Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Fear of COVID-19: Gender Differences among Italian Health Volunteers

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the fear of being infected was a major concern, resulting in both physical and psychological effects. Despite several studies on fear of COVID-19 in the general population, the effects on healthy volunteers who face COVID-19 on the frontlines have not yet been investigated. Methods: An online survey on specific psychological variables related to COVID-19 was administered to 720 healthy volunteers, and gender differences were investigated. Results: The primary finding was that females showed higher scores in all dimensions assessed. A multiple linear regression conducted on both genders exhibited a similar pattern of predictors, highlighting the pivotal role of negative affect in the male group. Conclusions: The findings suggest that COVID-19 had significant effects on healthy volunteers, especially in the female group. Although the previous literature did not report the crucial role played by the negative affect in the male sample, these results highlight the need to deepen how both genders use different emotional strategies to cope with stressful situations. This study may be useful in the development of specific psychological support and ad hoc training for healthy volunteers.
Dry Heating of Cowpea Flour below Biopolymer Melting Temperatures Improves the Physical Properties of Bread Made from Climate-Resilient Crops

Improving the technological functionality of climate-resilient crops (CRCs) to promote their use in staple foods, such as bread, is relevant to addressing food and nutrition security in Africa. Dry heating of cowpea flour (CPF) was studied as a simple technology to modulate CPF physicochemical properties in relation to bread applications. For this purpose, the melting behavior of cowpea starch and proteins in CPF was first studied and modeled using Flory–Huggins theory for polymer melting. Next, dry-heating conditions were investigated based on the predicted biopolymer melting transitions in CPF to be well below starch and protein melting. The pasting properties (i.e., peak viscosity, final viscosity, breakdown and setback) of CPF could be selectively modulated depending on temperature-time combinations without altering the thermal behavior (i.e., melting enthalpies) of CPF. Water-binding capacity and soluble solids decreased with the increased severity of the temperature-time combinations. Dry-heated CPF added to CRC-based bread significantly improved crumb texture. In particular, dry heating at 100 °C for 2 h provided bread with the highest crumb softness, cohesiveness and resilience. The positive effects on the crumb texture could be largely related to enhanced starch integrity, as indicated by a reduction in breakdown viscosity after treatment. Overall, dry heating of CPF under defined conditions is a promising technology for promoting the use of CPF as a techno-functional and protein-rich ingredient in bread-type products.
Regionally Altered Immunosignals of Surfactant Protein-G, Vascular and Non-Vascular Elements of the Neurovascular Unit after Experimental Focal Cerebral Ischemia in Mice, Rats, and Sheep

The surfactant protein-G (SP-G) has recently been discovered in the brain and linked to fluid balance regulations. Stroke is characterized by impaired vessel integrity, promoting water influx and edema formation. The neurovascular unit concept (NVU) has been generated to cover not only ischemic affections of neurons or vessels but also other regionally associated cells. This study provides the first spatio-temporal characterization of SP-G and NVU elements after experimental stroke. Immunofluorescence labeling was applied to explore SP-G, vascular and cellular markers in mice (4, 24, and 72 h of ischemia), rats (24 h of ischemia), and sheep (two weeks of ischemia). Extravasated albumin indicated vascular damage within ischemic areas. Quantifications revealed decreasing SP-G signals in the ischemia-affected neocortex and subcortex. Inverse immunosignals of SP-G and vascular elements existed throughout all models. Despite local associations between SP-G and the vasculature, a definite co-localization was not seen. Along with a decreased SP-G-immunoreactivity in ischemic areas, signals originating from neurons, glial elements, and the extracellular matrix exhibited morphological alterations or changed intensities. Collectively, this study revealed regional alterations of SP-G, vascular, and non-vascular NVU elements after ischemia, and may thus stimulate the discussion about the role of SP-G during stroke.
Positive Orientation and Fatigue Experienced by Polish Nursing Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Mediatory Role of Emotional Control

This study aimed to investigate the mediatory role of emotional control with respect to the control of anger, depression, and anxiety in the relationship between positive orientation and tiredness/fatigue occurring in a group of Polish nursing students during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study included 894 nursing students from six universities in Poland. A diagnostic survey was applied as the research method, and the data were collected using the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS), the Courtauld Emotional Control Scale (CECS) and the Positive Orientation Scale (SOP). The mean participant age was 20.73 years (SD = 1.81). More than half of the students in the study showed a low level of positive orientation. Correlational analyses revealed a significant negative correlation between positive orientation and tiredness/fatigue experienced by the students participating in the study (r = −0.336; p < 0.001), and correlation between positive orientation and the overall emotional control index (r = −0.317; p < 0.001), and the indices of control of anger (r = −0.154; p < 0.01), depression (r = −0.376; p < 0.001), and anxiety (r = −0.236; p < 0.01). Analysis of the results also revealed the occurrence of significant, positive links between the controlled emotions and their components and the tiredness/fatigue experienced by nursing students. It is important to take action associated with the prevention of tiredness/fatigue among students and to reinforce a positive orientation and the capacity to control emotions to effectively minimize the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on nursing students.
The earlier, the better? A review of neoadjuvant immunotherapy in resectable non‐small‐cell lung cancer

Abstract Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have revolutionized the approach to advanced and locally advanced non‐small‐cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Antibodies blocking inhibitory immune checkpoints, such as programmed death 1 (PD‐1) and its ligand (PD‐L1), have remarkable antitumor efficacy and have been approved as a standard first‐ or second‐line treatment in non‐oncogene‐addicted advanced NSCLC. The successful application of immunotherapy in advanced lung cancer has motivated researchers to further evaluate its clinical role as a neoadjuvant setting for resectable NSCLC and for improved long‐term overall survival and curative rates. In this review, we discuss the efforts that incorporate ICIs into the treatment paradigm for surgically resectable lung cancer. We reviewed the early‐phase results from neoadjuvant clinical trials, the landscape of the majority of ongoing phase III trials, and discuss the prospects of ICIs as a curative therapy for resectable lung cancer. We also summarized the potential biomarkers and beneficiaries involved in the current study, as well as the remaining unresolved challenges for neoadjuvant immunotherapy.
Understanding lightning : experiments on meter long discharges and their x-rays

• A submitted manuscript is the author's version of the article upon submission and before peer-review. There can be important differences between the submitted version and the official published version of record. People interested in the research are advised to contact the author for the final version of the publication, or visit the DOI to the publisher's website. • The final author version and the galley proof are versions of the publication after peer review. • The final published version features the final layout of the paper including the volume, issue and page numbers.
The Value of Preoperative Laboratory Investigations in Healthy Individuals Undergoing Elective Cataract Surgeries

Purpose To evaluate the number of patients with abnormal preoperative laboratory test results and determine the benefits of these tests in healthy individuals scheduled for elective cataract surgeries. Patients and Methods This study was conducted at Songklanagarind Hospital, Thailand. The data were collected from January 1, 2020, to August 31, 2021. The results of laboratory investigations, consisting of a complete blood count (CBC), including hemoglobin (Hb), hematocrit (Hct), and platelet count; chest X-ray (CXR); electrocardiography (EKG); and anti-human immunodeficiency virus (anti-HIV), were evaluated and analyzed. Additional management actions and rates of postponement or cancellation of surgeries were also evaluated. Results In total, 401 participants were enrolled in this study. The rates of abnormal investigation results were 40.2% for EKG, 15.5% for CXR, 12.7% for Hb, 11.7% for Hct, 2.0% for platelet count, and 0.2% for anti-HIV. The preoperative tests that required additional management and postponement/cancellation of surgeries were CXR (5.5% and 1.7%, respectively), EKG (2.5% and 0.5%, respectively), and anti-HIV (0.2% and 0%, respectively). Moreover, age ≥60 years was associated with a significantly higher rate of positive preoperative EKG findings (relative risk, 4.64; p = 0.017). Conclusion The CBC test was not beneficial as a preoperative laboratory investigation for healthy individuals in any age group who were scheduled for elective cataract surgery. However, EKG, CXR, and anti-HIV test results were valuable. Patients aged ≥60 years were at risk of having positive EKG results that could result in cancellation or postponement of surgery.
If You Aim Higher Than You Expect, You Could Reach Higher Than You Dream: Leadership and Employee Performance

Leadership is about lifting a person’s vision, raising their productivity to higher standards and creating a personality beyond their usual capabilities. Our study examines the Pygmalion effect and leader-member exchange (LMX) on employee task performance via organizational commitment. The data was collected from 280 middle-level managers from top ten banks in Pakistan. This study offers three main contributions to the literature. First, our results discover a strong link between the Pygmalion effect, LMX and employees’ task performance through mediation of organizational commitment. Secondly, our study indicates that leaders should have higher quality relationships with employees and higher task performance expectations. Finally, most previous studies focused on leadership approaches or have been conducted in western developed countries. To our knowledge, this study is a unique contribution to the literature on leaders’ expectations in changing and diverse environments, as in underdeveloped countries like Pakistan.
Synergistic Effects of Bacteriophage vB_Eco4-M7 and Selected Antibiotics on the Biofilm Formed by Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli

Apart from antibiotic resistance of pathogenic bacteria, the formation of biofilms is a feature that makes bacterial infections especially difficulty to treat. Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) strains are dangerous pathogens, causing severe infections in humans, and capable of biofilm production. We have reported previously the identification and characterization of the vB_Eco4-M7 bacteriophage, infecting various STEC strains. It was suggested that this phage might be potentially used in phage therapy against these bacteria. Here, we tested the effects of vB_Eco4-M7 alone or in a phage cocktail with another STEC-infecting phage, and/or in a combination with different antibiotics (ciprofloxacin and rifampicin) on biofilm formed by a model STEC strain, named E. coli O157:H7 (ST2-8624). The vB_Eco4-M7 phage appeared effective in anti-biofilm action in all these experimental conditions (2–3-fold reduction of the biofilm density, and 2–3 orders of magnitude reduction of the number of bacterial cells). However, the highest efficiency in reducing a biofilm’s density and number of bacterial cells was observed when phage infection preceded antibiotic treatment (6-fold reduction of the biofilm density, and 5–6 orders of magnitude reduction of the number of bacterial cells). Previous reports indicated that the use of antibiotics to treat STEC-caused infections might be dangerous due to the induction of Shiga toxin-converting prophages from bacterial genomes under stress conditions caused by antibacterial agents. We found that ciprofloxacin was almost as efficient in inducing prophages from the E. coli O15:H7 (ST2-8624) genome as a classical inducer, mitomycin C, while no detectable prophage induction could be observed in rifampicin-treated STEC cells. Therefore, we conclude the latter antibiotic or similarly acting compounds might be candidate(s) as effective and safe drug(s) when used in combination with phage therapy to combat STEC-mediated infections.
Efficacy and Safety of Ticagrelor in East Asian Patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Backgroundgg: Although current guidelines recommend ticagrelor to clopidogrel for patients with acute coronary syndrome, its benefit and risk are unclear for East Asians. This meta-analysis was performed to assess the efficacy and safety of ticagrelor in East Asian patients with acute coronary syndrome. Methods: Medline, EMBASE, and Cochrane Databases were searched from inception to July, 2021, for randomized controlled trials comparing ticagrelor with clopidogrel in East Asian patients with acute coronary syndrome. Major adverse cardiovascular events and bleeding events were assessed by using Mantel-Haenszel-pooled risk ratio and 95% confidence interval. Results: Five randomized controlled trials identified 2752 patients with acute coronary syndrome. Compared with clopidogrel, ticagrelor had no statistical difference of major adverse cardiovascular events (RR 0.87; 95% CI 0.52-1.45; P = .58), all cause death (RR 0.90, 95% CI 0.62-1.32; P = .60), cardiovascular death (RR 0.90, 95% CI 0.47-1.72; P = .74), myocardial infarction (RR 0.91, 95% CI 0.52-1.58; P = .73), and stroke (RR 0.87, 95% CI 0.48-1.57; P = .64). Despite ticagrelor did not increase the incidence of fatal bleeding (RR 2.49, 95% CI 0.79-7.87; P = 0.12), the risks of all bleeding (RR 1.71, 95% CI 1.36-2.16; P < .00001), major bleeding (RR 1.51, 95% CI 1.12-2.04; P = .007), non-coronary artery bypass grafting major bleeding (RR 1.83, 95% CI 1.23-2.71; P = .003), and minor bleeding (RR 1.92, 95% CI 1.40-2.64; P < .0001) were significantly higher. Conclusions: Although there was no significant difference in the incidence of fatal bleeding, ticagrelor displayed similar efficacy and dramatically increased the risk of other bleeding events.
Sweet [re]production: developing sound spatialization tools for musical applications with emphasis on sweet spot and off-center perception

This dissertation investigates spatial sound production and reproduction technology as a mediator between music creator and listener. Listening experiments investigate the perception of spatialized music as a function of the listening position in surround-sound loud- speaker setups. Over the last 50 years, many spatial sound rendering applications have been developed and proposed to artists. Unfortunately, the literature suggests that artists hardly exploit the possibilities offered by novel spatial sound technologies. Another typical drawback of many sound rendering techniques in the context of larger audiences is that most listeners perceive a degraded sound image: spatial sound reproduction is best at a particular listening position, also known as the sweet spot. Structured in three parts, this dissertation systematically investigates both problems with the objective of making spatial audio technology more applicable for artistic purposes and proposing technical solutions for spatial sound reproductions for larger audiences. The first part investigates the relationship between composers and spatial audio technology through a survey on the compositional use of spatialization, seeking to understand how composers use spatialization, what spatial aspects are essential and what functionalities spatial audio systems should strive to include. The second part describes the development process of spatializaton tools for musical applications and presents a technical concept. The Virtual Microphone Control (ViMiC) system is an auditory virtual environment that recreates a recording situation through virtual sound sources, virtual room properties and virtual microphones. A technical concept is presented to facilitate artistic work with spatial audio systems and to allow the combination of different spatialization tools. The third part investigates the perception of spatialized sounds as a function of the listening positions in multichannel sound systems. Perceptual experiments were designed to understand the multidimensional nature of an off-center sound degradation and to propose concepts to improve the listening conditions for larger audiences. This research extends our understanding of spatial audio perception and has potential value to all those interested in spatial audio quality, including designers, creators and specialists in the fields of acoustics, music, technology and auditory perception.
Marginal Price Control of Buildings Utilised as Thermal Energy Storage - Optimising the heating cost of a modelled residential building

District heating networks often experience significant variations in heat load on an hourly timescale, with one or two noticeable peaks per day. These peaks are associated with increased marginal heat generation cost and environmental impact, and it would therefore be beneficial to reduce the daily variations. It has been previously shown that heavy residential buildings, thanks to their high thermal inertia, can be used as short-term thermal energy storages for the purpose of load shifting. In this thesis project the economic viability of implementing load-shifting control systems was investigated. A dynamical building model was created based on data collected by Goteborg Energi. Control systems were designed that minimised the overall building heating cost under the assumption that district heating prices were proportional to the marginal generation cost. It was found that, when only focusing on temperature stabilisation, a 10% reduction in heat use leads to less than 7% reduced heating costs due to naturally high indoor temperatures coinciding with low marginal costs. When applying a combination of temperature stabilisation and load shifting however, savings above 13% were achieved without negatively impacting thermal comfort.
Environmental Advantages of Advanced-fuel Fusion Reactors

This paper studies the extrapolation of ·compact high-field tokamaks technologies to obtain a DHe fusion power reactor, pointing the attention to the safety and environmental aspects. The main characteristics . of a high magnetic field fusion reactor, using DHe fuel cycle, are presented. The neutron induced . radioactivity in the structural components is calculated: radioactive inventories turn out to be very moderate. The machine has a very low environmental impact. A fusion power reactor based on the DHe cycle can be the correct response to the environmental requirements for future nuclear power plants
Gadolinium in Medical Imaging—Usefulness, Toxic Reactions and Possible Countermeasures—A Review

Gadolinium (Gd) is one of the rare-earth elements. The properties of its trivalent cation (Gd3+) make it suitable to serve as the central ion in chelates administered intravenously to patients as a contrast agent in magnetic resonance imaging. Such Gd-chelates have been used for more than thirty years. During the past decades, knowledge has increased about potential harmful effects of Gd-chelates in patients with severe renal dysfunction. In such patients, there is a risk for a potentially disabling and lethal disease, nephrogenic systemic fibrosis. Restricting the use of Gd-chelates in persons with severely impaired renal function has decreased the occurrence of this toxic effect in the last decade. There has also been an increasing awareness of Gd-retention in the body, even in patients without renal dysfunction. The cumulative number of doses given, and the chemical structure of the chelate given, are factors of importance for retention in tissues. This review describes the chemical properties of Gd and its medically used chelates, as well as its toxicity and potential side effects related to injection of Gd-chelates.
Well-being, Flow Experience and Personal Characteristics of Individuals who Do Extreme Sports as Serious Leisure

Aj keď surfing nie je pre vnutrozemske krajiny veľmi typickým sportom, jeho popularita v Cesku a na Slovensku sa za posledne roky výrazne zvýsila. Výskum tohto fenomenu vsak nie je prilis rozsirený. V ceskej ani slovenskej psychologickej literature zatiaľ nebol na danu temu publikovana žiadna studia. Hlavným cieľom tejto prace bolo teda ziskať informacie o ceských a slovenských surferoch, ktori sa sportu venuju pravidelne. Konkretne sme pozorovali vzťah surfingu k zažitku flow, životnej spokojnosti a osobnostným charakteristikam. V ramci výskumu sme pracovali s dvomi vzorkami respondentov. Skupinu surferov tvorilo 34 žien a 35 mužov medzi 20 a 47 rokmi. Porovnavacia skupina, kde respondenti nemali skusenosť s týmto sportom, bola tvorena 31 mužmi a 39 ženami od 18 do 50 rokov. Respondenti pochadzali z Ceskej republiky a zo Slovenska Data boli ziskavane pomocou online dotazniku, ktorý obsahoval skalu Flow State Scale (FSS-2, Řezac, 2007), Dotaznik životnej spokojnosti (Fahrenberg a spol., 2001) a NEO paťfaktorový osobnostný inventar. (Hřebickova & Urbanek, 2001). Pre skupinu nesurferov sme tiež administrovali Flow Questionnaire (Csikszentmihalyi & Csikszentmihalyi 1982, as cited in Han, 1988), pre identifikovane flow aktivity. Výsledky boli porovnane medzi skupinami. V suvislosti s flow zažitkom sa ukazali výrazne rozdiely medzi surfermi a nesurfermi v dimenziach autotelicka skusenosť a zmena vnimania casu, kde skorovali vyssie surferi a v dimenziach jednoznacna spatna vazba a pocit kontroly, kde dosiahli vyssieho skore nesurferi. V urovni životnej spokojnosti, sa nepreukazali medzi skupinami žiadne významne rozdiely. Skupina surferov ale vo vsetkých dimenziach i v celkovom skore dosahovala vyssich hodnot. Signifikantne rozdiely sa objavili pri osobnostných charakteristikach jednotlivých skupin. Surferi su podľa výsledkov emocne stabilnejsi, extrovertnejsi, otvorenejsi k novým skusenostiam a svedomitejsi. Výsledky tejto prace možu služiť ako odrazový mostik pre ďalsi výskum v tejto nepoznanej oblasti.