Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Significance of 8-OHdG Expression as a Predictor of Survival in Colorectal Cancer

Simple Summary Although oxidative stress regulates essential signaling pathways, oxidative DNA damage causes cancer initiation and progression. Given that the relationship between oxidative stress and colorectal cancer (CRC) remains poorly understood, we performed immunohistochemistry to detect 8-hydroxy-2′ deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) in 564 patients with CRC and conducted survival analysis based on the pathological stage to identify novel biomarkers. We found that low 8-OHdG levels were associated with a poor prognosis. Further, when 8-OHdG expression was combined with the tumor node metastasis stage, if 8-OHdG expression was low in the same stage, the prognosis was poor, suggesting that 8-OHdG may be an essential biomarker of CRC. Abstract The incidence of colorectal cancer (CRC) is increasing worldwide. 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), one of the most prevalent DNA alterations, is known to be upregulated in several carcinomas; however, 8-OHdG has not been used to predict the prognosis of patients with CRC. We aimed to determine 8-OHdG levels in patients with CRC using immunohistochemistry and conducted a survival analysis according to the pathological stage. The 5-year event-free survival (EFS) and disease-specific survival (DSS) hazard ratios (HRs) of the low 8-OHdG subgroup were 1.41 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.01–1.98, p = 0.04) and 1.60 (95% CI: 1.12–2.28, p = 0.01), respectively. When tumor node metastasis (TNM) staging and 8-OHdG expression were combined, the 5-year EFS and DSS HRs of patients with CRC with low 8-OHdG expression cancer at the same TNM stage (stage Ⅲ/Ⅳ) were 1.51 (95% CI: 1.02–2.22, p = 0.04) and 1.64 (95% CI: 1.09–2.48, p = 0.02), respectively, compared to those with high 8-OHdG expression cancer, indicating a poor prognosis. Therefore, low 8-OHdG expression is a significant predictive factor for 5-year EFS and DSS in patients with CRC, and it can serve as an essential biomarker of CRC.
Comparison of Transcriptome between Tolerant and Susceptible Rice Cultivar Reveals Positive and Negative Regulators of Response to Rhizoctonia solani in Rice

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is one of the world’s most crucial food crops, as it currently supports more than half of the world’s population. However, the presence of sheath blight (SB) caused by Rhizoctonia solani has become a significant issue for rice agriculture. This disease is responsible for causing severe yield losses each year and is a threat to global food security. The breeding of SB-resistant rice varieties requires a thorough understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved and the exploration of immune genes in rice. To this end, we conducted a screening of rice cultivars for resistance to SB and compared the transcriptome based on RNA-seq between the most tolerant and susceptible cultivars. Our study revealed significant transcriptomic differences between the tolerant cultivar ZhengDao 22 (ZD) and the most susceptible cultivar XinZhi No.1 (XZ) in response to R. solani invasion. Specifically, the tolerant cultivar showed 7066 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), while the susceptible cultivar showed only 60 DEGs. In further analysis, we observed clear differences in gene category between up- and down-regulated expression of genes (uDEGs and dDEGs) based on Gene Ontology (GO) classes in response to infection in the tolerant cultivar ZD, and then identified uDEGs related to cell surface pattern recognition receptors, the Ca2+ ion signaling pathway, and the Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase (MAPK) cascade that play a positive role against R. solani. In addition, DEGs of the jasmonic acid and ethylene signaling pathways were mainly positively regulated, whereas DEGs of the auxin signaling pathway were mainly negatively regulated. Transcription factors were involved in the immune response as either positive or negative regulators of the response to this pathogen. Furthermore, our results showed that chloroplasts play a crucial role and that reduced photosynthetic capacity is a critical feature of this response. The results of this research have important implications for better characterization of the molecular mechanism of SB resistance and for the development of resistant cultivars through molecular breeding methods.
A Context-Aware CEO Problem

In many sensor network applications, a fusion center often has additional valuable information, such as context data, which cannot be obtained directly from the sensors. Motivated by this, we study a generalized CEO problem where a CEO has access to context information. The main contribution of this work is twofold. Firstly, we characterize the asymptotically optimal error exponent per rate as the number of sensors and sum rate grow without bound. The proof extends the Berger-Tung coding scheme and the converse argument by Berger et al. (1996) taking into account context information. The resulting expression includes the minimum Chernoff divergence over context information. Secondly, assuming that the sizes of the source and context alphabets are respectively <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$|\mathcal {X}|$ </tex-math></inline-formula> and <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$|\mathcal {S}|$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, we prove that it is asymptotically optimal to partition all sensors into at most <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\binom {|\mathcal {X}|}{2} |\mathcal {S}|$ </tex-math></inline-formula> groups and have the sensors in each group adopt the same encoding scheme. Our problem subsumes the original CEO problem by Berger et al. (1996) as a special case if there is only one letter for context information; in this case, our result tightens its required number of groups from <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\binom {|\mathcal {X}|}{2}+2$ </tex-math></inline-formula> to <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\binom {|\mathcal {X}|}{2}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>. We also numerically demonstrate the effect of context information for a simple Gaussian scenario.
Determination of Water Level using 2-Side Interdigital Capacitor Sensor Non-Substrate

- This research paper explores the design and operational efficacy of a non-substrate 2-side interdigital capacitor sensor for precise water level measurement. The sensor design, with a 1 mm gap, a copper line width of 1 mm, an adjacent line distance of 2 mm, and a total of 20 lines on each side, capitalizes on the permittivity disparity between air and water to track changes in water levels. The study encompasses two experimental configurations: one employing a copper plate and the other utilizing a PCB (FR4) with a relative permittivity of 4.6. The findings reveal that the sensor's capacitance alters in response to fluctuations in water levels, which is attributed to the varying contact between the copper lines and the water surface. Notably, the non-substrate sensor demonstrated a significant increase in capacitance of 236 nF/mm, with a correlation coefficient (R2) of 0.9981. These results highlight the potential of the 2-Side Interdigital Capacitor Sensor Non-Substrate as an effective tool for accurate water level measurement, emphasizing the importance of sensor design in achieving precise outcomes.
Comics as a Physical Education Tool for Health Promotion in Brazilian Primary Education, Based on Paulo Freire’s Principles of Empowerment

Incorrect postural habits developed already at an early age are predictors of low back pain and functional limitations in adult life. Postural education programs (PEPs) are activities developed in Physical Education classes with the aim of promoting healthy habits. One tool used by PEPs is comics. The objective of this study was to develop comics and apply them as a teaching tool in PEPs for students aged seven to ten years. The procedures were based on individual empowerment principles, including creation activities, reading, painting, crosswords, and discussion of comics. The activities strengthened the students’ interactions, gaining new knowledge that required cognitive and expressive resources to interpret, associate, and conceptualize themes of correct body posture. During six weeks of intervention, knowledge about body posture, anatomy, and health promotion exercises increased significantly in relation to the beginning of activities. The comic book proved to be an effective, attractive, and low-cost didactic resource.
Wetland farming and small-scale informal irrigation in Malawi: the case of Shire Valley

Historically, Malawi has depended on rain-fed agricultural systems. It is reported that the frequent droughts and unreliable rainfall since early 1990s have caused many small-scale farmers to turn to the wetlands as alternative sites for crop production. There they use lowcost farming methods and various forms of ‘informal’ irrigation. This study, to better understand the water management practices and the socioeconomic characteristics of the wetland farmers, was carried out in the Shire Valley, at the southern tip of Malawi. This covers about 600,000ha and supports around 250,000 farming families. More than half is wetland, characterized by a network of small streams, rivers, and swamps, and a mosaic of many very small farms separated by bush. Phase I mainly documented the agriculture technologies and socioeconomic characteristics of wetland farming and small-scale informal irrigation systems. 200 farmers and other key informants were interviewed. Phase II aimed to define and measure the benefits of the current systems. The major farming systems groups were identified using cluster analysis and focus group discussions were carried out with 7 to 10 members of each. The results were assessed using gross margin analysis. The results show that flood recession agriculture, river diversion and treadle pumps were the commonest water management technologies among the farmers interviewed. Most preferred flood recession and river diversion to treadle pump, citing capital requirements and running costs as major obstacles. However, the government and NGOs were promoting treadle pump technology (mostly) and river diversion, but not recession agriculture. Motorized pumps, introduced under various schemes, were no longer in use due to farmers’ inability to meet fuel costs and repairs.
Spillovers across the Asian OPEC+ Financial Market

This research utilizes the Diebold and Yilmaz spillover model to examine the correlation between geopolitical events, natural disasters, and oil stock returns in Asian OPEC+ member countries. The study extends prior research by investigating the dynamics of the Asian OPEC+ oil market in light of recent exogenous events. The analysis commences by creating a self-generated Asian OPEC+ index, which demonstrates significant volatility, as indicated by GARCH (1, 1) model estimation. The results obtained from the Diebold and Yilmaz spillover test indicate that, on average, there is a moderate degree of connectedness among the variables. However, in the event of global-level shocks or shocks specifically affecting Asian OPEC+ countries, a heightened level of connectedness is found. Prominent instances of spillover events observed in the volatility analysis conducted during the previous decade include the COVID-19 pandemic, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and the Turkey earthquake of 2023. Based on the facts, it is recommended that investors take into account the potential risks linked to regions that are susceptible to natural calamities and geopolitical occurrences while devising their portfolios for oil stocks. The results further highlight the significance of integrating these aspects into investors’ decision-making procedures and stress the need for risk management tactics that consider geopolitical risks and natural disasters in the oil equity market.
Retrieval of Rugged Mountainous Areas Land Surface Temperature From High-Spatial-Resolution Thermal Infrared Remote Sensing Data

Mountainous land surface temperature (MLST) is one of the key surface feature parameters in studying mountainous climate change. However, for the high-spatial-resolution thermal infrared (TIR) remote sensing images, the current land surface temperature (LST) retrieval algorithms were developed without enough accounting for terrain geometry and adjacent effect, which is not suitable for retrieving LST over rugged mountainous surfaces. To overcome this problem, a new method was developed to estimate the small-scale self-heating parameter (SSP) of mountainous pixels to quantify the proportion of internal thermal radiation intercepted, and the mountainous canopy effective land surface emissivity (MLSE) was defined and modeled based on SSP. A novel mountainous canopy multiple scattering TIR radiative transfer (MMS-TIR-RT) model based on SSP and sky-view factor (SVF) was developed to eliminate thermal radiance contribution from inside/adjacent pixels and the atmosphere and to restore the thermal radiation characteristics of pixels themselves. Based on this model, a new framework of mountainous single-channel (MSC) algorithm was developed for MLST retrieval from TIR data of Landsat-9 TIRS-2 sensor. In accordance with simulated data analysis, SSP, SVF, atmospheric water vapor content (WVC), land surface emissivity (LSE) of target pixel, and mean LST and LSE of the proximity pixels are the main influence factors on the magnitude of the topographic effect and adjacent effect (T-A effect). Among them, SSP plays a decisive role in the mountainous canopy effective emissivity when the emissivity of the original material is low. The retrieval LST differences ( $\delta $ LST) between the MSC algorithm and conventional single-channel (SC) algorithm (without considering the T-A effect) from Landsat-9 TIR images are related to SSP and SVF. The results showed that the inversion of LST can be overestimated by up to 4.5 K without considering the T-A effect correction in the rugged mountainous areas. Comparing brightness temperature (BT) at the top of atmosphere (TOA) simulated by the discrete anisotropic radiative transfer (DART) model and TOA BT from radiance of TIRS-2 band 10, there are good consistencies between the spatial distributions at the three subregions, with the root-mean-squared error (RMSE) less than 0.62 K. The findings demonstrated the need for T-A effect to be considered in the retrieval of high-precision MLST.
The Effects of Organizational Social Support on Left-behind Children’s Resilience in China

Abstract Left-behind children are one of the main issues in China’s child welfare services. The change in the family environment has destroyed these children’s original levels of resilience. Hence social service and support from social organizations are needed. The study examines the impact of different types of social support social organizations provide to enhance the resilience of left-behind children in rural China. Types of social support analyzed include material, mental, informational, behavioral, and social interaction support. Data was collected from 384 rural left-behind children using a pre-coded questionnaire. Respondents were randomly selected from Guangxi, China in 2022. They had an average age of 12.781 years, with 45.83% male and 54.17% female. Multiple linear regression was used to conduct an empirical analysis of the different types of social support provided by social organizations. The results found that material, mental, informational, and behavioral support provided by social organizations had significant effects on the resilience of rural left-behind children in China. Further research should be conducted on the importance of providing material, mental, informational, and behavioral support to left-behind children to better help improve their resilience.
Comparing the Effects of Prescribed Burning on Soil Chemical Properties in East Texas Forests with Longleaf and Other Southern Pines in the Overstory

Little has been reported on the effects of repeated prescribed burning on southern United States’ forest soils, especially when site preparation is not the prescribed fire objective. This study was aimed at identifying any correlations between the soil chemical properties among differing burn intervals and the effects prescribed burning has on them. Sampling was performed in 36 plots at three sites with two different burn intervals (2–3 years and biannually) and measured properties: (1) pre-burn (before the fire), (2) post-burn (one month after the fire), and (3) at vegetation green-up (three months after the fire). Sites varied by overstory species with longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) and shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata Mill.) in the overstory on one site, a mix of loblolly pine (P taeda L.) and shortleaf pine on another, and longleaf and loblolly pines on the third. SAS was used to determine the effects of prescribed burning between different time spans (pre-burn to post-burn, post-burn to green-up, and pre-burn to green-up) and between the two different burn intervals. We found that there could be short-term responses in soil chemical properties from repeated burning treatments including nitrogen in the forms of ammonium and nitrate, the carbon-to-nitrogen ratio, and electrical conductivity, all of which decreased following fire regardless of overstory species.
The normalization of vowel formants – a case study of Croatian and Serbian

The aim of this study was to compare the results of a traditional formant analysis of vowels with the results of normalization systems on the example of Croatian and Serbian speech. Male native speakers of Croatian and Serbian were used for this study (N=92). Traditional results of formant analyses express differences among analysed groups of speakers caused by linguistic, sociolinguistic, but also physiological factors. Considering that the values of formant vowels are influenced by many factors, including idiosyncratic physiological characteristics of the vocal tract, normalization approaches remove those variables among speakers that are caused by mutual physiological differences. Therefore, the dialectal, inter-linguistic and/or sociolinguistic differences among speakers whose speech is being analysed are isolated in a scientifically more objective way. The results of this study have shown that formant values are more grouped together and centralized (especially in vowels [a] and [i]), than in non-normalized results within each language individually. This contrastive analysis has shown that in Croatian [i], [o] and [u] are more closed and frontal, the vowel [a] is more closed and back, and the vowel [e] is more open and front, in relation to the vowels in Serbian. This study exemplifies the advantage of normalization systems in the interpretation of acoustic results.
Area Dose–Response and Radiation Origin of Childhood Thyroid Cancer in Fukushima Based on Thyroid Dose in UNSCEAR 2020/2021: High 131I Exposure Comparable to Chernobyl

Simple Summary After the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident in Japan on 11 March 2011, thyroid ultrasound examinations (TUEs) were conducted as part of the Fukushima health management survey (FHMS) by the Fukushima Medical University (FMU) on all residents aged ≤18 years at the time of the accident. The results showed a dozens-fold increase in thyroid cancer detection (97% papillary thyroid cancer, PTC) compared with the expected incidence from the cancer registry. More than 350 thyroid cancer patients endured poor health, being unable to disclose that they had PTC surgery due to the official stance that the nuclear accident caused no health effects. Without any international recognition of at least one adverse health effect of radiation exposure, the situation experienced by patients in Fukushima might be experienced by people exposed in the next nuclear accident. Young patients should be able to undergo appropriate operations and receive the most efficient treatments with sympathy and support from both government and society. Abstract The FMU and the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) concluded that the high incidence of thyroid cancer after the Fukushima nuclear accident was not the result of radiation exposure, but rather might have been overdiagnosis based on the low thyroid dose estimated in the UNSCEAR 2020/2021 report. In this study, the origin of increased PTC in Fukushima was examined based on the thyroid dose estimated by UNSCEAR. The dose–response relationship of the incidence rate per person-years (PY) was analyzed for four areas in Fukushima prefecture via regression analysis. The linear response of the annual incidence rates to thyroid dose in the first six years showed that the dominant origin of childhood thyroid cancer was radiation exposure. Excess absolute risk (EAR) proportionally increased with thyroid dose, with an EAR/104 PY Gy of 143 (95%CI: 122, 165) in the second TUE (p < 0.001), which is approximately 50–100 times higher than the EAR/104 PY Gy ≒ 2.3 observed after the Chernobyl accident. This suggests an underestimation of the thyroid dose by UNSCEAR of approximately 1/50~1/100 compared with the thyroid dose for Chernobyl. The increased childhood thyroid cancer in Fukushima was found to arise from radioactive iodine exposure, which was comparable to that in Chernobyl.
Effectiveness of Orthopantomograms as a Screening Tool for Osteoporosis: A Case-Control Study

Introduction Osteoporosis is a disease that is characterised by low bone mineral density (BMD), and loss of structural and biomechanical properties that are essential in maintaining bone homeostasis. Osteoporosis is diagnosed by clinical measurement of BMD and is the best predictor of osteoporosis. The study was conducted with the aim of assessing the effectiveness of orthopantomogram (OPG) as a screening tool for osteoporosis in postmenopausal women and chronic drug users. Objectives The primary objective of the current study was to assess the mandibular cortical width and antegonial index in postmenopausal women and chronic drug users, the secondary objective was to compare the mandibular cortical width and antegonial index of postmenopausal women and chronic drug users with that of the control group (healthy individual). Methods Three groups were taken in this study with a sample size of 300 with 100 OPG in each group. The groups categorised in the study were postmenopausal women, patients under drugs (glucocorticoids, proton pump inhibitor, anti-epileptic drugs, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) and the control group and the parameters assessed were antegonial index and mandibular cortical width. Results Results were tabulated and analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, IBM Corp., Version 26.0, Armonk, NY). The normality tests Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Shapiro-Wilks test results reveal that the variables (both indices) follow the normal distribution. The mandibular cortical width was 3.44, 2.66 and 2.96 in the normal, postmenopausal women and women on drugs respectively. The antegonial index was 163.5, 157.2 and 158.8 in the normal, postmenopausal women and women on drugs respectively. Conclusion From the above results, it is evident that there is a statistically significant reduction in antegonial index and mandibular cortical width in postmenopausal women compared to normal individuals. Alterations of this value are suggestive that early pre-clinical changes of osteoporosis can be detected in the high-risk group using OPG.