Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Blood transcriptional signatures of gallstone pathogenesis in patients with cholelithiasis and choledocholithiasis

Running Title: Blood gene expression gallstone

Objective Disease-specific molecular signalling in peripheral blood has the potential to inform on pathophysiological mechanisms of diseases. Here, we aimed to investigate the blood-based gene expression profiles that reflect disease-specific pathogenic mechanisms of gallstones, such as antioxidant defence, heat-shock responses, DNA damage and repair, ABC pump mechanisms, mucin signals, mitochondrial dysfunction and apoptosis in patients with Cholelithiasis (CHL) and Choledocholithiasis (CHDL) Materials and Methods The relative fold-change in the mRNA expression levels of 73 genes were analysed using a gallstone-related qRT-PCR array in 10 control individuals, 24 CHL patients and 23 CHDL patients. Serum malondialdehyde levels was determined by thiobarbituric-acid reactive substance assays, and 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine levels was determined by ELISA assays. Results Our results showed that peripheral whole blood gene expression profile strongly reflects tissue specific molecular signalling in gallstone pathogenesis. The present findings of altered gene expressions including antioxidant defence (CuZn-SOD, CAT), heat shock protein (HSP70), DNA repair (MLH1 and RAD18), pro-apoptotic (P53, BAX, Cyt-c and Caspase 3), ABC transporter (ABCB1, ABCC2, and LRP1) and Mucin signals (MUCIN4, MUCIN5AC and MUCIN5B) point out to DNA damages via oxidative stress as well as deteriorating ABC types pump mechanisms and mucin signals in CHL and CHDL patients. Our findings may also suggest that activation of mitophagy activator, DRP1/hFIS1/PINK1 axis induced by oxidative stress and DNA damage may have a role in the pathogenesis of CHL and CHDL. Conclusions Our results indicate that a blood-based gene expression signature has promising accuracy for monitorize pathogenesis of disease in CHL patients, CHDL patients and unaffected controls.
Criteria for extensional necking instability in complex fluids and soft solids. Part I: Imposed Hencky strain rate protocol

We study theoretically the necking dynamics of a filament of complex fluid or soft solid in uniaxial tensile stretching at constant imposed Hencky strain rate ϵ , by means of linear stability analysis and nonlinear (slender filament) simulations. We demonstrate necking to be an intrinsic flow instability that arises as an inevitable consequence of the constitutive behavior of essentially any material (with a possible rare exception, which we outline), however carefully controlled the experimental conditions. We derive criteria for the onset of necking that are reportable simply in terms of characteristic signatures in the shapes of the experimentally measured rheological response functions, and should therefore apply universally to all materials. As evidence of their generality, we show them to hold numerically in six popular constitutive models: The Oldroyd B, Giesekus, FENE-CR, Rolie-Poly, and Pom-pom models of polymeric fluids, and a fluidity model of soft glassy materials. Two distinct modes of neck.
Prospects for cooling nanomechanical motion by coupling to a superconducting microwave resonator

Recent theoretical work has shown that radiation pressure effects can in principle cool a mechanical degree of freedom to its ground state. In this paper, we apply this theory to our realization of an optomechanical system in which the motion of mechanical oscillator modulates the resonance frequency of a superconducting microwave circuit. We present experimental data demonstrating the large mechanical quality factors possible with metallic, nanomechanical beams at 20 mK. Further measurements also show damping and cooling effects on the mechanical oscillator due to the microwave radiation field. These data motivate the prospects for employing this dynamical backaction technique to cool a mechanical mode entirely to its quantum ground state.
Demographics, Clinicopathological Profile of Oral Lichen Planus of South Kerala Population: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a chronic mucocutaneous inflammatory lesion of unknown cause. The buccal mucosa is the most frequently affected anatomic site and the lesion is bilateral. The objective of this retrospective study was to investigate the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of 250 OLP patients in South Kerala. This was done by figuring out these patients’ epidemiological and clinical characteristics. Materials and methods: In the present study, patients who reported between September 2018 and December 2021 were selected employing the diagnostic criteria consistent with the WHO classification of OLP. Data of all the patient’s characteristic features were collected and evaluated using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software for statistical analysis. Results: Out of 250 patients, 52% were females and 48% were males. Reticular (n = 145, 58%) and erosive forms (n = 105, 42%) were the two clinical presentations of the lesions that were most consistently observed. The age group of 25-34 years reported the highest number of cases (n = 71, 28.4%). According to the chi-square test, there were statistically highly significant differences between the hyperpigmentation, age, and type of OLP. While 43.2% (n = 108) of cases reported a burning sensation, pain, or soreness, 56.8% (n = 142) of cases were asymptomatic. There were statistically significant differences between the type of OLP and the reported symptoms (p = 0.001). Mild to moderate dysplastic changes were documented in 5.6% during the follow-up period. A successful treatment outcome with topical steroid administration was recorded in the study sample. Conclusion: It was apparent that patients typically have bilateral lesions involving the buccal and labial mucosa, manifesting with varying degrees of oral discomfort. Although patients frequently have more than one variant of OLP, the lesions are typically reticular or erosive in nature. A meticulous follow-up is crucial to determine its malignant change.
Won’t Stop, Can’t Stop: Alternative Route to Licensure Special Education Teachers’ Persistence in their Careers

Alternate route to licensure (AR) programs in special education continue to increase despite concerns that teachers certified through these pathways leave the profession at rates higher than traditionally prepared teachers. The purpose of this study was to examine special education AR program completers to determine their persistence to stay in the profession despite odds of attrition. For this article, we examined survey results from AR special education teachers (n = 57) and completed focus group interviews with a subset (n =13) from this same sample. Using Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) to guide our research, we uncovered three major themes from our focus groups: role conceptualization, barriers experienced, and motivating factors. Our findings suggest that AR special education teachers’ persistence relies on several factors, such as society’s respect for teachers, effective mentoring programs, positive collaboration experience, understanding of their unique role as AR teachers, and self-efficacy. Implications for educational practices, policies, and further research about AR teachers is explored.
ARE LARGE, COMETARY-SHAPED PROPLYDS REALLY (FREE-FLOATING) EVAPORATING GAS GLOBULES?

We report the detection of strong and compact molecular line emission (in the CO J = 3–2, 4–3, 6–5, 7–6, 13CO J = 3–2, HCN, and HCO+ J = 4–3 transitions) from a cometary-shaped object (Carina-frEGG1) in the Carina star-forming region (SFR) previously classified as a photoevaporating protoplanetary disk (proplyd). We derive a molecular mass of 0.35 M☉ for Carina-frEGG1, which shows that it is not a proplyd, but belongs to a class of free-floating evaporating gas globules (frEGGs) recently found in the Cygnus SFR by Sahai et al. Archival adaptive optics near-IR (Ks) images show a central hourglass-shaped nebula. The derived source luminosity (about 8–18 L☉), the hourglass morphology, and the presence of collimated jets seen in Hubble Space Telescope images imply the presence of a jet-driving, young, low-mass star deeply embedded in the dust inside Carina-frEGG1. Our results suggest that the true nature of many or most such cometary-shaped objects seen in massive SFRs and previously labeled as proplyds has been misunderstood, and that these are really frEGGs.
PROBING THE IONIZATION STATES OF POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS VIA THE 15–20 μm EMISSION BANDS

We report new correlations between ratios of band intensities of the 15–20 μm emission bands of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in a sample of 57 sources observed with the Spitzer/Infrared Spectrograph. This sample includes Large Magellanic Cloud point sources from the SAGE-Spec survey, nearby galaxies from the Spitzer Infrared Nearby Galaxies Survey survey, two Galactic interstellar medium cirrus sources, and the spectral maps of the Galactic reflection nebulae NGC 2023 and NGC 7023. We find that the 16.4, 17.4, and 17.8 μm band intensities are inter-correlated in all environments. In NGC 2023 and NGC 7023 these bands also correlate with the 11.0 and 12.7 μm band intensities. The 15.8 μm band correlates only with the 15–18 μm plateau and the 11.2 μm emission. We examine the spatial morphology of these bands and introduce radial cuts. We find that these bands can be spatially organized into three sets: the 12.7, 16.4, and 17.8 μm bands; the 11.2, 15.8 μm bands and the 15–18 μm plateau; and the 11.0 and 17.4 μm bands. We also find that the spatial distribution of the 12.7, 16.4, and 17.8 μm bands can be reconstructed by averaging the spatial distributions of the cationic 11.0 μm and neutral 11.2 μm bands. We conclude that the 17.4 μm band is dominated by cations, the 15.8 μm band by neutral species, and the 12.7, 16.4, and 17.8 μm bands by a combination of the two. These results highlight the importance of PAH ionization for spatially differentiating sub-populations by their 15–20 μm emission variability.
THE DISPERSION RELATIONS AND INSTABILITY THRESHOLDS OF OBLIQUE PLASMA MODES IN THE PRESENCE OF AN ION BEAM

An ion beam can destabilize Alfvén/ion-cyclotron waves and magnetosonic/whistler waves if the beam speed is sufficiently large. Numerical solutions of the hot-plasma dispersion relation have previously shown that the minimum beam speed required to excite such instabilities is significantly smaller for oblique modes with k × B0 ≠ 0 than for parallel-propagating modes with k × B0 = 0, where k is the wavevector and B0 is the background magnetic field. In this paper, we explain this difference within the framework of quasilinear theory, focusing on low-β plasmas. We begin by deriving, in the cold-plasma approximation, the dispersion relation and polarization properties of both oblique and parallel-propagating waves in the presence of an ion beam. We then show how the instability thresholds of the different wave branches can be deduced from the wave–particle resonance condition, the conservation of particle energy in the wave frame, the sign (positive or negative) of the wave energy, and the wave polarization. We also provide a graphical description of the different conditions under which Landau resonance and cyclotron resonance destabilize Alfvén/ion-cyclotron waves in the presence of an ion beam. We draw upon our results to discuss the types of instabilities that may limit the differential flow of alpha particles in the solar wind.
Learning on the Field: L2 Turkish Vowel Production by L1 American English-Speaking NGOs in Turkey

This study adopts the Speech Learning Model to investigate the first language (L1) influence as well as the effects of the length of residence and second language (L2) exposure on American English-speaking learners of Turkish in their productions of Turkish unrounded–rounded vowel pairs, with a particular focus on the vowel categories “new” to American English speakers (/y/, /œ/, and /ɯ/). L1 (English) and L2 (Turkish) speech samples were collected from 18 non-governmental organisation (NGO) workers. L2 experience was defined by whether the worker lived in an urban or regional environment in Turkey. Participants’ audio productions of the word list in L1 and L2 were segmented and annotated for succeeding acoustic analyses. The results show an interesting front–back variability in the realisations of the three vowels, including further back variants of the front vowels (/y/, /œ/) and more forward variants of the /ɯ/ vowel, with a substantial degree of interspeaker variability. While the analysis revealed no significant results for the length of residence, language experience was found to have a significant effect on the production of /y/ (F2) and /ɯ/ (F1/F2). This study forms a first step into the research of adult L2 acquisition in Turkish with a focus on L2 in the naturalistic workplace environment, rather than instructed settings. The findings of this study will contribute to the development of teaching materials for NGO workers learning Turkish as their L2.
THE NONLINEAR BIASING OF THE zCOSMOS GALAXIES UP TO z ∼ 1 FROM THE 10k SAMPLE

We use the zCOSMOS galaxy overdensity field to study the biasing of galaxies in the COSMOS field. By comparing the probability distribution function of the galaxy density contrast δg to the lognormal approximation of the mass density contrast δ, we obtain the mean biasing function b(δ, z, R) between the galaxy and matter overdensity fields and its second moments and . Over the redshift interval 0.4 < z < 1 the conditional mean function 〈δg|δ〉 = b(δ, z, R)δ is of a characteristic shape, requiring nonlinear biasing in the most overdense and underdense regions. Taking into account the uncertainties due to cosmic variance, we do not detect any significant evolution in the 〈δg|δ〉 function, but we do detect a significant redshift evolution in the linear biasing parameter from 1.23 ± 0.11 at z ∼ 0.55 to 1.62 ± 0.14 at z ∼ 0.75, for a luminosity-complete sample of MB < −20 − z galaxies. The parameter does not change significantly with smoothing scale between 8 and 12 h−1 Mpc, but increases systematically with luminosity (at 2σ–3σ significance between the MB < −20.5 − z and MB < −20 − z samples). The nonlinearity parameter is offset from unity by at most 2%, with an uncertainty of the same order. The parameter does not show any significant redshift evolution, dependence on the smoothing scale or on the luminosity. By matching the linear bias of galaxies to the halo bias, we infer that the MB < −20 − z galaxies reside in dark matter halos with a characteristic mass of about (2.6 − 5.6) × 1012 M☉ with a small dependence on the adopted bias–mass relation. Our detailed error analysis and comparison with previous studies lead us to conclude that cosmic variance is the main contributor to the differences in the linear bias measured from different surveys. While our results support the general picture of biased galaxy formation up to z ∼ 1, the fine-tuning of the galaxy formation models is still limited by the restrictions of the current spectroscopic surveys at these redshifts.
Spitzer observations of extragalactic H II regions - III. NGC 6822 and the hot star, H II region connection

Using the short-high module of the Infrared Spectrograph on the Spitzer Space Telescope, we have measured the [S iv] 10.51, [Ne ii] 12.81, [Ne iii] 15.56, and [S iii] 18.71-mu m emission lines in nine H ii regions in the dwarf irregular galaxy NGC 6822. These lines arise from the dominant ionization states of the elements neon (Ne++, Ne+) and sulphur (S3+, S++), thereby allowing an analysis of the neon to sulphur abundance ratio as well as the ionic abundance ratios Ne+/Ne++ and S3+/S++. By extending our studies of H ii regions in M83 and M33 to the lower metallicity NGC 6822, we increase the reliability of the estimated Ne/S ratio. We find that the Ne/S ratio appears to be fairly universal, with not much variation about the ratio found for NGC 6822: the median (average) Ne/S ratio equals 11.6 (12.2 +/- 0.8). This value is in contrast to Asplund et al.'s currently best estimated value for the Sun: Ne/S = 6.5. In addition, we continue to test the predicted ionizing spectral energy distributions (SEDs) from various stellar atmosphere models by comparing model nebulae computed with these SEDs as inputs to our observational data, changing just the stellar atmosphere model abundances. Here, we employ a new grid of SEDs computed with different metallicities: solar, 0.4 solar, and 0.1 solar. As expected, these changes to the SED show similar trends to those seen upon changing just the nebular gas metallicities in our plasma simulations: lower metallicity results in higher ionization. This trend agrees with the observations.
Pengaruh Komitmen Manajemen, Lingkungan Birokrasi, dan Pengetahuan Peraturan terhadap Penyerapan Anggaran Terkait Pengadaan Barang/Jasa

This study aims to determinate the effect of management commitment, bureaucratic environment, and the regulatory knowledge on budget absorption related to the procurement of goods/services in the government of Pariaman City. A sample of 88 respondents was determined by using a total sampling technique consisting of heads of fields or staff of the procurement department. Data were analyzed using multiple regression formulas with the help of the SPSS application. This study concludes that management commitment does not effect budget absorption related to goods/service procurement. Bureaucratic environment has a positive and significant effect on budget absorption related to the procurement of goods/services. Mean while, the regulatory knowledge has no effect on budget absorption related to the procurement of goods/services.
Influence of personal characteristics and environmental stressors on mental health for multicultural construction workplaces in Australia

Abstract Exposure to various stressors has resulted in a significant problem of mental health among the construction workforce. A culturally intolerant environment may aggravate mental ill health in a multicultural workplace. However, an underlying structural issue that has not been sufficiently addressed to date is the influence the crucial personal characteristics and environmental stressors have on mental health in the multicultural construction environment. This study aims to examine the role of personal characteristics and environmental stressors in construction workers’ mental health in the multicultural environment. Data were collected using an online questionnaire survey from 252 construction workers in Australia. The structural equation modelling (SEM) technique with partial least-squares estimation (PLS) was adopted to analyze the data. Results showed that workers’ mental health is not only influenced by stressors related to the work environment, but also by individual traits. Increased levels of cultural stressors tend to aggravate the adverse effect of work stressors on mental health. Work stressors are more likely to cause mental ill health for the individuals characterized by a higher level of aggressive, competitive, ambiguous, and impulsive personalities; whilst cultural stressors are less likely to cause mental ill health for those individuals. This research offers an innovative perspective on the relationships between crucial person-environment factors and mental health, and informs the practice of work health and safety in the multicultural construction workplace.
Recent Approaches and New Challenges of Antibiotics

Antibiotics are the chemical agents that will prevent bacterial growth by stopping the bacterial cell from killing (bactericidal) or by dividing them (bacteriostatics). So, antibiotics are the essential part of medicines used for both animals and human health. In 1990s the antibiotics were first discovered to fight against microorganism. Based on their chemical structures the antibiotics are grouped into several classes. For several decades, antibiotics have been critical in fight against infectious diseases caused by bacteria and other microbes. Wound infections, tuberculosis, pneumoniae, gonorrhea, viral infections such as common cold, flu, cough are just a few of the diseases that are treated with antibiotics. The antibiotics therapy for emerging hard to treat multidrug-resistant bacterial infections is limited, resulting in high morbidity and mortality worldwide. Apparently most pathogenic microorganisms have the capability of developing resistance to atleast some antimicrobial agents. The main mechanisms of resistance are: limiting uptake of drug, modification of a drug target, inactivation of a drug and active efflux of a drug. Drug resistant infections are on the rise everywhere, and threatening public health on a major port0ion, the discovery of novel antibiotics capable of countering the counterattack by these organisms has become an emergency. Urinary tract infections, newborn infections and chemotherapy, to take just a few instances, are becoming rapidly unsafe because of the lack of working antibiotics to counter just five bacterias, including Escherichia coli (E. coli), methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and Klebsiella pneumoniae. Drug resistant tuberculosis is another big challenge, with over half a million cases at present, posing a high risk of infections to children. Even when novel antibiotics are developed, eventually resistance should crop up to them as well, making it significant to constantly come up with new preventive and diagnostic methods, as well as control and surveillance of contagious infections.
Matrix-product-state method with a dynamical local basis optimization for bosonic systems out of equilibrium

We present a method for simulating the time evolution of one-dimensional correlated electron-phonon systems which combines the time-evolving block decimation algorithm with a dynamical optimization of the local basis. This approach can reduce the computational cost by orders of magnitude when boson fluctuations are large. The method is demonstrated on the nonequilibrium Holstein polaron by comparison with exact simulations in a limited functional space and on the scattering of an electronic wave packet by local phonon modes. Our study of the scattering problem reveals a rich physics including transient self-trapping and dissipation.
Association between Climate Factors and Dengue Fever in Asuncion, Paraguay: A Generalized Additive Model

Dengue fever has been endemic in Paraguay since 2009 and is a major cause of public-health-management-related burdens. However, Paraguay still lacks information on the association between climate factors and dengue fever. We aimed to investigate the association between climatic factors and dengue fever in Asuncion. Cumulative dengue cases from January 2014 to December 2020 were extracted weekly, and new cases and incidence rates of dengue fever were calculated. Climate factor data were aggregated weekly, associations between dengue cases and climate factors were analyzed, and variables were selected to construct our model. A generalized additive model was used, and the best model was selected based on Akaike information criteria. Piecewise regression analyses were performed for non-linear climate factors. Wind and relative humidity were negatively associated with dengue cases, and minimum temperature was positively associated with dengue cases when the temperature was less than 21.3 °C and negatively associated with dengue when greater than 21.3 °C. Additional studies on dengue fever in Asuncion and other cities are needed to better understand dengue fever.