Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
LC-MS/MS Validation and Quantification of Cyanotoxins in Algal Food Supplements from the Belgium Market and Their Molecular Origins

Food supplements are gaining popularity worldwide. However, harmful natural compounds can contaminate these products. In the case of algae-based products, the presence of toxin-producing cyanobacteria may cause health risks. However, data about the prevalence of algal food supplements on the Belgian market and possible contaminations with cyanotoxins are scarce. Therefore, we optimized and validated a method based on Ultra High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry to quantify eight microcystin congeners and nodularin in algal food supplements. Our analytical method was successfully validated and applied on 35 food supplement samples. Nine out of these samples contained microcystin congeners, of which three exceeded 1 µg g−1, a previously proposed guideline value. Additionally, the mcyE gene was amplified and sequenced in ten products to identify the taxon responsible for the toxin production. For seven out of these ten samples, the mcyE gene could be amplified and associated to Microcystis sp. EFSA and posology consumption data for algal-based food supplements were both combined with our toxin prevalence data to establish different toxin exposure scenarios to assess health risks and propose new guideline values.
Selecting an optimal configuration for the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity mission

The Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission is aimed at monitoring, globally, surface soil moisture and sea surface salinity from radiometric L‐band observations. The SMOS radiometer relies upon a two‐dimensional (2‐D) synthetic aperture concept in order to achieve satisfactory spatial resolution performances for a minimal cost in terms of payload mass and volume. Counterparts of this advantage are reduced radiometric sensitivity and increased complexity. The performances expected from SMOS, in terms of measurement accuracy, spatial resolution, and revisit time, depend on many parameters, among which several are crucial for assessing the payload and mission configurations. Most prominent among those configuration parameters are the flight altitude, the length of the interferometer arms, the spacing between radiating elements, and the tilt angle of the antenna plane. Their selection has to be optimized, so as to satisfy both scientific requirements and main technical constraints. This paper describes the way the optimization was carried out during the SMOS phase A. After assessing the main drivers on instrument configuration from the science requirements, the goal was to find an optimal trade‐off, minimizing technical challenges while fulfilling the science objectives. It was found that, even though salinity retrievals are the most challenging, soil moisture retrievals were the most demanding in terms of mission definition and that a configuration exists to satisfy the required retrieval accuracies. The obtained configuration was then checked against ocean salinity retrievals and found satisfactory.
Six-Month Follow-Up of Immune Responses after a Rapid Mass Vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 with BNT162b2 in the District of Schwaz/Austria

In response to a large outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 Beta (B.1.351) variant in the district Schwaz, Austria, a rapid mass vaccination campaign with BNT162b2 was carried out in spring 2021, immunizing more than 70% of the adult population within one week. Subsequent analysis revealed that the mass vaccination was associated with a significant reduction in new SARS-CoV-2 infections compared to control districts. Here, we aimed to evaluate both SARS-CoV-2-specific T- and B-cell responses at 35 ± 8 and 215 ± 7 days after the second dose in 600 study subjects who participated at both time points. Overall, a robust antibody and T-cell response was measured at day 35, which waned over time. Nevertheless, all persons preserved seropositivity and T cell response could still be detected in about half of the participants at day 215. Further, antibody response correlated negatively with age; however, in persons who experienced SARS-CoV-2 infection prior to study enrolment, the serum levels of both S- and N-specific antibodies surprisingly increased with age. In contrast, there was no correlation of T cell response with age. We could not detect any sex-related difference in the immune responses. SARS-CoV-2 infections prior to study enrolment or incident infections before day 215 resulted in higher antibody levels and T cell responses at day 215 compared to study participants with no history of infection. Collectively, our data support that vaccination with BNT162b2 against COVID-19 provides a durable immune response and emphasize the usefulness of vaccination even after a natural infection.
Identification and Expression Profile Analysis of the OSCA Gene Family Related to Abiotic and Biotic Stress Response in Cucumber

Simple Summary Hyperosmolality-gated calcium-permeable channels (OSCAs) are calcium nonselective cation channel proteins involved in multiple biological processes. In this work, the members of the OSCA family in cucumber were systematically analyzed, including their sequence characteristics, phylogenetic relationships, conserved motifs, gene structures, promoter regions, and tissue expression patterns. In addition, the effects of different osmotic-related abiotic stresses [salt (NaCl), drought (PEG), and abscisic acid (ABA)] and three biotic stresses [powdery mildew (PM), downy mildew (DM), and root-knot nematode (RKN)] on OSCA family genes were also determined. The results indicated that cucumber OSCA genes play important roles in response to osmotic-related abiotic stresses and pathogen invasion. Overall, this study lays a foundation for research on the biological function and evolutionary process of OSCA family genes in cucumber. Abstract Calcium ions are important second messengers, playing an important role in the signal transduction pathways. Hyperosmolality gated calcium-permeable channels (OSCA) gene family members play critical modulating roles in response to osmotic-related abiotic stress as well as other abiotic and biotic stresses, which has been reported in many plant species such as Arabidopsis, rice, maize, and wheat. However, there has been no report about the identification and expression profile of the OSCA genes in cucumber. In this study, a total of nine OSCA genes were identified, which are unevenly distributed on the six chromosomes of cucumber. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the OSCAs of cucumber, Arabidopsis, rice and maize were clustered into four clades. The motif arrangement of CsOSCAs was strongly conserved, and the CsOSCA genes in each group had similar genetic structure. A total of 11 and 10 types of cis-elements related to hormone and stress, respectively, were identified in the promoter regions of CsOSCA genes. Gene expression analysis indicated that the CsOSCA genes have different expression patterns in various tissues, and some of them were regulated by three osmotic-related abiotic stresses (salt, drought and ABA) and three biotic stresses (powdery mildew, downy mildew, and root-knot nematode). As the first genome-wide identification and characterization of the OSCA gene family in cucumber, this study lays a foundation for research on the biological function and evolutionary process of this gene family, which is of great significance for exploiting stress resistant cucumber varieties.
Associations of Chronic Diabetes Complications and Cardiovascular Risk with the Risk of Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is associated with increased mortality and morbidity, including cardiovascular diseases and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). The aim of this study was to assess the associations between cardiovascular risk, chronic diabetes complications and the risk of OSA in adult patients with T2DM. Methods: The study included 529 patients with T2DM in whom moderate-to-severe OSA risk was assessed using the STOP-Bang questionnaire, dividing the subjects into two groups: group 1: STOP-Bang score <5, and group 2: STOP-Bang score ≥5, respectively. In all the subjects, cardiovascular risk was assessed using the UKPDS risk engine. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 26.0, the results being statistically significant if p value was <0.05. Results: 59% of the subjects scored ≥5 on the STOP-Bang questionnaire. We recorded statistically significant differences between the two groups regarding diabetes duration, HbA1c, HOMA-IR, albuminuria, as well as cardiovascular risk at 10 years for both coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke (p < 0.05). Furthermore, through logistic regression, adjusting for confounding factors, we demonstrated that the STOP-Bang score ≥ 5 is a risk factor for 10-year fatal and nonfatal CHD risk. Conclusions: It is extremely important to screen and diagnose OSA in patients with T2DM, in order to improve the primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular events in these patients.
Treatment and Rehabilitation for Traumatic Brain Injury: Current Update

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an acquired injury to the brain caused by external mechanical forces, which can cause temporary or permanent disability. TBI and its potential long-term consequences are serious public health concerns. This review seeks to provide updated information on the current methods of management of patients with TBI to improve patient care.
Retail Investors and Momentum

We explore the link between momentum and investing clientele via an identification strategy for retail participation. Specifically, due to a strictlyimplemented roundlot restriction, small retail investors are less prone to participating in Chinese stocks with high nominal prices. In turn, there is strong momentum in stocks with high nominal prices, but no momentum on aggregate. Short-term reversals are stronger in low-priced stocks. Institutional holdings enhance momentum in high-priced stocks. Small investor participation increases and momentum weakens following splits in high-priced stocks. The results support the notion that retail trades contribute to short-term reversals, while institutions contribute to momentum.
Local Heat-Transfer Coefficients on the Surface of an Elliptical Cylinder in a High-Speed Air Stream

Local heat-transfer coefficients and recovery factors have been determined for an elliptic cylinder of 1:4 axis ratio at zero and at a 5-deg angle of attack in an air stream. These results are presented for Reynolds numbers from 607,000 to 1,330,000, for which the onstream Mach numbers were from 0.20 to 0.53.
The Evaluation of Functional Abilities Using the Modified Fullerton Functional Fitness Test Is a Valuable Accessory in Diagnosing Men with Heart Failure

The assessment of functional abilities reflects the ability to perform everyday life activities that require specific endurance and physical fitness. The Fullerton functional fitness test (FFFT) seems to be the most appropriate for assessing physical fitness in heart failure (HF) patients. The study group consisted of 30 consecutive patients hospitalized for the routine assessment of HF with a reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). They formed the study group, and 24 healthy subjects formed the control group. Each patient underwent a cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET), transthoracic echocardiography and FFFT modified by adding the measurement of the handgrip force of the dominant limb with the digital dynamometer. The HF patients had significantly lower peak oxygen uptake (peakVO2), maximal minute ventilation, and higher ventilatory equivalent (VE/VCO2). The concentrations of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and N-terminal proBNP (NT-proBNP) were significantly higher in the study group. The results of all the FFFT items were significantly worse in the study group. FFFT parameters, together with the assessment of the strength of the handgrip, strongly correlated with the results of standard tests in HF. FFFT is an effective and safe tool for the functional evaluation of patients with HFrEF. Simple muscle strength measurement with a hand-held dynamometer can become a convenient and practical indicator of muscle strength in HF patients.
Form rings and regular sequences

Hironaka, in his paper [H1] on desingularization of algebraic varieties over a field of characteristic 0, to deal with singular points develops the algebraic apparatus of the associated graded ring, introducing standard bases of ideals, numerical characters ν* and τ* etc. Such a point of view involves a deep investigation of the ideal b* generated by the initial forms of the elements of an ideal A of a local ring, with respect to a certain ideal a.
The turnover intention among IT professionals: A person-organisation fit, person-job fit, and HRM perspective

OBJECTIVE: Turnover of IT professionals has become a pressing problem for the management of Banks. To date, limited research has examined the role of human resource management practices (HRMP), person-organisation fit (POF), and person-job fit (PJF) in retaining IT professionals. This study provides an empirical analysis of the direct and indirect effect of HRMP on IT professionals’ turnover intention through POF and PJF. METHODS: The quantitative data collected from 292 IT professionals were analysed through PLS-SEM. RESULTS: The findings revealed a negative and significant relationship between HRMP and employees’ turnover intention. It was further revealed that HRMP relates positively to POF fit and PJF, whereas POF and PJF relate negatively to employees’ turnover intention. Moreover, the findings revealed that POF and PJF explain the intervening mechanism [mediation) between HRMP and turnover intention. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that IT professionals’ turnover intention is affected by their perceptions of HRMP, POF, and PJF. The study has further extended our understanding of the mediating mechanism involved between HRMP and turnover intention. This study suggests that organisations need to implement HRMP that not only enhances IT professionals’ knowledge, skills, and abilities but also strengthens their congruence with the values and goals of the organisations.
Wavenumber broadening of the quasi 2 day planetary wave in the ionosphere

Using the Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Electrodynamics General Circulation Model, we investigate the observed zonal wavenumber broadening phenomena in the ionospheric quasi 2 day oscillation (QTDO) that is associated with westward zonal wavenumber 3 (W3) quasi 2 day wave (QTDW) perturbations in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT). We aim to explain why the observed longitudinal structures of the QTDOs in the ionosphere are different from those of the QTDWs in the MLT. We find that large QTDOs in the ionosphere with zonal wavenumbers other than W3 occur in the model run with the true magnetic field, but not in the model run with an aligned dipole field. These numerical experiments suggest that the occurrence of the additional zonal wavenumbers in ionospheric QTDOs is related to the longitudinal variations of the Earth's magnetic field configuration, strength, and dip angle, which have distinct stationary zonal wavenumbers. We also find that when the specified W3 QTDW winds drive ionospheric plasma motion in the magnetic field, the resultant QTDOs in ionospheric parameters, such as the dynamo electric field, ion vertical drifts, plasma densities, and total electron content, have more complicated longitudinal variations than simply W3, corresponding to a zonal wavenumber broadening effect. Additionally, we find that the wavenumber broadening effect in the ionosphere can be fed back onto the neutrals through ion drag, to produce small QTDW winds with new wavenumbers in the thermosphere.
Maximally Permissive Supervisors for Nonblocking Similarity Control of Nondeterministic Discrete-Event Systems

This article investigates a nonblocking similarity control problem for nondeterministic discrete-event systems, which is a problem of synthesizing a nonblocking supervisor such that the supervised system is simulated by the given specification. In this article, the state of the system is not required to be observable, and the event occurrence is allowed to be partially observed. We propose an algorithm that computes a nonblocking supervisor from a possibly blocking one by iteratively removing certain states. Then, we identify two key properties of input supervisors, named state-unmergedness and strong maximal permissiveness, which together guarantee the maximal permissiveness of output nonblocking supervisors. The algorithm is applied to a supervisor with these two properties to obtain a maximally permissive nonblocking supervisor. In addition, we show that a nonblocking supervisor is generated by the algorithm if and only if there exists a solution to the nonblocking similarity control problem.
Implications of Reciprocity in the Evolution of Ethnocentrism and Cooperation

Background: Ethnocentrism is defined as an individual’s tendency to favor in-group members at the expense of out-group members. Recent computer simulations have studied its evolution by modelling cooperative and defective behaviours in a Prisoner’s Dilemma framework. Methods: This paper introduces reciprocity to the study of ethnocentrism and extends Hammond and Axelrod’s agent-based model by simulating the effects of five new genotypic strategies. (1) Results: In stable-state outcomes, although ethnocentrism still dominates, moderate ethnocentrism (in-group cooperation and out-group reciprocity) is more frequent than humanitarianism and is by far the most adaptive out of all reciprocal strategies. Because it is the only reciprocal strategy that cooperates with in-group members, we conclude that it is thanks to in-group cooperation that moderate ethnocentrism is successful, which confirms previous research findings. Additionally, throughout early and late evolutionary patterns, we see that moderate ethnocentrism benefits and suffers from the characteristics of both ethnocentrism and humanitarianism, which may explain why ethnocentrism still emerges as the dominant strategy overall. Conclusion: The strengths of the present model lie in its ability to abstractly model reciprocal behaviours in the study of ethnocentrism and may be more externally valid than Hammond and Axelrod’s original agent-based model. (1) However, this model does not take in account other factors that play a role in human decision-making, such as social context, learning, or development, which could be topics of future computational simulations on ethnocentrism.
Effect of survey parameters on unmanned aerial vehicles-derived topography for coastal dune monitoring

Abstract. Coastal dunes are fragile ecosystems emerging at the interface between marine and continental environments. They provide multiple services, among which are the protection against the impact of storms and the hosting of diverse and unique species of fauna and flora. However, changes in the topography or biological component of these systems may endanger the perpetuation of service provision. Topographic changes within dunes can significantly differ in magnitude depending on the type of process (i.e., marine or aeolian) and the temporal scale of analysis (event to annual scale), making their monitoring a challenging task. In recent years, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have been increasingly used to monitor coastal dunes, proving to be a cost-efficient methodology for the collection of topographic data. Yet, the application of UAVs in combination with the structure from motion approach to obtain digital surface models (DSMs) presents some limitations related to the level of accuracy provided for the evaluation of topographical changes in dunes with low sedimentation rates. This work explores different survey configurations using UAVs flying at low altitudes with the aim of obtaining high-quality DSMs with vertical accuracies preferably around or lower than 0.04 m. Several tests were performed to evaluate the influence of different parameters on the accuracy of the DSM, including flight altitude and orientation, density and spatial distribution of ground control points (GCPs), terrain slope, vegetation cover, and sun-related parameters. The results indicate that the intended accuracies can be obtained by combining overlapped perpendicular flights, GCPs distributed regularly following a diamond grid, with densities of at least 6 GCPs per hectare, sun altitudes between 30 and 40 deg, and a total solar radiation per hour between 1750 and 2250 KJ / m2. In addition, better results were obtained across gentle slope areas, suggesting the eventual need to adapt to the particularities of each site to ensure the accuracy.
A calibrated gravity model of interregional trade

ABSTRACT Lack of interregional trade data is often a major obstacle when doing economic analysis at the subnational level. This paper discusses a calibration procedure for estimating bilateral trade between the regions of a country. Our approach can be equivalently characterized as an application of the gravity-RAS or the doubly constrained gravity model method. Either way, a crucial element is represented by the distance elasticity parameter, which the user is expected to provide exogenously. We propose a way of estimating that parameter using standard econometric methods with readily available data and demonstrate our calibration procedure in a case study of Italy.
Anti-de Sitter momentum space

Theoretical Physics, Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College, London, SW7 2BZ, United Kingdom(Dated: December 8, 2014)We investigate the anti-de Sitter (AdS) counterpart to the well studied de Sitter (dS) model forenergy-momentum space, viz \-momentum space" space (with a structure based on the propertiesof the -Poincare Hopf algebra). On the basis of previous preliminary results one might expect thetwo models to be \dual": dS exhibiting an invariant maximal spatial momentum but unboundedenergy, AdS a maximal energy but unbounded momentum. If that were the case AdS momentumspace could be used to implement a principle of maximal Planck-scale energy, just as several studiesuse dS momentum space to postulate of maximal Planck-scale spatial momentum. However severalunexpected features are uncovered in this paper, which limit the scope of the expected duality,and interestingly they take di erent forms in di erent coordinatizations of AdS momentum space. \Cosmological" AdS coordinates mimic the dS construction used for -momentum space, and pro-duce a Carrol limit in the ultraviolet. However, unlike the -momentum space, the boundary of thecovered patch breaks Lorentz invariance, thereby introducing a preferred frame. In \horospherical"coordinates we achieve full consistency with frame independence as far as boost transformationsare concerned, but nd that rotational symmetry is broken, leading to an anisotropic model for thespeed of light. Finally, in \static" coordinates we nd a way of deforming relativistic transforma-tions that successfully enforces frame invariance and isotropy, and produces a Carrol limit in theultraviolet. However, the phenomenological implications appear to be too weak for any realisticchance of detection. Our results are also relevant for a long-standing debate on whether or not coor-dinate rede nitions in momentum space lead to physically equivalent theories: our three proposalsare evidently physically inequivalent, leading to alternative models of Planck-scale e ects. As acorollary we study the UV running of the Hausdor dimension of momentum space in the rst andthird model, obtaining di erent results.I. INTRODUCTION