Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Personality traits of special forces operators: Comparing commandos, candidates, and controls.

Dutch special forces operators, also known as commandos , perform in mentally and physically tough environments. An important question for recruitment and selection of commandos is whether they have particular personality traits. To answer this question, we first examined differences in personality traits between 110 experienced Dutch male commandos and a control sample of 275 men in the same age range. Second, we measured the personality traits at the start of the special forces selection program, and compared the scores of candidates who later graduated ( n = 53) or dropped out ( n = 138). Multilevel Bayesian models and t -tests revealed that commandos were less neurotic ( d = -0.58), more conscientious ( d = 0.45), and markedly less open to experiences ( d = -1.13) than the matched civilian group. Furthermore, there was a tendency for graduates to be less neurotic ( d = -0.27) and more conscientious ( d = 0.24) than dropouts. For selection, personality traits do not appear discriminative enough for graduation success and other factors need to be accounted for as well, such as other psychological constructs and physical performance. On the other hand, these results provide interesting clues for using personality traits to recruit people for the special forces program.
Using a three-dimensional tube bundle model to investigate the leakage flow characteristics of the rotating brush seal

In comparison to the traditional brush seal, the rotating brush seal installed on a rotating shaft eliminates the influence of friction heat effects and improves the operational stability of the rotating shaft system. Relevant investigations give sparse detailed parameters and experimental data for the rotating brush seal providing insufficient data support and prompting further investigation for the sealing characteristics of the rotating brush seal. In this article, the three-dimensional tube bundle model was regarded as the computational fluid domain of the rotating brush seal. The multi-block structured mesh was applied to discrete the computational domain. The effect of the pressure ratio and rotational speed on the leakage flow and aerodynamic characteristics of the brush seal were numerically investigated using three-dimensional Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes solutions and k - ω S S T turbulence model. Similar to the traditional brush seal, the leakage flow rate of the rotating brush seal increases linearly with the pressure ratio. The effect of the pressure ratio on the flow coefficient is more significant at low pressure ratio. When the pressure ratio increases from 1.5 to 2.5, the flow coefficient increases by 44.40%. However, when the pressure ratio increases from 3.5 to 4.5, the flow coefficient just increases by 4.12%. It means that the flow coefficient shows a trend independent of the pressure ratio at higher pressure ratio. The flow coefficient obtained by computational fluid dynamics model is found to increase lightly as the rotational speed increases. The rear bristles are subjected to large axial aerodynamic force and are prone to axial deformation. The investigation provides the reference for the performance analysis and design of rotating brush seal.
Efficacy of Hypnosis on Dental Anxiety and Phobia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Hypnosis is a commonly used therapy option in dentistry and medicine for fear and pain reduction. Nevertheless, it is viewed very critically, as there is still insufficient evidence for a treatment effect. Specific phobia of dental treatment and dental anxiety are prevalent conditions that can cause an oral health impairment. This paper critically reviews 19 clinical trials aimed at reducing dental anxiety and fear avoidance in adults, published in peer-reviewed journals between 1979 and 2021. The search identified 257 papers; 223 were selected after removing duplicates. A total of 188 articles were excluded after title and abstract evaluation; 35 full text articles were assessed for eligibility. Another 10 papers were discharged after full text evaluation, as these were case reports and questionnaires. Six papers were discharged due to the lack of a comparable scale to measure dental anxiety. The following treatment techniques were reviewed: various forms of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), relaxation training, benzodiazepine premedication, self-hypnosis by audio therapy, hypnotherapy, hypnosis, and nitrous oxide sedation. CBT delivered in a variety of formats, including one-session treatment, showed the most evidence for the efficacy of reducing anxiety. A wide heterogeneity of methods allowed only the inclusion of five studies to the performed meta-analysis, showing contrasting results for the application of hypnosis. The main reason for this issue is the great variety in methods used, making a distinct assessment of hypnotic interventions difficult. However, the results of the systematic review are promising in that hypnosis can also be regarded as powerful and successful method for anxiety reduction, while there are also studies with a small or even slightly negative effect. Therefore, further research is needed. Within the limitations of the current study, a more consistent use of methods to examine anxiety for hypnosis research is recommended.
Identification of NFASC and CHL1 as Two Novel Hub Genes in Endometriosis Using Integrated Bioinformatic Analysis and Experimental Verification

Background Endometriosis (EMS) is a common and highly recurrent gynecological disease characterized by chronic pain and infertility. There are no definitive therapies for endometriosis since the pathogenesis remains undetermined. This study aimed to identify EMS-related functional modules and hub genes by integrated bioinformatics analysis. Methods Three endometriosis expression profiling series (GSE25628, GSE23339, and GSE7305) were obtained from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). The EMS-related module was constructed by weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA), followed by Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analyses. Cytohubba and the MCODE plug-ins of Cytoscape were used to screen out the hub genes, which were verified via receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Immunohistochemistry was performed to verify the protein expression of the hub genes in ectopic endometrial tissues. Moreover, CIBERSORT was used to analyze the relationship between the abundance of immune cells infiltration and the expression of hub genes. Results Among the 18 modules obtained, the darkmagenta module was identified as the EMS-related module, genes of which were significantly enriched to terms referring to cell migration and neurogenesis. NFASC and CHL1 were screened out and prioritized as hub genes through Cytoscape and confirmed to be differentially upregulated in ectopic endometrial samples. Finally, the expression of hub genes was related to the abundance of immune cells infiltration. The higher expression of NFASC or CHL1 correlated with increased M2 macrophages and decreased natural killer (NK) cells in ectopic lesions. Conclusion This study provided new insights into the molecular factors underlying the pathogenesis of endometriosis and provided a theoretical basis for the potential that the two hub genes, NFASC and CHL1, might be novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets in the future.
Pharmacological Treatment of Acute Psychiatric Symptoms in COVID-19 Patients: A Systematic Review and a Case Series

Delirium and psychomotor agitation are relevant clinical conditions that may develop during COVID-19 infection, especially in intensive care unit (ICU) settings. The psychopharmacological management of these conditions is receiving increasing interest in psychiatry, considering hyperkinetic delirium as one of the most common neuropsychiatries acute consequences in COVID-19 recovery patients. However, there are no actual internationally validated guidelines about this topic, due to the relatively newly introduced clinical condition; in addition, a standardized psychopharmacologic treatment of these cases is a complex goal to achieve due to the risk of both drug–drug interactions and the vulnerable conditions of those patients. The aim of this systematic review and case series is to evaluate and gather the scientific evidence on pharmacologic handling during delirium in COVID-19 patients to provide practical recommendations on the optimal management of psychotropic medication in these kinds of patients. The electronic databases PubMed, Embase and Web of Science were reviewed to identify studies, in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines. At the end of the selection process, a total of 21 studies (n = 2063) were included. We also collected a case series of acute psychomotor agitation in COVID-19 patients hospitalized in ICU. Our results showed how the symptom-based choice of the psychotropic medication is crucial, and even most of the psychotropic drug classes showed good safety, one must not underestimate the possible drug interactions and also the possible decrease in vital functions which need to be strictly monitored especially during treatment with some kinds of molecules. We believe that the evidence-based recommendations highlighted in the present research will enhance the current knowledge and could provide better management of these patients.
Modeling the Radiation Characteristics of a Circular Patch Antenna by using Cavity Model for RFID Applications

The main objective of this paper is applying the cavity model to simulate the radiation characteristics of a circular patch antenna excited by the dominant mode TM 11 and higher order modes (TM 21, TM 31, TM 41 , TM 51 and TM 61 ) for RFID applications. The study showed that the substrates having the high dielectric constants presents the better results in terms of directivity, input impedance and total input conductance for higher order modes that the dominant mode. The simulation was made by MATLAB program.
Crosstalk between β-Catenin and CCL2 Drives Migration of Monocytes towards Glioblastoma Cells

Isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH)-wildtype glioblastoma (GBM) is a fast growing and highly heterogeneous tumor, often characterized by the presence of glioblastoma stem cells (GSCs). The plasticity of GSCs results in therapy resistance and impairs anti-tumor immune response by influencing immune cells in the tumor microenvironment (TME). Previously, β-catenin was associated with stemness in GBM as well as with immune escape mechanisms. Here, we investigated the effect of β-catenin on attracting monocytes towards GBM cells. In addition, we evaluated whether CCL2 is involved in β-catenin crosstalk between monocytes and tumor cells. Our analysis revealed that shRNA targeting β-catenin in GBMs reduces monocytes attraction and impacts CCL2 secretion. The addition of recombinant CCL2 restores peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) migration towards medium (TCM) conditioned by shβ-catenin GBM cells. CCL2 knockdown in GBM cells shows similar effects and reduces monocyte migration to a similar extent as β-catenin knockdown. When investigating the effect of CCL2 on β-catenin activity, we found that CCL2 modulates components of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway and alters the clonogenicity of GBM cells. In addition, the pharmacological β-catenin inhibitor MSAB reduces active β-catenin, downregulates the expression of associated genes and alters CCL2 secretion. Taken together, we showed that β-catenin plays an important role in attracting monocytes towards GBM cells in vitro. We hypothesize that the interactions between β-catenin and CCL2 contribute to maintenance of GSCs via modulating immune cell interaction and promoting GBM growth and recurrence.
Exploring Attractive Experiential Strategies for Website Design – A Website Design Project for a Department Store

Website design features are considered to be factors affecting customer selection, use, patronage, and purchasing decisions. Experiential strategies on website design can have significant impacts on customers’ perceptions and emotions. However, it is uncertain which one or more experiential strategies applied in website design are more attractive to customers and which create impressive experiences when they view a website. Thus, the purpose of this study is to explore experiential strategies by adopting a survey approach followed by an eye-tracking experiment in a website design project for a department store. As a result, it is found that customers show more enthusiasm for viewing a website with experiential strategies involving smell, taste and think features. Specifically, the think features attracted the most customer eye attention in the experiment. These features result in longer fixation duration and more fixation counts than other content and visual design features.
Modelling Sediment Trapping by Non-Submerged Grass Buffer Strips Using Nonparametric Supervised Learning Technique

Grass strips are known as one of the most effective management practices in controlling sediment loss to rivers and other surface water bodies. Some physically-based models have been previously developed to predict the amount of sediment retention in grass strips. Although physically-based models can explain the effects and interactions of various factors, they tend to be sophisticated as they require a large amount of input data. A nonparametric supervised learning statistical model was developed to predict the efficiency of grass strips in trapping sediments. Grass type and density, inflow sediment particle size distribution, slope steepness, length of strip, and the antecedent soil moisture were the five major factors on which the statistical model was built. The model was assessed by comparing with an independent dataset. Estimated bias, coefficient of model efficiency, mean absolute percentage error, Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient of the model were 1.01, 0.54, 18.1and 76% respectively. Testing the model predictions, permuting the input data, showed that inflow sediment particle size distribution, length of the buffer strip, and the antecedent soil moisture are the most important factors upon the performance of grass strips in trapping sediments. From the model outputs for a range of likely scenarios it was concluded that very long strips are needed in extreme conditions such as steep slopes, wet soil and sparse grass strips in order to trap sediments effectively.
Protective effect of sacubitril/valsartan in patients with acute myocardial infarction: A meta-analysis

To evaluate the effects and safety of sacubitril/valsartan in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI), a total of four databases, including PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase and Web of Science, and the ClinicalTrials.gov website were searched. Using a combination of medical subject headings and entry terms, the final search was performed in July 2021. A manual search of cross-references from the original articles was also conducted. The meta-analysis was subsequently performed with Revman 5.3 software and a total of four studies comprising 586 patients were included. The results disclosed a significant reduction in major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events (MACCEs) [odds ratio (OR), 0.47; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.30-0.73; P=0.0007], readmission (OR, 0.45; 95% CI, 0.29-0.71; P=0.0006), incidence of acute heart failure (AHF) (OR, 0.45; 95% CI, 0.28-0.71; P=0.0007) and N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide [standardized mean difference (SMD), -0.88; 95% CI, -1.55-(-0.21); P=0.01] in the sacubitril/valsartan group compared with that in the control group, and a random effects model was used to pool these data. No significant differences were identified in the incidence of hypotension (OR, 2.91; 95% CI, 0.55-15.51; P=0.21), adverse events (OR, 2.19; 95% CI, 0.42-11.37; P=0.35), left ventricular ejection fraction (mean difference, 1.96; 95% CI, -0.84-4.76; P=0.17) or soluble suppression of tumorigenesis-2 (SMD, -0.45; 95% CI, -1.62-0.71; P=0.45) according to the random effects model. In conclusion, the present meta-analysis revealed that sacubitril/valsartan was able to effectively reduce the incidence of MACCEs, readmission and AHF in patients with AMI after revascularization without any obvious adverse events.
Study on thermal protective performance of thermal liner in a multi-layer clothing under radiant heat exposure

Different factors should be considered for designing fire protective clothing. Constructional parameters, air gap, and proper fibers selection are critical, which need to be investigated thoroughly. In this work, the effect of the number of layers of the thermal liner on the thermal protection properties of thermal protective clothing has been studied. An experiment has been conducted using the three-level three-factor Box-Behnken designing method; factors used are the number of layers of the thermal liner, the areal density of the thermal liner, and intensity of radiant heat flux. Analysis of Variance study has been performed to analyze the significance of the structural and test parameters and their interaction. Second-degree burn time or protection time has been observed to increase with the increase in the areal density of thermal liner and decrease with increased heat flux. As the number of layers increases, protection time also increases. The effect of the number of layers is more prominent at a lower level of heat flux than a higher level of heat flux.
Edge-based network analysis reveals frequency-specific network dynamics in aberrant anxiogenic processing in rats

Abstract Uncovering interactions between edges of brain networks can reveal the organizational principle of the networks and also their dysregulations underlying aberrant behaviours such as in neuropsychiatric diseases. In this study, we looked into the applicability of edge-based network analysis in uncovering possible network mechanisms of aberrant anxiogenic processing. Utilizing a rat model of prodromal Parkinson’s disease we examined how a dorsomedial striatum–tied associative network (DSAN) may mediate context-based anxiogenic behaviour. Following dopamine depletion in the dorsomedial striatum, an exaggerated bottom-up signalling (posterior parietal-hippocampal-retrosplenial to anterior prefrontal-cingulate-amygdala regions) and gradient specific to the theta frequency in this network was observed. This change was accompanied by increased anxiety behaviour of the animals. By employing an edge-based approach in correlating informational flow (phase transfer entropy) with functional connectivity of all edges of this network, we further explore how the abnormal bottom-up signalling might be explained by alterations to the informational flow-connectivity motifs in the network. Our results demonstrate usage of edge-based network analysis in revealing concurrent informational processing and functional organization dynamics across multiple pathways in a brain network. This approach in unveiling network abnormalities and its impact on behavioural outcomes would be useful in probing the network basis of neuropsychiatric conditions.
Circularly Polarized High Gain Leaky-Wave Antenna for CubeSat Communication

In this work, a novel planar leaky-wave antenna (LWA) and its array are proposed and presented for CubeSat communication applications. Using the substrate-integrated waveguide (SIW) technology, the proposed LWA is implemented by etching periodic fan-shaped slots on top of an SIW. These novel fan-shaped slots exhibit extraordinary circular polarization (CP) radiation in high efficiency over a wide frequency band. Moreover, by switching the excitation ports, both left-handed (LH) and right-handed (RH) CPs are achieved in a wide beam steering range backward or forward. An SIW LWA prototype has been designed and tested with validate LHCP/RHCP steering beams ranging from –51° to 0° or from 51° to 0° in the elevation when the frequency varies from 27.4 to 37.3 GHz. In the 30% frequency band, the axial ratios (ARs) on the main beams are all less than 3 dB demonstrating the broadband CP characteristic. In this 1-D LWA, the realized gain varies from 12.4 to 17.9 dBi. However, it requires higher gain and a fixed beam but narrow bandwidth (BW) in some applications like CubeSats. Hence, a conformal LWA array is further introduced by combining the CP radiation of two LWAs deployed in two perpendicular surfaces of a one cubic unit (1U) CubeSat. Fed by an elaborated vertical transition, the conformal array is designed at 28 GHz with a high directive sum beam along the diagonal direction, requiring each LWA to radiate at ± 45°. As a result, the total gain is enhanced from 14.4 to 16.6 dBi with an AR of 1.8 dB and a sidelobe level (SLL) of −17.1 dB. The proposed compact planar LWA and its array provide promising CP radiation in terms of ARs, BW, polarization flexibility, impedance matching, efficiency, and gain, which reveals great potential for applications in satellite communication systems that demanding low profile, lightweight, dual CPs, and high directivity.
Progress in Biological Therapies for Adult-Onset Still’s Disease

Abstract Adult-onset Still’s disease (AOSD) is a rare multifactorial autoinflammatory disorder of unknown etiology, characterized by an excessive release of cytokines triggered by dysregulated inflammation and articular and systemic manifestations. The clinical spectrum of AOSD ranges from self-limiting forms with mild symptoms to life-threatening cases and presents clinical and biological similarities with the juvenile form (sJIA). Nowadays, the advances in biologic agents no longer limit the treatment to NSAIDs, glucocorticoids, or conventional synthetic DMARDs. The blockade of IL-1 and IL-6 is effective in the treatment of systemic and articular inflammation of AOSD patients; however, novel compounds with different properties and targets are now available and others are being studied. In this review, starting from the pathogenesis of AOSD, we summarized the current and emerging biological therapies, possible effective agents for achieving AOSD control and remission.
Design and Synthesis of a Novel 4-aryl-N-(2-alkoxythieno [2,3-b]pyrazine-3-yl)-4-arylpiperazine-1-carboxamide DGG200064 Showed Therapeutic Effect on Colon Cancer through G2/M Arrest

Cancer cells are characterized by an abnormal cell cycle. Therefore, the cell cycle has been a potential target for cancer therapeutic agents. We developed a new lead compound, DGG200064 (7c) with a 2-alkoxythieno [2,3-b]pyrazine-3-yl)-4-arylpiperazine-1-carboxamide core skeleton. To evaluate its properties, compound DGG200064 was tested in vivo through a xenograft mouse model of colorectal cancer using HCT116 cells. The in vivo results showed high cell growth inhibition efficacy. Our results confirmed that the newly synthesized DGG200064 inhibits the growth of colorectal cancer cells by inducing G2/M arrest. Unlike the known cell cycle inhibitors, DGG200064 (GI50 = 12 nM in an HCT116 cell-based assay) induced G2/M arrest by selectively inhibiting the interaction of FBXW7 and c-Jun proteins. Additionally, the physicochemical properties of the lead compounds were analyzed. Based on the results of the study, we suggested further development of DGG200064 as a novel oral anti-colorectal cancer drug.