Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The effect of low volume high-intensity interval training on metabolic and cardiorespiratory outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Aims The present systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was conducted to investigate the effect of low volume high-intensity interval training (LVHIIT) on the metabolic and cardiorespiratory outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods Relevant articles were sourced from PubMed, EBSCO, Web of Science, Embase, and the Cochrane Library from inception to October 2022. The study search strategy and all other processes were implemented in accordance with the PRISMA statement. Results Five randomized controlled trials that satisfied the inclusion criteria were included in this meta-analysis. The LVHIIT group had significantly lower fasting blood glucose levels (RR= -1.21; 95% CI= -2.02— -0.40, p = 0.0032) and HbA1c levels (RR= -0.65; 95% CI= -1.06— -0.23, p = 0.002) and higher levels of insulin resistance indicator HOMA-IR (RR= -1.34; 95% CI = -2.59— -0.10, p = 0.03) than the control group. Moreover, our results show that LVHIIT can reduce body mass (RR = -0.94, 95% CI = -1.37— -0.51, p<0.0001) and body mass index (RR = -0.31, 95% CI = -0.47— -0.16, p<0.0001). LVHIIT had a better therapeutic effect on blood lipid metabolism, such as total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein, low-density lipoprotein and triglycerides. However, the change in fasting insulin levels was not statistically significant (RR= -1.43; 95% CI = -3.46— 0.60, p =0.17). Furthermore, LVHIIT reduced the systolic blood pressure (RR =-4.01, 95% CI = -4.82 – -3.21, p<0.0001) and improved peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak) compared to the control group (RR= 5.45; 95% CI = 1.38 – 9.52, p =0.009). Conclusion After a certain period of LVHIIT, glycaemic control, insulin resistance, body weight, lipid profile and cardiorespiratory outcomes were significantly improved in T2DM patients.
A glimpse of the long view: Human attitudes to an established population of Eurasian beaver (castor fiber) in the lowlands of south-east England

Introduction The Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) is a native species to Britain that after being absent for 400 years has been restored to the English countryside. The first beavers were released into a reserve in Kent in 2001/02, making this one of the first beaver release areas in the UK. This paper examines attitudes towards beaver presence in the landscape as well as public perception of beaver benefits and impacts with respect to the environment and human society. Methods Qualitative questionnaires were utilised to investigate factors influencing social attitudes and support for beaver reintroduction, as well as the relationship between sociodemographic variables and attitudes. Inhabitants of Kent and its immediate surroundings were surveyed during June and July of 2020 (n=407) with a focus on three interest groups – environmentalists, farmers and the general public. Results Perceptions included mostly beneficial impacts on nature and biodiversity, whereas less positive impacts were associated with economics, agriculture and fisheries. In general, local attitudes towards beavers were positive, mainly sustained by feelings of liking this wildlife species and valuing their presence. People´s attitudes positively influence willingness to support the reintroduction of beavers. Twenty years after their initial release, results indicate broad support for the beaver reintroduction in Kent and people´s tolerance of beavers. The majority of respondents were in favour of nonintrusive management techniques to mitigate beavers’ undesirable impacts. Discussion These findings suggest the need to develop an optimal management strategy that incorporates public views and gives advice on the best approach to manage this wildlife species. This research provides theoretical and practical underpinning for beaver management and conservation in Britain.
Treatment dependent impact of plasma-derived exosomes from head and neck cancer patients on the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition

Background Epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a key process in carcinogenesis of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), contributing to tumor invasiveness, distant metastasis, and recurrence. Exosomes are known mediators and regulators of EMT. Here, we analyze the impact of exosomes that were primed by conventional therapy on EMT modulation. Methods Plasmas of n = 22 HNSCC patients were collected before and after standard of care surgery and adjuvant or primary (chemo)radiotherapy. Exosomes were isolated by size exclusion chromatography. Upon co-incubation of exosomes with HNSCC cells, the cellular EMT profile was analyzed by flow cytometry and RT-qPCR. Wound healing assays were performed to evaluate migratory potential of exosome-treated cells. Results Reduction of total exosome protein after therapy and in vitro exosome induced EMT profiles were dependent on the type of treatment. Exosomal TFG-β and miRNA cargo were partly responsible for observed exosome induced EMT changes. Exosomes from recurrent patients induced higher tumor cell migration after therapy than exosomes from disease-free patients. Conclusions HNSCC patients’ exosomes from timepoints before and after therapy were able to confer therapy induced EMT modulation in vitro and have the potential to monitor the EMT process. Exosome induced changes in migratory potential emerged as discriminants of therapy outcome.
Separating points by semicharacters in topological semigroups

1. The semigroup analogue of the Pontrjagin duality theorem was first studied in [1]. In that paper, it was shown that a necessary and sufficient condition for duality in discrete abelian semigroups is that the semigroup be a union of groups and have an identity element. Such semigroups we shall call inverse semigroups. For compact abelian topological semigroups it was shown in [1] that the separation of points by semicharacters is a sufficient condition for duality in an inverse semigroup with identity. In [2] it was shown that, in any topological abelian semigroup, a necessary condition for duality is that the semigroup be an inverse semigroup with identity and continuous inversion. In this paper we obtain necessary and sufficient conditions that semicharacters separate points in a topological abelian inverse semigroup with identity which is compact, or locally compact with continuous inversion. In the compact case we obtain the same result as has been given by Sneperman [5], using different methods. 1.1. DEFINITION. An abelian semigroup is a nonempty set S together with a map m: (x, y)-*xy on SXS to S, such that x(yz) = (xy)z and xy =yx for all x, y and z in S. If S is a Hausdorff topological space and the mapping m is continuous, S is called a topological abelian semigroup. 1.2. DEFINITION. A semicharacter X of a topological abelian semigroup S is a bounded, continuous, complex-valued function on S, not identically zero, satisfying x(xy) =x(x)x(y) for all x and y in S. We denote the set of semicharacters of S by SA. We endow SA with the compact open topology. The following facts aretobefoundin [1], [3]or [4]. 1.3. If S has an identity element, S^ becomes a topological abelian semigroup, when endowed with the operation of pointwise multiplication. 1.4. If S has an identity element, and is discrete, S^ is a compact abelian semigroup [1, 3.1 ]. 1.5. We call S an abelian inverse semigroup if S is an abelian semigroup which is a union of groups. If S is a topological, abelian inverse semigroup with an identity element then S"" is of the same type. Further, if S is compact then S^ is discrete [1, 6.11.
Surface treatment of glass and poly(dimethylsiloxane) using atmospheric-pressure plasma jet and analysis of discharge characteristics

An atmospheric-pressure plasma jet source based on dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) was prepared for the hydrophilic surface treatment of poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS). Discharge characteristics were investigated from intensified charge coupled device (ICCD) images and by optical emission spectroscopy (OES). Different optical emission profiles were observed in plasmas with argon (Ar) and helium (He) feed gases. For Ar plasma, OH and N2 related emission lines are dominant. On the other hand, relatively strong peaks of N2+ and O excited species were observed in He plasma, suggesting that a metastable He atom plays an important role in the downstream plasma region. Ar plasma was further found to be more effective than He plasma for hydrophilic surface modification. The surface reverted to being hydrophobic about 40 h after plasma irradiation.
Streptococcus pneumoniae meningitis and the CNS barriers

Streptococcus pneumoniae (SPN) is a globally significant cause of meningitis, the pathophysiology of which involves damage to the brain by both bacterial virulence factors and the host inflammatory response. In most cases of SPN meningitis bacteria translocate from the blood into the central nervous system (CNS). The principal site of SPN translocation into the CNS is not known, with possible portals of entry proposed to be the cerebral or meningeal blood vessels or the choroid plexus. All require SPN to bind to and translocate across the vascular endothelial barrier, and subsequently the basement membrane and perivascular structures, including an additional epithelial barrier in the case of the blood-CSF barrier. The presence of SPN in the CNS is highly inflammatory resulting in marked neutrophilic infiltration. The secretion of toxic inflammatory mediators by activated neutrophils within the CNS damages pathogen and host alike, including the non-replicative neurons which drives morbidity and mortality. As with the translocation of SPN, the recruitment of neutrophils into the CNS in SPN meningitis necessitates the translocation of neutrophils from the circulation across the vascular barrier, a process that is tightly regulated under basal conditions – a feature of the ‘immune specialization’ of the CNS. The brain barriers are therefore central to SPN meningitis, both through a failure to exclude bacteria and maintain CNS sterility, and subsequently through the active recruitment and/or failure to exclude circulating leukocytes. The interactions of SPN with these barriers, barrier inflammatory responses, along with their therapeutic implications, are explored in this review.
A novel cuproptosis-related lncRNA signature predicts prognosis and therapeutic response in bladder cancer

Bladder cancer (BC) ranks the tenth in the incidence of global tumor epidemiology. LncRNAs and cuproptosis were discovered to regulate the cell death. Herein, we downloaded transcriptome profiling, mutational data, and clinical data on patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). High- and low-risk BC patients were categorized. Three CRLs (AL590428.1, AL138756.1 and GUSBP11) were taken into prognostic signature through least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) Cox regression. Worse OS and PFS were shown in high-risk group (p < 0.05). ROC, independent prognostic analyses, nomogram and C-index were predicted via CRLs. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis indicated IncRNAs play a biological role in BC progression. Immune-related functions showed the high-risk group received more benefit from immunotherapy and had stronger immune responses, and the overall survival was better (p < 0.05). Finally, a more effective outcome (p < 0.05) was found from clinical immunotherapy via the TIDE algorithm and many potential anti-tumor drugs were identified. In our study, the cuproptosis-related signature provided a novel tool to predict the prognosis in BC patients accurately and provided a novel strategy for clinical immunotherapy and clinical applications.
SDHB exon 1 deletion: A recurrent germline mutation in Colombian patients with pheochromocytomas and paragangliomas

Pheochromocytomas (PCCs) and paragangliomas (PGLs) (known as PPGL in combination) are rare neuroendocrine tumors of the adrenal medulla and extra-adrenal ganglia. About 40% of the patients with PPGL have a hereditary predisposition. Here we present a case-series of 19 unrelated Colombian patients with a clinical diagnosis of PPGL tumors that underwent germline genetic testing as part of the Hereditary Cancer Program developed at the Instituto Nacional de Cancerología, Colombia (INC-C), the largest reference cancer center in the country. Ten of 19 patients (52.63%) were identified as carriers of a pathogenic/likely pathogenic (P/LP) germline variant in a known susceptibility gene. The majority of the P/LP variants were in the SDHB gene (9/10): one corresponded to a nonsense variant c.268C>T (p.Arg90*) and eight cases were found to be carriers of a recurrent CNV consisting of a large deletion of one copy of exon 1, explaining 42% (8/19) of all the affected cases. Only one additional case was found to be a carrier of a missense mutation in the VHL gene: c.355T>C (p.Phe119Leu). Our study highlights the major role of SDHB in Colombian patients with a clinical diagnosis of PGL/PCC tumors and supports the recommendation of including the analysis of large deletions/duplications of the SDHB gene as part of the genetic counselling to improve the detection rate of hereditary cases and their clinical care.
Interval-Valued Hesitant Fuzzy Prioritized Weighted Aggregation Operators for Multiple Attribute Decision Making

The paper proposes an interval-valued hesitant fuzzy prioritized weighted averaging (IVHFPWA) operator and an interval-valued hesitant fuzzy prioritized weighted geometric (IVHFPWG) operator for aggregating interval-valued hesitant fuzzy information and investigates some properties of the proposed aggregation operators. Then, the IVHFPWA and IVHFPWG operators are utilized to develop two approaches for dealing with the interval-valued hesitant fuzzy multiple attribute decision making problems in which the attributes are in different priority level. Through the IVHFPWA or IVHFPWG operator and the score function of interval-valued hesitant fuzzy elements (IVHFEs), the ranking order of all alternatives can be determined and the best alternative can be easily identified as well. Finally, a practical example about talent introduction is given to demonstrate the practicality and effectiveness of the developed approaches.
Passion for an activity and its role on affect: Does personality and the type of activity matter?

While personality traits play a crucial role in a person’s general affect, passion for an activity has been shown to partially mediate this relationship, with harmonious passion generally related to positive affect and obsessive passion to negative affect. However, activities are not all the same with some characterized as having “positive” consequences while others as having “negative” consequences. This study examines how passions manifest for two popular activities: physical exercise, an activity with in general “positive” consequences, and social media, an activity with potentially both “positive” and “negative” consequences. We replicate and extend earlier studies which have relied on baskets of heterogenous self-reported activities without distinguishing between activities. We find that, when fully controlling for personality, obsessive passion for physical exercise is positively associated with positive affect while obsessive passion for social media is positively associated with negative affect. However, harmonious passion for either activity has no significant association with any affect. Further, we find that passions for physical exercise relate with conscientiousness while passions for social media with neuroticism.
Modeling Variability of Plasma Conditions in the Io Torus

[1] Telescopic observations and in situ measurements of the Io plasma torus show the density, temperature and composition to vary over time, sometimes up to a factor of 2. While previous models of the physical and chemical processes in the Io plasma torus have reasonably modeled the conditions of the Voyager 1 era, their authors have not addressed the observed variability nor explored the sensitivity of torus conditions to input parameters. In this paper we present a homogeneous torus model parameterized by five variables (transport timescale, neutral source strength, ratio of oxygen to sulfur atoms in the source, fraction of superthermal electrons, temperature of these hot electrons). The model incorporates the most recent data for ionization, recombination, charge exchange and radiative energy losses for the major torus species (S, S+, S++, S+++, O, O+, O++). We solve equations of conservation of mass and energy to find equilibrium conditions for a set of input parameters. We compare model plasma conditions with those observed by Voyager 1, Voyager 2 and Cassini. Furthermore, we explore the sensitivity of torus conditions to each parameter. We find that (1) torus conditions are distinctly different for the Voyager 1, 2 and Cassini eras, (2) unique torus input parameters for any given era are poorly constrained given the wide range of solution space that is consistent with the range of observed torus conditions, (3) ion composition is highly sensitive to the specification of a non-thermal electron distribution, (4) neutral O/S source ratio is highly variable with model values ranging between 1.7 for Cassini to 4.0 for Voyager conditions, (5) transport times range between 23 days for Voyager 2 to 50 days for Voyager 1 and Cassini, (6) neutral source strengths range between 7 to 30 × 10−4 cm−3 s−1 which corresponds to a net production of 0.4 to 1.3 tons/s for a torus volume of 1.4 × 1031 cm3, or 38 RJ3.
Prevalence of human papillomavirus genotypes and related cervical morphological results in southern Hunan Province of China, 2018–2020: Baseline measures at a tertiary institution prior to mass human papillomavirus vaccination

Background Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is closely correlated with cervical lesions. However, the HPV prevalence varies among different districts. This retrospective study investigated the HPV genotype distribution and its relationship with cervical lesions in southern Hunan Province. Methods The database at our Pathology Department was searched for HPV and morphological results during 2018–2020 were reviewed. A total of 49,955 gynaecological inpatients and outpatients, each of whom underwent HPV testing based on the amplification of L1 sequence and reverse dot blot hybridization, were included in this study. Available cytology and relevant histological examination results were reviewed. Enrolled cases were categorized into seven groups based on their age. Household registry and educational level were evaluated. Results Seven thousand two hundred eighty-six females were positive for HPV and the overall HPV positivity rate was 14.59%. The top five most prevalent HPV genotypes were HPV52, 16, 58, 53 and 51 (22.98%, 17.54%, 14.29%, 7.47%, and 5.70%, respectively). The HPV prevalence curve specific to the seven age groups showed a bimodal distribution. High school education or blow and rural residence served as risk factors for HPV infection. Single infection was the main type of HPV infection, and multiple infections occurred in 21.92% of the infected women. Of 3,148 cases had cytological results, 1,149 (36.50%) had abnormal cytological abnormalities. Among 2,833 participants with histological examination, 2000 (70.60%) had cervical abnormalities. Cytological and pathological abnormalities were mainly associated with infection with HPV16, 52 and 58. Further analysis found that HPV16, 58, 52 and 33 were the main genotypes associated with high-grade squamous lesions (HSIL) and that HPV16, 31, 33 and 58 were independent risk factors for HSIL (odd ratio [OR] = 1.70, 1.99, 2.59, 2.29; 95% CI = 1.41–2.03, 1.17–3.41, 1.88–3.59, 1.85–2.82; all p < 0.05). HPV16, 58, 52, 18 and 33 were the most frequent genotypes detected in squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) patients, and HPV16 and 18 were independent risk factors for cervical carcinomas (OR = 6.72;95% CI = 5.48–8.25; p < 0.001; OR = 1.67, 95% CI = 1.22–2.30; p = 0.001). Conclusion This retrospective study demonstrated the prevalence and the distribution characteristics of HPV infection and its correlation with cervical lesions in southern Hunan Province. The comprehensive results of this survey can guide HPV vaccine research to protect against some common genotypes in China.
Lo vuoi co[z]í o co[s]í? A sociophonetic study on sibilants in the regional Italian of Livorno (Tuscany)

The aim of the following study is to verify to what extent the voiced variant [z] is increasingly spreading into the north-western Tuscan territories. This variant is typical of northern Italy varieties but it has also been recently found within Florentine speech, whereas a research on the north-western part of Tuscany has not been conducted up to now. This paper presents therefore the results of a sociophonetic analysis of intervocalic /s/ as it is realised in the regional Italian spoken in Livorno. Moreover, the following research aims to verify if [z] selection is determined according to gender and social class. Preliminary results show that gender seems to be the parameter which mostly influences the phonetic realization of /s/.
Trajectories of Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms Among Young Adults Exposed to a Typhoon: A Three-Wave Longitudinal Study

Objective: We used a latent class growth model to identify distinct PTSS trajectories and correlates of these trajectories among young adults who experienced Typhoon Hato, the strongest storm to strike China in the last 50 years. Methods: A longitudinal survey (three-waves) was conducted to explore the mental health status and its correlates among young adults exposed to the typhoon. Data from 362 participants were analyzed via a latent class growth model and multinomial logistic regression. Results: Three distinct classes of PTSS trajectories were identified, including: “resilience” (86.46%), “recovery” (9.12%), and “deterioration” (4.42%). The higher levels of direct typhoon exposure, media use, and posttraumatic growth significantly predicted the higher likelihood of participants being in the “recovery’’ class. In addition, more social support significantly predicted the higher possibility of being in the “resilience” class. Finally, more severe depressive and anxiety symptoms significantly predicted the higher likelihood of being in the “deterioration” class. Conclusion: Further research should develop interventions to enhance protective factors (e.g., posttraumatic growth, media use), decrease risk factors (e.g., depressive and anxiety symptoms), and thereby prevent PTSS.