, which has focused on supply chain decision-making, has been extended by providing theoretical and practical implications for social media analytics and the circular economy ecosystem. Thus, by scrutinising the consumers’ needs and expectations, we suggested the best decision on returned products to close an open-ended supply chain and achieve a circular economy. Furthermore, we derived industry benchmarks for both developing and developed countries separately. The results showed that the best decision on returning products in developing countries is different from developed countries. We advise top managers and policymakers to improve supply chain sustainability using social media analytics in developing and developed countries to substantially optimise waste and companies’ profits.
Fair enough?! Investigating the specific challenges of diverse university first-year students

ABSTRACT The transition into higher education (HE) is a particularly challenging process for students due to a large variety of difficulties and requirements. Moreover, increasing student numbers and diversity in European HE have complexified the issue of the successful transition to university. Consequently, it is important to further develop our understanding of the heterogeneity of students and the specific challenges that impact their successful and less stressful transitions into higher education. This paper contributes to this scientific endeavour. More precisely, a study was carried out among 1,048 first-year students from a French-speaking Belgian university . Using latent profile analysis, our results yielded five profiles representing different combinations of achievement predictors (high school grade, socio-economic status, informed-choice, and self-efficacy beliefs). When comparing the profiles, our results further highlighted key differences in the way students experienced the specific challenges associated with the transition and succeeded at the end of the first year. The discussion of the results allowed us to provide practical implications and future perspectives on the thorny issue of diversity into the transition to HE.
ON Q-HOMEOMORPHISMS

Space BMO-quasiconformal mappings satisfy a special modulus inequality that is used to dene the class of Q-homeomorphisms. In this class we study distortion theorems, boundary behavior, removability and mapping problems. Our proofs are based on extremal length methods and properties of BMO functions.
Incidência do near miss materno no parto e pós-parto hospitalar: dados da pesquisa Nascer no Brasil

Este estudo avaliou os dados sobre a incidencia do near miss materno, identificados segundo os criterios da Organizacao Mundial da Saude, na pesquisa Nascer no Brasil. O estudo foi realizado entre fevereiro/2011 e outubro/2012 e os resultados apresentados sao estimativas para a populacao estudada (2.337.476 partos), baseados na amostra de 23.894 puerperas entrevistadas. Os resultados mostraram uma incidencia de near miss materno de 10,21 por mil nascidos vivos e uma razao de mortalidade do near miss materno de 30,8 casos para cada morte materna. Os criterios clinicos para identificacao do near miss materno foram os mais prevalentes e tiveram incidencia de 5,2 por mil nascidos vivos. O near miss materno esteve associado com a idade materna de 35 anos ou mais (RR = 1,6; IC95%: 1,1-2,5), com historia de cesariana anterior (RR = 1,9; IC95%: 1,1-3,4) e gestacao de risco (RR = 4,5; IC95%: 2,8-7,0). Os hospitais localizados nas capitais (RR = 2,2; IC95%: 1,3-3,8) e os pertencentes ao SUS (RR = 3,2; IC95%: 1,6-6,6) tambem apresentaram maior incidencia de casos de near miss materno. A qualificacao dos servicos de assistencia ao parto pode ajudar a reduzir a mortalidade materna no Brasil.
Infection patterns during the first year after adult liver transplantation: a retrospective analysis

Background Infection is one of the most significant possible complications after liver transplantation (LT). This study identified patterns of infection and compared the characteristics of patients with and without infections during the first year after LT. Methods This retrospective cohort study reviewed adult patients’ electronic medical records to identify infections occurring up to 1 year after LT. The criteria for identifying infections in the first year after LT were either a positive laboratory test or recorded clinical signs or symptoms meeting the accepted criteria for each infection. Results The overall incidence of infection during the posttransplant year was 17.3%. The highest infection rate (8.2%) was identified in the first month after LT, with rates of 1.9% and 7.2% at 1–3 months and 3 months to 1 year after LT, respectively. Respiratory tract infections were the most common type of infection, and bacteria were the most common causal agents in the first month post-LT. Conclusions It is difficult to compare the posttransplant incidence of infection in the present study with previous studies due to differences in study designs and definitions of infection. This study revealed that respiratory tract infections were the most common type of overall posttransplant infection, especially during the period from 3 months to 1 year after LT.
Comparative Analysis of Inter-Inverter Interactions in Emerging Hierarchical-Infeed and Conventional Multi-infeed LCC-HVDC Systems

The emerging hierarchical-infeed LCC-HVDC (HIDC) system has been recently commissioned for the long distance bulk power transmission in China. Compared to the conventional multi-infeed LCC-HVDC (MIDC) system with inverters coupling only in the ac-side, different inter-inverter interactions exist in the HIDC system where inverters couple in both the ac- and dc- sides. It is beneficial to reveal the underlying difference of the inter-inverter interactions in the HIDC and MIDC systems for determining which system should be adopted in the planning study. However, this difference has not been clearly revealed yet in earlier works. Thus in this paper, the inter-inverter voltage interaction factor (IVIF) index is firstly introduced to quantitatively assess the inter-inverter interactions. The analytical calculation methods of the IVIF for the HIDC and MIDC systems are also presented for the satisfactory accuracy and efficiency. Moreover, these methods are further used for comparative analysis of parametric dependence of the IVIF in the HIDC and MIDC systems considering various system parameters, operation variables and dc control modes. The analysis results clearly reveal the underlying difference of the inter-inverter interactions in the HIDC and MIDC systems. Finally, the effectiveness of the theoretical assertions is verified by experiments based on the hardware-in-the-loop platform.
The West Kunlun Glacier Anomaly and Its Response to Climate Forcing during 2002-2020

Research into glacial mass change in West Kunlun (WK) has been sufficient, but most of the existing studies were based on geodetic methods, which are not suitable for specific health state analyses of each glacier. In this paper, we utilize Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) imagery, applying the continuity equation to obtain altitudinal specific mass balance (SMB) for 615 glaciers (>2 km2) during 2002–2011, 2011–2020, and 2002–2020 to research glacial health and its response to climatic forcing. The results show dissimilar glacier SMB patterns between 2002–2011 (0.10 ± 0.14 m w.e. a−1), 2011–2020 (–0.12 ± 0.14 m w.e. a−1) and 2002–2020 (−0.01 ± 0.07 m w.e. a−1). Additionally, the glacier equilibrium line altitude (ELA) in WK was 5788 m, 5744 m, and 5786 m, respectively, and the corresponding accumulation area ratios (AARs) were 0.59, 0.62, and 0.58, during 2002–2011, 2011–2020, and 2002–2020, respectively. Regarding glacier response, compared with the ordinary-least-square (OLS) model, the artificial neural network (ANN) model revealed a respectively less and more sensitive glacier SMB response to extreme negative and positive summer skin temperatures. In addition, the ANN model indicated that the glacier ELA was less sensitive when the integrated water vapor transport (IVT) change exceeded 0.7 kg m−1s−1. Moreover, compared with IVT (−121.57 m/kg m−1s−1), glacier ELA shifts were chiefly dominated by summer skin temperature (+154.66 m/℃) in the last two decades. From 2002–2011 and 2011–2020, glacier SMB was more susceptible to summer skin temperature (−0.38 m w.e./℃ and −0.16 m w.e./℃, respectively), while during 2002–2020, it was more influenced by IVT (0.45 m w.e./kg m−1s−1). In contrast with eastern WK, glaciers in western WK were healthier, although mitigation measures are still needed to safeguard glacier health and prevent possible natural hazards in this region. Finally, we believe that the inconsistent change between glacier SMB and ELAs from 2002–2020 was connected with ice rheology and that the combined effects of skin temperature and IVT can explain the WK glacier anomaly.
Clinical relevance of postoperative proteinuria for prediction of early renal outcomes after kidney transplantation

Background Proteinuria is associated with poor allograft and patient survival in kidney transplant recipients. However, the clinical relevance of spot urine protein-to-creatinine ratio (PCR) or albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR) as predictors of renal outcomes during the early postoperative period following kidney transplantation (KT) has not been determined. Methods This single-center retrospective cohort study included 353 kidney transplant recipients who underwent KT between 2014 and 2017 and were followed up for more than 3 years. Among them, 186 and 167 recipients underwent living donor KT and deceased donor KT, respectively. The PCR and ACR were measured during the immediate postoperative period (within 7 days postoperatively), before discharge (2–3 weeks postoperatively), and 3–6 months postoperatively. Results The median age of the patients was 51 years (interquartile range, 43–59 years), and 62.9% were male. An immediate postoperative PCR of ≥1 mg/mg was associated with old age, diabetes mellitus, high systolic blood pressure, delayed graft function, and donor factors (deceased donor KT, old age, and high serum creatinine concentrations). The PCR and ACR 3 to 6 months posttransplant were inversely associated with the estimated glomerular filtration rate at 1 year posttransplant. Deceased donor KT recipients with immediate postoperative PCR of ≥3 mg/mg showed a greater incidence of delayed graft function and lower estimated glomerular filtration rate before discharge than those with immediate postoperative PCR of <3 mg/mg. Conclusion Early postoperative proteinuria is a useful biomarker to predict early renal outcomes after KT.
Association of vitamin D receptor gene haplotypes with late-onset Alzheimer's disease in a Southeastern European Caucasian population

Vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have been investigated over the past years with the aim of identifying any association with the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, information regarding the potential association of VDR SNP haplotypes with AD is limited. The aim of the present study was to provide additional knowledge on the effects of VDR haplotypes on the development of late-onset AD in a cohort of Southeastern European Caucasians (SECs). The study sample included 78 patients with late-onset AD and 103 healthy subjects as the control group. VDR SNPs that were analyzed were TaqI (rs731236), BsmI (rs1544410) and FokI (rs2228570). The CAC (TaqI, BsmI and FokI) haplotype was found to be associated with a 53% lower risk of developing the disease (OR, 0.47; 95% CI, 0.23-0.96; P=0.04) and the TAC (TaqI, BsmI and FokI) haplotype was associated with an ~6-fold greater risk of developing AD (OR, 6.19; 95% CI, 1.91-20.13; P=0.0028). Female subjects carrying the TAC haplotype had a ~9-fold greater risk of developing AD in comparison to female control subjects (OR, 9.27; 95% CI, 1.86-46.28; P<0.05). The TaqI and BsmI polymorphisms were in high linkage disequilibrium (D'=0.9717, r=0.8467) and produced a haplotype with a statistically significant different frequency between the control and AD group. The TA (TaqI and BsmI) haplotype was associated with an ~8-fold greater risk of developing AD (OR, 8.27; 95% CI, 2.70-25.28; P<0.05). Female TA carriers had an ~14-fold greater risk of developing the disease in comparison to female control subjects (OR, 13.93; 95% CI, 2.95-65.87; P<0.05). On the whole, the present study demonstrates that in the SEC population, TAC and TA are risk haplotypes for AD, while the CAC haplotype may act protectively. SEC women carrying the TAC or TA haplotype are at a greater risk of developing AD, thus suggesting that women are markedly affected by the poor utilization of vitamin D induced by the VDR haplotype.
The Mass Change Designated Observable Study: Overview and Results

The 2017–2027 United States National Academy of Sciences Decadal Survey (DS) for Earth Science and Applications from Space identified Mass Change (MC) as one of five Designated Observables (DOs) having the highest priority in terms of Earth observations required to advance Earth system science over the next decade. In response to this designation, NASA initiated several multi‐center studies, with the goal of recommending observing system architectures for each DO for implementation within this decade. This paper provides an overview of the Mass Change Designated Observable (MCDO) Study along with key findings. The study process included: (a) generation of a Science and Applications Traceability Matrix (SATM) that maps required measurement parameters to the DS Science and Applications Objectives; (b) identification of three architecture classes relevant for measuring mass change: Precise Orbit Determination (POD), Satellite‐Satellite‐Tracking (SST) and Gravity Gradiometry (GG), along with variants within each architecture class; and (c) creation of a Value Framework process that considers science value, cost, risk, schedule, and partnership opportunities, to identify and recommend high value observing systems for further in‐depth study. The study team recommended the implementation of an SST architecture, and identified variants that simultaneously (a) satisfy the baseline measurement parameters of the SATM; (b) maximize the probability of providing overlap with the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow‐On (GRACE‐FO) mission currently in operation, accelerating science return from both missions; and (c) provide a pathway towards substantial improvements in resolution and accuracy of mass change data products relative to the program of record.
Analytical solutions for predicting seepage in a layered ditch drainage system under Dirichlet and lagging Robin boundary conditions

ABSTRACT The present study proposes two analytical solutions for a layered ponded ditch drainage system with Dirichlet and lagging Robin boundary conditions. The flow domain is assumed to be saturated, layered, and anisotropic. The first analytical model considers flow to a ditch drainage network from a ponded field through a two-layered soil considering the Dirichlet boundary condition, whereas the second model is developed considering a lagging Robin condition at the ditch face and surface of the soil. The study highlights that the lagging Robin condition can better mimic the actual flow scenario as compared to the standard Robin boundary condition. A comparison study has been carried out to assess the top layer’s permissible depth under which a homogeneous drainage system with Robin boundary condition can approximate a layered drainage system. Further, the residence time distributions are observed to follow power-law-like distributions with heavier tails for both single and two-layered ditch drainage systems.