Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Laboratory study on cement admixed marine silt bricks

ABSTRACT For the purpose of efficient utilization of sediments dredged from harbor, a new method was proposed in this study. Marine silt bricks were made by mixing sediments with cement and gypsum, placing it in a cubic mold with 240 mm in length, 115 mm in width, and 53 mm in height, and curing for certain days. To investigate the effects of cement and initial water content of soil on the mechanical behavior of marine silt bricks, unconfined compressive and flexural strength tests were carried out. Given the same curing time and cement content, the higher the initial water content, the lower the compressive and flexural strength. After 60 days of curing, the compressive strength of marine silt bricks with cement content = 20% and water content = LL (liquid limit) reached approximately 5 MPa. The flexural strength was relatively low. The flexural strength of marine silt bricks with 20% cement and water content = LL was around 1.5 MPa. The compressive and flexural strength decreased with the increase of water/cement ratio. As for the curing time, longer curing time had a positive impact on the compressive strength. The ratio of flexural to compressive strength varied slightly in the range of 0.4–0.5.
ApoE Isoforms Inhibit Amyloid Aggregation of Proinflammatory Protein S100A9

Increasing evidence suggests that the calcium-binding and proinflammatory protein S100A9 is an important player in neuroinflammation-mediated Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The amyloid co-aggregation of S100A9 with amyloid-β (Aβ) is an important hallmark of this pathology. Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) is also known to be one of the important genetic risk factors of AD. ApoE primarily exists in three isoforms, ApoE2 (Cys112/Cys158), ApoE3 (Cys112/Arg158), and ApoE4 (Arg112/Arg158). Even though the difference lies in just two amino acid residues, ApoE isoforms produce differential effects on the neuroinflammation and activation of the microglial state in AD. Here, we aim to understand the effect of the ApoE isoforms on the amyloid aggregation of S100A9. We found that both ApoE3 and ApoE4 suppress the aggregation of S100A9 in a concentration-dependent manner, even at sub-stoichiometric ratios compared to S100A9. These interactions lead to a reduction in the quantity and length of S100A9 fibrils. The inhibitory effect is more pronounced if ApoE isoforms are added in the lipid-free state versus lipidated ApoE. We found that, upon prolonged incubation, S100A9 and ApoE form low molecular weight complexes with stochiometric ratios of 1:1 and 2:1, which remain stable under SDS-gel conditions. These complexes self-assemble also under the native conditions; however, their interactions are transient, as revealed by glutaraldehyde cross-linking experiments and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. MD simulation demonstrated that the lipid-binding C-terminal domain of ApoE and the second EF-hand calcium-binding motif of S100A9 are involved in these interactions. We found that amyloids of S100A9 are cytotoxic to neuroblastoma cells, and the presence of either ApoE isoforms does not change the level of their cytotoxicity. A significant inhibitory effect produced by both ApoE isoforms on S100A9 amyloid aggregation can modulate the amyloid-neuroinflammatory cascade in AD.
Metabolic Disorders in Liver Transplant Recipients: The State of the Art

Liver transplantation represents a chief therapeutic approach for acute liver failure, end-stage liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma. Despite witnessing advancements in short- and medium-term survival over recent decades, attributed to refinements in surgical techniques and immunosuppressive protocols, long-term mortality remains impervious to modification. Notably, cardiovascular disease emerges as a predominant cause of mortality among liver transplant recipients. This trend is accentuated by the increasing prominence of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis-related cirrhosis as an indication for liver transplantation. Moreover, the administration of immunosuppressive agents is intricately linked to the degradation of the metabolic profile in liver transplant recipients, thereby contributing to the initiation or exacerbation of cardiovascular risk factors, such as hypertension, diabetes, and dyslipidaemia. In addition, the post-liver transplantation period is marked by a decline in lifestyle quality and a failure to acknowledge the psychological distress experienced by patients throughout the transplant process. These factors can precipitate a deterioration in the patient’s metabolic profile, exacerbated by suboptimal therapeutic compliance. This narrative review aims to comprehensively address the principal metabolic disorders intricately associated with liver transplantation.
Specific GAG ratios in the diagnosis of mucopolysaccharidoses

Abstract Mucopolysaccharidoses (MPS) screening is tedious and still performed by analysis of total glycosaminoglycans (GAG) using 1,9‐dimethylmethylene blue (DMB) photometric assay, although false positive and negative tests have been reported. Analysis of differentiated GAGs have been pursued classically by gel electrophoresis or more recently by quantitative LC–MS assays. Secondary elevations of GAGs have been reported in urinary tract infections (UTI). In this manuscript, we describe the diagnostic accuracy of urinary GAG measurements by LC–MS for MPS typing in 68 untreated MPS and mucolipidosis (ML) patients, 183 controls and 153 UTI samples. We report age‐dependent reference values and cut‐offs for chondroitin sulfate (CS), dermatan sulfate (DS), heparan sulfate (HS) and keratan sulfate (KS) and specific GAG ratios. The use of HS/DS ratio in combination to GAG concentrations normalized to creatinine improves the diagnostic accuracy in MPS type I, II, VI and VII. In total 15 samples classified to the wrong MPS type could be correctly assigned using HS/DS ratio. Increased KS/HS ratio in addition to increased KS improves discrimination of MPS type IV by excluding false positives. Some samples of UTI patients showed elevation of specific GAGs, mainly CS, KS and KS/HS ratio and could be misclassified as MPS type IV. Finally, DMB photometric assay performed in MPS and ML samples reveal four false negative tests (sensitivity of 94%). In conclusion, specific GAG ratios in complement to quantitative GAG values obtained by LC–MS enhance discrimination of MPS types. Exclusion of patients with UTI improve diagnostic accuracy in MPS IV but not in other types.
A Decrease in Branched-Chain Amino Acids after a Competitive Male Professional Volleyball Game—A Metabolomic-Based Approach

A competitive volleyball game is a highly metabolic and physically demanding event for professional players. This study aimed to investigate whether a single game at the end of a preseason promotes changes in the biochemical markers of physical exercise responses and the metabolomic profile of professional volleyball players. This cross-sectional study included 13 male Brazilian professional volleyball players. Food intake, body composition, heart rate, physical movement variables, and blood biochemical indicators were evaluated. For non-target metabolomic analysis, serum samples were subjected to 500 MHz Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. Data analysis showed no significant difference in the biochemical indicators after the game (p > 0.05). The level of metabolites present in the groups of the main components (β-hydroxybutyrate, arginine/lysine, isoleucine, leucine, and valine) had decreased after the game. However, formic acid and histidine levels increased. Among the compounds not part of the main components, hypoxanthine and tyrosine increased, whereas low-density lipoprotein and very low-density lipoprotein levels decreased. After the game, the metabolomic profiles of players showed significant negative variations in essential amino acids (leucine, valine, and isoleucine). These decreases might be influenced by athlete diet and reduced glycogen storage due to lower carbohydrate intake, potentially impacting serum-essential amino acid levels via oxidation in skeletal muscle. The study provides insights for developing metabolic compensation strategies in athletes.
An evaluation of the ecohydrological separation hypothesis in a semiarid catchment

The ecohydrological separation hypothesis states that transpiration through plants and drainage to streams and groundwater are sourced from separate soil water pools, which possess distinct isotopic signatures. Evidence for ecohydrological separation has relied on the globally ubiquitous observation that plant water and draining water are isotopically distinct. We evaluated the ecohydrological separation hypothesis in the Dry Creek Experimental Watershed in the semiarid, snow‐dominated landscape of southwest Idaho, USA. We found that plant water is indeed isotopically distinct from streams and groundwater. However, we were unable to track those waters to subsurface soil waters, nor were we able to relate soil water mobility to isotopic composition. Soil waters of different mobility can be isotopically similar, and isotopic distinction in soil water can occur for reasons not related to mobility. We suggest that isotopic distinction between root‐absorbed and draining waters may not be an appropriate indicator of ecohydrological separation of soil waters, and that hydrologic explanations for such isotopic distinction may not be sufficient.
Multiprototype Relational Network for Few-Shot ALS Point Cloud Semantic Segmentation by Transferring Knowledge From Photogrammetric Point Clouds

Existing airborne laser scanning (ALS) point cloud semantic segmentation approaches are limited by their overreliances on sufficient point-wise annotations that further confine their generalization ability to new scenes. To overcome these problems, a novel three-stage multiprototype relational network (Thr-MPRNet) is proposed for few-shot ALS point cloud semantic segmentation by transferring knowledge from well-annotated photogrammetric point clouds. In MPRNet, a 3-D few-shot learning (FSL) structure containing a feature learner (F-L) and a relation learner (R-L) is built to learn meta-knowledge from multiple point-wise tasks, and a multiprototype generator is designed to represent the semantic distribution of point clouds that can dynamically adapt to large-scale scenarios. Then, to transfer knowledge across different domains, MPRNet is trained in a unified framework with three task-based learning stages. Prior knowledge is first meta-learned from the source photogrammetric point clouds and then transferred to novel target datasets with a few labeled ALS point clouds. Finally, the MPRNet can be flexibly generalized to the unlabeled target ALS point clouds without further retraining from scratch. In the experiments, the SensatUrban dataset is used as the source photogrammetric point clouds, and two ALS point cloud datasets (ISPRS and DALES) are used to evaluate the few-shot semantic segmentation ability of the proposed method. The experiments demonstrate that Thr-MPRNet obtains promising generalization performance on different target datasets. More importantly, it outperforms supervised networks with 10% labeled samples. In summary, the proposed method achieves state-of-the-art cross-domain semantic segmentation performance and greatly alleviates the dependence on ALS point cloud annotations.
Nonverbal cues to deception: insights from a mock crime scenario in a Chinese sample

Nonverbal behaviors could play a crucial role in detecting deception, yet existing studies on deception cues have largely centered on Western populations, predominantly university students, thus neglecting the influence of cultural and sample diversity. To address this gap, our study explored deception cues within an Asian cultural setting, utilizing a mock crime paradigm. Our sample comprised Chinese participants, including both men and women with various socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds. Our findings revealed that compared to truth tellers, liars exhibited heightened emotions and an increased cognitive load. Furthermore, liars showed a higher frequency of self-adaptors and a longer duration of gaze aversion. Our findings contribute to a more profound understanding of deception cues within Asian culture and have implications for practical fields such as criminal interrogation.
Optimization Strategies for the Modular Resource Construction of Art Gallery’s Exhibition Halls Based on Kansei Engineering

With the popularization of community’s micro-renewal and sustainability concept, the improvement of residents’ satisfaction and the reasonable allocation of resources have become the core elements in the effectiveness evaluation of community renewal. On the basis of fully satisfying the needs of users, building spatial forms through the emotional needs of users can effectively solve the problem of rational allocation of resources in community regeneration, so as to avoid the cost consumption of design trial and error. This paper explores the mapping relationships between residents’ emotional images and the spatial form of mobile exhibition halls in community’s art gallery under Kansei Engineering (KE). The aim is to validate the possibility of the above objectives in addressing the sustainability renewal of a community.First of all, relevant samples are collected and Web crawler technology is used to retrieve relevant Kansei words, and the most representative Kansei words relative to the samples in the exhibition hall are collected. Secondly, the data values corresponding to Kansei words are obtained by using Likert scale, and the Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) is used to cluster Kansei words to obtain seven most representative emotional semantic words, namely, natural, bright, diverse, simple, fun and sustainable. Moreover, in combination with principal component analysis (PCA), three factors structures are obtained, namely the sense of clearness, sense of lucidity and sense of symbiosis. Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) is used to get the index weight ranking of each factor structure. The weights, in descending order, are as follows: symbiosis at 0.59, lucidity at 0.33, and clearness at 0.09. Finally, the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) tool is used to map the emotional image of the user and the form of the exhibition hall’s components. This process culminates in the formulation of a comprehensive design solutions conprised of six components: background wall of no.3, vehicle placement of no.3, ceiling shape of no.4, lighting of no.4, corridor shape of no.1, front desk shape of no.2. Based on KE, assemblability and recyclable waste wood can, to a certain extent, the exhibition hall design model meets the emotional needs of residents in different communities through diversified exhibition hall assembly design. In addition, the material and assembly mode are also responsive to global sustainable development.
Obesity and chronic kidney disease: What specificity of this association and what epidemiological profile? A prospective study

Obesity is accompanied by chronic diseases including cardiometabolic diseases. Obesity is also an independent factor of renal risk that deserves to be taken into account. The aims of our work were to determine the prevalence of chronic kidney disease related to obesity independently of all other usual risk factors and to describe its epidemiological characteristics in our population. We conducted a prospective descriptive and analytic study over a period of 12 months in 38 patients over 18 years of age, with a BMI> 30 Kg / m² and without diabetes, hypertension, or other apparent cause chronic kidney disease, collected at the consulting service of the Military Hospital Avicenna of Marrakech, Morocco. The average age of our patients was 38 years with a female predominance (sex ratio (m/w) of 0.80). The average BMI was 35.35 kg / m². Dyslipidemia was found in 68.42% of patients, hyperuricemia in 18.42%, microalbuminuria in 13.15%, macroalbuminuria in 7.89% and hematuria in 2.6%. Glomerular hyperfiltration was present in 13.15% of cases and no patient had a GFR <60 ml / min / 1. 73m². The prevalence of chronic kidney disease among obese people in our population was 10.5%. Older obese patients with high BMI, hypertriglyceridemia, hypercholesterolemia, and hyper LDLemia were the most affected, with statistically significant differences between the 2 groups of patients with and without chronic kidney disease (P <0.05). Our study warn of the need for cost-effective and well-adapted prevention measures to reverse the growing epidemic of obesity in the world.
Dietary soybean β‐conglycinin suppresses growth performance and inconsistently triggers apoptosis in the intestine of juvenile grass carp (
 Ctenopharyngodon idella
 ) in association with ROS‐mediated MAPK signalling

The current study aimed to investigate the effects of dietary soybean beta-conglycinin on growth performance and intestine apoptosis in juvenile grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella). For fish fed with the 80 g beta-conglycinin/kg diet for 7 weeks, the specific growth rate and feed intake were decreased. In the proximal intestine, dietary beta-conglycinin did not induce DNA fragmentation, tended to decrease the reactive oxygen species (ROS) content, and decreased ROS-generating enzyme (NADPH oxidase [NOX]) activity. Subsequently, in the mid-intestine, dietary beta-conglycinin caused DNA fragmentation, tended to increase the ROS content, increased caspase-3, caspase-8 and caspase-9 activities, upregulated the mRNA levels of proapoptotic molecules (apoptotic protease-activating factor-1 [Apaf1] and Bcl-2-associated X protein [BAX]) and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)-related signal molecules (Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and p38 MAPK) and increased the protein levels of p38 MAPK and phospho-p38 MAPK. Moreover, in the distal intestine, dietary beta-conglycinin induced DNA fragmentation, elevated NOX activity and the ROS content and increased caspase-3, caspase-8 and caspase-9 activities, death ligand (TNF-alpha) mRNA expression level, and p38 MAPK and phospho-p38 MAPK protein levels. In summary, dietary soybean beta-conglycinin suppressed fish growth and inconsistently caused apoptosis among the different intestinal segments which was partially associated with ROS-mediated MAPK signalling.
Glacier‐based climate reconstructions for the last glacial–interglacial transition: Arthur's Pass, New Zealand (43°S)

Geological records of mountain glacier fluctuations provide useful evidence for tracing the magnitude and rate of past temperature change. In this study, we present air temperature reconstructions for the last glacial termination in New Zealand derived using snowline reconstructions and numerical glacier modelling. We target the Arthur's Pass moraines in the Otira River catchment, which have previously been dated to the Lateglacial using cosmogenic 10Be. Recalculation of these exposure ages using a locally calibrated 10Be production rate indicates that these moraines formed ca. 16–14 ka. Our glacier modelling experiments and snowline reconstructions exhibit good agreement and show that the Arthur's Pass moraines formed in a climate that was 2.2–3.5 °C colder than present. Combining our results with other, proximal glacier records shows that ice in this catchment retreated ca. 50 km from the coastal plain to the main divide during the interval 17–15 ka, in response to a temperature increase of at least ca. 3 °C. Over half of this retreat occurred after the glacier had withdrawn from an overdeepened basin. Thus, we conclude that temperature increase was the primary driver of widespread and rapid glacier retreat in New Zealand at the onset of the last glacial termination.
Energy expenditure, oxygen consumption, and heart rate while exercising on seven different indoor cardio machines at maximum and self-selected submaximal intensity

Objective One of the main objectives of practicing indoor cardiovascular exercise is to maximize caloric expenditure. This study aimed to compare energy expenditure (EE), oxygen consumption (VO2), and heart rate (HR) recorded in middle-aged adults while exercising on seven different indoor cardiovascular machines at self-selected maximal and submaximal intensity. Method Thirty recreational-active adult males (Age: 41.69 ± 4.64) performed 12-min bouts at RPE (Rate of perceived exertion) 17 and maximum intensity (MAX INT) on the following indoor cardio machines: Recumbent bike (r_BIKE), upright bike (u-BIKE), spin bike (s-BIKE), rowing machine (ROW), elliptical trainer (ELLIP), stair climber (STAIR), and treadmill (TMILL). Heart rate (HR) and oxygen consumption (VO2) were measured during exercise, whereas EE (energy expenditure) was calculated indirectly. Results Overall, TMILL induced the highest levels of EE, VO2, and HR, followed by STAIR, ELLIP, s_BIKE, u_BIKE, ROW, and r_BIKE. RPE was reliable across exercise modalities (r_BIKE, u-BIKE, s-BIKE, ROW, ELLIP, STAIR, and TMILL) and intensities (RPE 17 and MAX INT) for EE, HR, and VO2 measurements. Conclusion To maximize EE while performing indoor cardiovascular exercise for recreational active middle-aged male participants, the TMILL is the best option, followed by the STAIR and the ELLIP. The least recommended options are, respectively, s_BIKE, u_BIKE, ROW, and r_BIKE. Beyond caloric expenditure considerations, promoting exercises that participants genuinely enjoy can enhance adherence, fostering sustained health benefits. Furthermore, RPE is a reliable tool for assessing EE, VO2, and HR across different exercise modalities and intensities.
Auditory Profile-Based Hearing Aid Fitting: Self-Reported Benefit for First-Time Hearing Aid Users

Background: Although hearing aids (HAs) can compensate for reduced audibility, functional outcomes and benefits vary widely across individuals. As part of the Danish ‘Better hEAring Rehabilitation’ (BEAR) project, four distinct auditory profiles differing in terms of audiometric thresholds and supra-threshold hearing abilities were recently identified. Additionally, profile-specific HA-fitting strategies were proposed. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the self-reported benefit of these profile-based HA fittings in a group of new HA users. Methods: A total of 205 hearing-impaired older adults were recruited from two Danish university hospitals. Participants were randomly allocated to one of two treatment groups: (1) NAL-NL2 gain prescription combined with default advanced feature settings (‘reference fitting’) or (2) auditory profile-based fitting with tailored gain prescription and advanced feature settings (‘BEAR fitting’). Two months after treatment, the participants completed the benefit version of the short form of the Speech, Spatial, and Qualities of Hearing Scale (SSQ12-B) and the International Outcome Inventory for Hearing Aids (IOI-HA) questionnaire. Results: Overall, participants reported a clear benefit from HA treatment. However, no significant differences in the SSQ12-B or IOI-HA scores between the reference and BEAR fittings were found. Conclusion: First-time users experience clear benefits from HA treatment. Auditory profile-based HA fitting warrants further investigation.