Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An experimentally-driven approach to model bending in a thermally activated SMA-based beam

In this paper, the bending behavior of an active SMA-based beam, made up of a NiTi alloy strip externally joined to a PA66-GF30 polymeric lamina, is examined. Firstly, experimental investigations were conducted in a purpose-built test bench where a forced airflow promoted the reverse and forward phase transformations of the NiTi strip via heating and cooling ramps. The macroscopic shape changes associated with the shape memory effect deforms the structure in the cantilevered condition. The evolution of the shape memory behavior was investigated via digital image analysis, performed at both the end of heating and the end of the thermal cycle on cooling. Next, a theoretical prediction combining the classical beam model for bending with the assumption of incomplete recovery upon cooling was developed. The theoretical results indicate good agreement with experimental data showing how the proposed approach can be effectively used to predict the behavior in bending of SMA-based actuator working in controlled recovering condition.
Imaging-based Assessment of Choriocapillaris: A Comprehensive Review

ABSTRACT PURPOSE Over the past two decades, advancements in imaging modalities have significantly evolved the diagnosis and management of retinal diseases. Through these novel platforms, we have developed a deeper understanding of the anatomy of the choroidal vasculature and the choriocapillaris. The recently developed tools such as optical coherence tomography (OCT) and OCT angiography (OCTA) have helped elucidate the pathological mechanisms of several posterior segment diseases. In this review, we have explained the anatomy of the choriocapillaris and its close relationship to the outer retina and retinal pigment epithelium. METHODS A comprehensive search of medical literature was performed through the Medline/PubMed database using search terms: choriocapillaris, choroid, quantification, biomarkers, diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration, choroidal blood flow, mean blur rate, flow deficit, optical coherence tomography, optical coherence tomography angiography, fluorescein angiography, indocyanine green angiography, OCTA, Doppler imaging, uveitis, choroiditis, white dot syndrome, tubercular serpiginous-like choroiditis, choroidal granuloma, pachychoroid, toxoplasmosis, central serous chorioretinopathy, multifocal choroiditis, choroidal neovascularization, choroidal thickness, choroidal vascularity index, choroidal vascular density, and choroidal blood supply. The search terms were used either independently or combined with choriocapillaris/choroid. RESULTS The imaging techniques which are used to qualitatively and quantitatively analyze choriocapillaris are described. The pathological alterations in the choriocapillaris in an array of conditions such as diabetes mellitus, age-related macular degeneration, pachychoroid spectrum of diseases, and inflammatory disorders have been comprehensively reviewed. The future directions in the study of choriocapillaris have also been discussed. CONCLUSION The development of imaging tools such as OCT and OCTA has dramatically improved the assessment of choriocapillaris in health and disease. The choriocapillaris can be delineated from the stromal choroid using the OCT and quantified by manual or automated methods. However, these techniques have inherent limitations due to the lack of an anatomical distinction between the choriocapillaris and the stromal choroid, which can be overcome with the use of predefined segmentation slabs on OCT and OCTA. These segmentation slabs help in standardizing the choriocapillaris imaging and obtain repeatable measurements in various conditions such as diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration, pachychoroid spectrum, and ocular inflammations. Additionally, Doppler imaging has also been effectively used to evaluate the choroidal blood flow and quantifying the choriocapillaris and establishing its role in the pathogenesis of various retinochoroidal diseases. As tremendous technological advancements such as wide-field and ultra-wide field imaging take place, there will be a significant improvement in the ease and accuracy of quantifying the choriocapillaris.
Essential oil composition of Callistemon citrinus (Curtis) and its protective efficacy against Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae)

Tribolium castaneum is one of the major pests of stored grains which causes extensive damages. To control this insect pest many synthetic chemical pesticides are used. However, continuous usage of synthetic fumigants causes pest resurgence, toxic residues, genetic resistance in pests, environmental contamination and health hazards etc., To avert these problems, essential oils are used as bio-fumigants to control the stored pests. They could act as best alternatives to synthetic fumigant in closed environment. Hence, the present study aimed to evaluate the pesticidal activity of Callistemon citrinus oil against Tribolium castaneum. GC-MS analysis of C. citrinus essential oil (EO) showed 10 compounds; among them, the major constituent was eucalyptol (1, 8-cineole) at 40.44%. The lethal concentration (LC50) values were 37.05 μL/L (adults) and 144.31 μL/L (larvae) at 24 and 48 hrs respectively. Exposure to C. citrinus EO significantly reduced the beetle fecundity, ovicidal activity, egg hatchability, larvae survival and emergence of adult. The effect of EO on enzymatic activity of T. castaneum adults was examined using Acetylcholinesterase, α-Carboxylesterase, β-Carboxylesterase, Glutathione-S-Transferase, Acid and Alkaline phosphatase assays. The results indicated that the activity of detoxification enzymes drastically varied when compared with control. This EO had toxicant effects on all stages of the life of T. castaneum.
Nonselective beta blockers, hepatic decompensation, and mortality in cirrhosis: A national cohort study

Background and Aims: Little is known about the effectiveness of nonselective beta blockers (NSBBs) in preventing hepatic decompensation in routine clinical settings. We investigated whether NSBBs are associated with hepatic decompensation or liver‐related mortality in a national cohort of veterans with Child‐Turcotte‐Pugh (CTP) A cirrhosis with no prior decompensations. Approach and Results: In an active comparator, new user (ACNU) design, we created a cohort of new users of carvedilol (n = 123) versus new users of selective beta blockers (SBBs) (n = 561) and followed patients for up to 3 years. An inverse probability treatment weighting (IPTW) approach balanced demographic and clinical confounders. The primary analysis simulated intention‐to‐treat (“pseudo‐ITT”) with IPTW‐adjusted Cox models; secondary analyses were pseudo‐as‐treated, and both were adjusted for baseline and time‐updating drug confounders. Subgroup analyses evaluated NSBB effects by HCV viremia status, CTP class, platelet count, alcohol‐associated liver disease (ALD) etiology, and age. In pseudo‐ITT analyses of carvedilol versus SBBs, carvedilol was associated with a lower hazard of any hepatic decompensation (HR 0.59, 95% CI 0.42–0.83) and the composite outcome of hepatic decompensation/liver‐related mortality (HR 0.56, 95% CI 0.41–0.76). Results were similar in pseudo‐as‐treated analyses (hepatic decompensation: HR 0.55, 95% CI 0.33–0.94; composite outcome: HR 0.62, 95% 0.38–1.01). In subgroup analyses, carvedilol was associated with lower hazard of primary outcomes in the absence of HCV viremia, higher CTP class and platelet count, younger age, and ALD etiology. Conclusions: There is an ongoing need to noninvasively identify patients who may benefit from NSBBs for the prevention of hepatic decompensation.
Detection of serum IgG autoantibodies to FcεRIα by ELISA in patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria

Background Mast cells are a key effector cell in the pathogenesis of chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) and activated by circulating FcεRI-specific IgG as well as IgE. This study evaluated the prevalence of circulating autoantibodies to FcεRIα in the sera of CSU patients. Methods Eighty-eight patients with CSU and 76 healthy controls (HCs) were enrolled. To detect circulating autoantibodies (IgG/IgA/IgM) to FcεRIα, ELISA was done using YH35324 (as a solid phase antigen), and its binding specificity was confirmed by the ELISA inhibition test. The antibody levels were presented by the ratio of YH35324-preincubated to mock-preincubated absorbance values. Clinical and autoimmune parameters, including atopy, urticaria activity score (UAS), serum total/free IgE levels, serum antinuclear antibody (ANA) and autologous serum skin test (ASST) results, were assessed. The autoimmune group was defined if CSU patients had positive results to ASST and/or ANA. Results The ratio of serum IgG to FcεRIα was significantly lower in CSU patients than in HCs (P<0.05), while no differences were noted in serum levels of IgG to recombinant FcεRIα or IgA/IgM autoantibodies. The autoimmune CSU group had significantly lower ratios of IgG/IgA (not IgM) autoantibodies to FcεRIα than the nonautoimmune CSU group (P<0.05 for each). No significant associations were found between sex, age, atopy, urticaria duration, UAS, or serum total/free IgE levels according to the presence of IgG/IgA/IgM antibodies. Conclusions This study confirmed the presence of IgG to FcεRIα in the sera of CSU patients, especially those with the autoimmune phenotype.
Assessing dependence between frequency and severity through shared random effects

Research on the occurrence and the final size of wildland fires typically models these two events as two separate processes. In this work, we develop and apply a compound process framework for jointly modelling the frequency and the severity of wildland fires. Separate modelling structures for the frequency and the size of fires are linked through a shared random effect. This allows us to fit an appropriate model for frequency and an appropriate model for size of fires while still having a method to estimate the direction and strength of the relationship (e.g., whether days with more fires are associated with days with large fires). The joint estimation of this random effect shares information between the models without assuming a causal structure. We explore spatial and temporal autocorrelation of the random effects to identify additional variation not explained by the inclusion of weather related covariates. The dependence between frequency and size of lightning-caused fires is found to be negative, indicating that an increase in the number of expected fires is associated with a decrease in the expected size of those fires, possibly due to the rainy conditions necessary for an increase in lightning. Person-caused fires were found to be positively dependent, possibly due to dry weather increasing human activity as well as the amount of dry few. For a test for independence, we perform a power study and find that simply checking whether zero is in the credible interval of the posterior of the linking parameter is as powerful as more complicated tests.
In-situ photoluminescence measurements during MOVPE of GaN and InGaN in a CCS reactor

Abstract Gallium Nitride (GaN) and Indium Gallium Nitride (InGaN) have become important semiconductor materials for the LED lighting industry. Recently, a photoluminescence (PL) technique for direct in-situ characterization of GaN and InGaN layers during epitaxial growth in a planetary metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) reactor was reported. The PL signals reveal – at the earliest possible stage – information about current layer thickness, temperature, composition, surface roughness, and self-absorption. Thus, the PL data is valuable for both controlling and optimizing the growth parameters, thereby promising both better devices and a better yield for the LED industry. This technical report describes an extension of this PL technique to close coupled showerhead (CCS) reactors with narrow optical viewports. In contrast to the wide aperture optics in previous investigations, a compact and all-fiber optical probe without voluminous lens optics, filter elements or beam splitters was used.
ACUTE AND SUSTAINED ALTERATIONS TO THE BONE MARROW IMMUNE MICROENVIRONMENT FOLLOWING POLYMICROBIAL INFECTION

ABSTRACT Sepsis is a highly prevalent cause of death in intensive care units. Characterized by severe immune cell derangements, sepsis is often associated with multiorgan dysfunction. For many sepsis survivors, these deficits can persist long after clinical resolution of the underlying infection. Although many studies report on the impact of sepsis on individual immune cell subtypes, a comprehensive analysis of sepsis-induced alterations within and across the immune cell landscape is lacking. In this study, we used single-cell RNA sequencing to assess sepsis-associated transcriptional changes in immune cells isolated from bone marrow at single-cell resolution. We used a high-survival fecal-induced peritonitis sepsis model using Friend leukemia virus B mice. Single-cell RNA sequencing classified 3402 single cells from control subjects into 14 clusters representing long-term hematopoietic stem cell (HSC), short-term HSC, basophil, dendritic cell, eosinophil, erythroblast, erythrocyte, macrophage, neutrophil, natural killer cell, plasma cell, plasmacytoid dendritic cell, pre-B cell, and T memory cell lineages. One day following experimentally induced sepsis, cell type compositions shifted significantly and included notable decreases in HSC and myeloid cell abundance. In addition to proportional cell composition changes, acute sepsis induced significant transcriptional alterations in most immune cell types analyzed—changes that failed to completely resolve 1 month after sepsis. Taken together, we report widespread and persistent transcriptional changes in diverse immune cells in response to polymicrobial infection. This study will serve as a valuable resource for future work investigating acute and/or long-term sepsis-associated immune cell derangements.
Successful word retraining, maintenance and transference of practice to everyday activities: A single case experimental design in early onset alcohol-induced brain damage

ABSTRACT Word retraining programs have been shown to improve naming ability post-stroke and in progressive aphasias. Here, we investigated benefits for a 22-year-old Danish man (DJ), whose difficulties followed brain damage from heavy alcohol misuse. Using a multiple baseline-across-behaviours design (target behaviour: retrieval of word list items), DJ completed a 4-week “Look, Listen, Repeat” program on a computer. Ninety personally relevant target words were selected to create three matched lists. List 1 was trained for 10 sessions over 2 weeks, followed by 9 sessions for List 2 over 2 weeks, while the third list remained untrained. Naming performance was evaluated at baseline, during the intervention, and at 1 and 4 months post-training. Naming improved following each intervention block (p < .001), with only one data point overlapping between the baseline and treatment phases for trained items. Untrained words remained unchanged (p = 1.00), with 50% of data points non-overlapping across baseline to treatment phases. Performance was maintained over time, and appeared to generalize, with DJ naming more trained objects in their natural setting (85%) than untrained items (64%). While more evidence is needed, brief (20-minute), intensive (5-day/week) word retraining programs may assist word retrieval for people with brain damage associated with alcohol misuse.
University libraries-bridging digital gaps and accelerating the achievement of sustainable development goals through information and communication technologies

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of university libraries in accelerating the achievement of sustainable development goals (SDGs) through information and communication technologies (ICTs). Design/methodology/approach The study adopted a descriptive survey design using a researcher developed questionnaire for data collection. In all, 103 professional librarians working in all the university libraries in Ogun State, Nigeria were surveyed. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (version 19) was used to run the analysis. Findings The university libraries in Ogun State, Nigeria are not lagging behind in the provision of ICT facilities for the delivery of twenty-first century library services. The paper highlights the critical role of university libraries in bridging digital gaps by taking advantage of ICTs to accelerate the attainment of SDGs. ICTs have the capacity to accelerate the actualisation of SDG in all communities. However, illiteracy, lack of political accountability and transparency, lack of financial resources and inadequate power supply were the major challenges impeding the achievement of SDGs in Ogun State, Nigeria. Practical implications This paper establishes the role of university libraries in bridging digital gaps through ICTs in order to facilitate the attainment of SDGs. Originality/value The paper originality lies in its concise articulation of the roles of university libraries and ICTs in the actualisation of SDGs. Library and information professionals who are eager to contribute their quota to the achievement of SDGs will find this article useful.
Predicting ACL Injury Using Machine Learning on Data From an Extensive Screening Test Battery of 880 Female Elite Athletes

Background: Injury risk prediction is an emerging field in which more research is needed to recognize the best practices for accurate injury risk assessment. Important issues related to predictive machine learning need to be considered, for example, to avoid overinterpreting the observed prediction performance. Purpose: To carefully investigate the predictive potential of multiple predictive machine learning methods on a large set of risk factor data for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury; the proposed approach takes into account the effect of chance and random variations in prediction performance. Study Design: Case-control study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods: The authors used 3-dimensional motion analysis and physical data collected from 791 female elite handball and soccer players. Four common classifiers were used to predict ACL injuries (n = 60). Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC-ROC) averaged across 100 cross-validation runs (mean AUC-ROC) was used as a performance metric. Results were confirmed with repeated permutation tests (paired Wilcoxon signed-rank-test; P < .05). Additionally, the effect of the most common class imbalance handling techniques was evaluated. Results: For the best classifier (linear support vector machine), the mean AUC-ROC was 0.63. Regardless of the classifier, the results were significantly better than chance, confirming the predictive ability of the data and methods used. AUC-ROC values varied substantially across repetitions and methods (0.51-0.69). Class imbalance handling did not improve the results. Conclusion: The authors’ approach and data showed statistically significant predictive ability, indicating that there exists information in this prospective data set that may be valuable for understanding injury causation. However, the predictive ability remained low from the perspective of clinical assessment, suggesting that included variables cannot be used for ACL prediction in practice.
Military sexual trauma and incident hypertension: a 16-year cohort study of young and middle-aged men and women

Objectives: Veterans, especially women, are three times more to experience sexual harassment and assault [military sexual trauma (MST)] than civilians. As trauma is associated with elevated cardiovascular risk, we investigated whether MST independently contributes to risk for incident hypertension and whether the effects are distinct among women. Methods: We assessed 788 161 post-9/11 Veterans (Mage = 32.14 years, 13% women) who were free of hypertension at baseline, using nationwide Veterans Health Administration data collected 2001–2017. Time-varying, multivariate Cox proportional hazard models were used to examine the independent contribution of MST to new cases of hypertension while sequentially adjusting for demographics, lifestyle and cardiovascular risk factors, including baseline blood pressure, and psychiatric disorders including posttraumatic stress disorder. We then tested for effect modification by sex. Results: Over 16 years [mean = 10.23 (SD: 3.69)], 35 284 Veterans screened positive for MST (67% were women). In the fully adjusted model, MST was associated with a 15% greater risk of hypertension [95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.11–1.19]. In sex-specific analyses, men and women with a history of MST showed a 6% (95% CI, 1.00–1.12, P = 0.042) and 20% greater risk of hypertension (95% CI, 1.15–1.26, P < 0.001), respectively. Conclusion: In this large prospective cohort of young and middle-aged Veterans, MST was associated with incident hypertension after controlling for established risk factors, including trauma-related psychiatric disorders. Although MST is disproportionately experienced by women, and the negative cardiovascular impact of MST is demonstrated for both sexes, the association with hypertension may be greater for women. Subsequent research should determine if early MST assessment and treatment attenuates this risk.
Dysregulation of the hippocampal neuronal network by LGI1 auto-antibodies

LGI1 is a neuronal secreted protein highly expressed in the hippocampus. Epileptic seizures and LGI1 hypo-functions have been found in both ADLTE, a genetic epileptogenic syndrome and LGI1 limbic encephalitis (LE), an autoimmune disease. Studies, based mainly on transgenic mouse models, investigated the function of LGI1 in the CNS and strangely showed that LGI1 loss of function, led to a decreased AMPA-receptors (AMPA-R) expression. Our project intends at better understanding how an altered function of LGI1 leads to epileptic seizures. To reach our goal, we infused mice with LGI1 IgG purified from the serum of patients diagnozed with LGI1 LE. Super resolution imaging revealed that LGI1 IgG reduced AMPA-R expression at the surface of inhibitory and excitatory neurons only in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus. Complementary electrophysiological approaches indicated that despite reduced AMPA-R expression, LGI1 IgG increased the global hyperexcitability in the hippocampal neuronal network. Decreased AMPA-R expression at inhibitory neurons and the lack of LGI1 IgG effect in presence of GABA antagonist on excitability, led us to conclude that LGI1 function might be essential for the proper functioning of the overall network and orchestrate the imbalance between inhibition and excitation. Our work suggests that LGI1 IgG reduced the inhibitory network activity more significantly than the excitatory network shedding lights on the essential role of the inhibitory network to trigger epileptic seizures in patients with LGI1 LE.