Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Highly Sensitive Pressure Sensor Based on Bioinspired Porous Structure for Real‐Time Tactile Sensing

A flexible pressure sensor with high performances is one of the promising candidates for achieving electronic skins (E‐skin) related to various applications such as wearable devices, health monitoring systems, and artificial robot arms. The sensitive response for external mechanical stimulation is fundamentally required to develop the E‐skin which imitates the function of human skin. The performance of capacitive pressure sensors can be improved using morphologies and structures occurring in nature. In this work, highly sensitive capacitive pressure sensors based on a porous structure of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) thin film, inspired on the natural multilayered porous structures seen in mushrooms, diatoms, and spongia offilinalis, have been developed and evaluated. A bioinspired porous dielectric layer is used, resulting in high‐performance pressure sensors with high sensitivity (0.63 kPa−1), high stability over 10 000 cycles, fast response and relaxation times, and extremely low‐pressure detection of 2.42 Pa. Additionally, the resulting pressure sensors are demonstrated to fabricate multipixel arrays, thus achieving successful real‐time tactile sensing of various touch shapes. The developed high‐performance flexible pressure sensors may open new opportunities for innovative applications in advanced human‐machine interface systems, robotic sensory systems, and various wearable health monitoring devices.
The Essential Oil Derived from Perilla frutescens (L.) Britt. Attenuates Imiquimod–Induced Psoriasis-like Skin Lesions in BALB/c Mice

Psoriasis is reported to be a common chronic immune-mediated skin disease characterized by abnormal keratinocytes and cell proliferation. Perilla leaves are rich in essential oils, fatty acids, and flavonoids, which are recognized for their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. In this study, the alleviating effect of essential oil (PO) extracted from Perilla frutescens stems and leaves on imiquimod (IMQ) -induced psoriasis-like lesions in BALB/c mice were investigated. Results showed that PO ameliorated psoriasis-like lesions in vivo, reduced the expression of lymphocyte antigen 6 complex locus G6D (Ly-6G), which is a marker of neutrophil activation, and inhibited the expression of inflammatory factors interleukin 1 (IL-1), interleukin 6 (IL-6), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and cyclooxygenase 2 (COX2). In addition, PO significantly decreased the expression of cytokines such as IL-6, IL-1, interleukin 23 (IL-23), interleukin 17 (IL-17), and nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB). Furthermore, the down-regulation of mRNA levels of psoriasis-related pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-17, interleukin 22 (IL-22), IL-23, interferon-α (IFN-α), and Interferon-γ (IFN-γ) was observed with the treatment of PO. All results show a concentration dependence of PO, with low concentrations showing the best results. These results suggest that PO effectively alleviated psoriasis-like skin lesions and down-regulated inflammatory responses, which indicates that PO could potentially be used for further studies on inflammation-related skin diseases such as psoriasis and for the treatment of psoriasis such as psoriasis natural plant essential oil resources.
Systematic review: patient-reported outcome measures of fatigue in inflammatory bowel disease

ABSTRACT Background Fatigue is common in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients, however, there is no consensus on the optimal measurement tool to assess fatigue. Aim To identify standardised patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) of fatigue that are used in adults with IBD, to evaluate their psychometric properties, and recommend PROM(s) that are psychometrically robust and feasible for research and clinical use. Methods Eight databases were first searched from 2015–2020 to identify fatigue PROMs used in IBD clinical research. Studies on each PROM’s psychometric properties were then searched in MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, and PsycINFO from inception to September 2020. The study quality, psychometric robustness of the PROMs, and quality of evidence were evaluated following the Consensus-based Standards for the Selection of Health Measurement Instruments guideline. Results The first search included 111 articles and identified 16 PROMs. The second search identified 9 articles on psychometric properties for 8 PROMs only. Content validity (with high quality evidence) was demonstrated only for the IBD-Fatigue scale (IBD-F) (English). All 8 PROMs demonstrated construct validity (with moderate to high quality evidence) and 5 PROMs demonstrated reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient: 0.65–0.98; with very low to low quality evidence). Responsiveness (with high quality evidence) and minimal clinically important changes were only demonstrated in the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue (FACIT-F). Evidence on content validity, structural validity, cross-cultural validity, internal consistency, and responsiveness of PROMs was lacking for most PROMs. Conclusion The IBD-F(English) is recommended for research and clinical use. Further research is required to establish responsiveness and minimal clinically important change.
The Advent of Omics Sciences in Clinical Trials of Motor Neuron Diseases

The “omics revolution” has totally changed the scientific research approach and is contributing to the development of personalized therapies. In motor neuron diseases (MNDs), a set of complex, multifactorial, late-onset and chronic neurodegenerative diseases, the use of multi-omics approaches in clinical trials is providing new opportunities to stratify patients and develop target therapies. To show how omics science is gaining momentum in MNDs, in this work, we review the interventional clinical trials for MNDs based on the application of omics sciences. We analyze a total of 62 clinical trials listed in the ClinicalTrials database where different omics approaches have been applied in an initial phase, for diagnosis or patient selection, or in subsequent stages to cluster subjects, identify molecular signatures or evaluate drugs security or efficacy. The rise of omics sciences in clinical experimentation of MNDs is leading to an upheaval in their diagnosis and therapy that will require significant investments and means to ensure the correct and rapid evolution of personalized medicine.
Oil Crops and Social Conflict: Evidence From Indonesia

When do agricultural transformations impact social stability? Cash crops are typically associated with economic prosperity and social peace. I argue agricultural booms may spur violent conflict over resource allocation by pitting would-be producers against incumbent landowners when the gains from production are concentrated and the negative externalities are diffuse. I study the rapid expansion of oil palm in Indonesia, a growingly important crop in the global economy. I find when oil palm grows more valuable and expands within producing districts, violent resource conflicts increase. The positive relationship does not exist for other cash crops, nor other types of conflict, and is moderated by the presence of sustainability certified processing mills. The results connect commodity shocks to non-state violence over resources, and suggest land use change is an important mechanism connecting agricultural booms to social conflict.
Deficits in Acoustic Startle Reactivity and Auditory Temporal Processing after Traumatic Brain Injury

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) exacts significant neurological and financial costs on patients and their families. In adult patients with moderate-to-severe TBI, central auditory impairments have been reported. These auditory impairments may interfere with language receptivity, as observed in children with developmental brain injury. Although rodent models of TBI have been widely used to examine behavioral outcomes, few studies have evaluated how TBI affects higher-order central auditory processing across a range of cue complexities. Here, auditory processing was assessed using a modified acoustic startle paradigm. We used a battery of progressively complex stimuli (single-tone, silent gaps in white noise, and frequency-modulated [FM] sweeps) in adult rats that received unilateral controlled cortical impact injury. TBI subjects showed significant reductions in acoustic startle absolute responses across nearly all stimuli, regardless of cue, duration of stimuli, or cue complexity. Despite this overall reduction of startle magnitudes in injured animals, the detection of single-tone stimuli was comparable between TBI and sham-injured subjects, indicating intact hearing after TBI. TBI subjects showed deficits in rapid gap (5 ms) and FM sweep (175 ms) detection, and, in contrast to shams, they did not improve on detecting silent gaps and FM sweeps across days of testing. Our findings provide evidence for both low-level (brainstem-mediated) and higher-order central auditory processing deficits in a rodent model of TBI, which parallel sensory impairments observed in TBI patients. The present findings support the use of modified pre-pule auditory detection paradigms to investigate clinically relevant processes in TBI.
Residual Effects of Glenohumeral Range of Motion, Strength, and Humeral Retroversion on Prior Overhead Athletes After Cessation of Sport

Background: Research has shown that repetitive stress from playing an overhead (OH) sport can cause musculoskeletal and osseous adaptations to occur on the dominant side. Additionally, there are limited data about the residual effects of these adaptations after the cessation of sports participation. Purpose: To investigate the effects of prior participation in an OH sport versus not participating in an OH sport on glenohumeral range of motion (ROM), isometric strength, and humeral retroversion (HR). Study Design: Cross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods: Forty-eight college-aged individuals participated. Participants were split into 2 groups: (1) individuals who previously participated in an OH sport (n = 20; age, 20.3 ± 1.1 years; height, 166.3 ± 15.27 cm; weight, 72.2 ± 13.5 kg) and (2) individuals who previously did not play an OH sport (n = 28; age, 20.6 ± 0.9 years; height, 168.8 ± 6.3 cm; weight, 68.1 ± 15.1 kg). After completing a health history questionnaire, the following were measured: side-to-side shoulder internal rotation (IR) and external rotation (ER) ROM via an inclinometer, isometric shoulder strength via a handheld dynamometer, and HR using an ultrasound imaging machine. A Mann-Whitney U test was used to determine group differences, and a Wilcoxon t test was used to analyze side-to-side differences within each group. Results: The Mann-Whitney U test revealed a statistically significant group difference for dominant shoulder ER ROM (U = 162.00, P = .014). Specifically, the prior OH group had significantly more ER than the control group. Within the prior OH group, testing revealed that athletes had significantly more HR (Z =–2.782, P = .005), ER ROM (Z =–1.979, P = .048), and ER isometric strength (Z =–2.763, P = .006) on their dominant than nondominant shoulder and significantly less IR ROM (Z =–3.099, P = .002) on their dominant than nondominant shoulder. Conclusion: Prior OH sports participation may have residual osseous and musculoskeletal effects that remain after cessation of the sport.
Using Constructed Wetlands to Remove Pathogenic Parasites and Fecal Coliforms from Wastewater in Dar es Salaam and Iringa, Tanzania

Wastewater treatment is a widely used health protection measure that can be applied to control the transmission of wastewater-related infectious diseases to communities exposed to wastewater. This study determined the efficiency of three full-scale constructed wetlands (CWs) in removing pathogenic parasites and fecal coliform (FC) bacteria from wastewater. Wastewater samples were collected from three CW systems located in the Dar es Salaam and Iringa regions of Tanzania. The modified Bailenger and modified Ziehl-Neelsen stain techniques were used to detect and quantify parasites. The membrane filtration method was used to detect and quantify FC bacteria. Data were analysed using IBM SPSS version 20. Helminth (Ascaris lumbricoides, hookworm, and Taenia spp.) eggs were completely removed by two CW systems. In all the systems, the removal of protozoa ranged from 99.8% to 100%. The mean concentrations of FCs in effluents ranged from 5 to 6 log units/100 mL. Effluents of all CW systems met the recommended parasitological quality requirements of the World Health Organization for the safe reuse of wastewater. FC effluents concentrations did not meet the local discharge standards of the Tanzania Bureau of Standards. Therefore, improvement to the CWs’ design, operation, and maintenance are required for the efficient removal of bacteria. Keywords: helminth, protozoa, fecal coliform, wastewater treatment, constructed wetland
Intentions of Students to Continue Using Virtual Desktop Infrastructure: Expectation Confirmation Model Perspective

This predictive correlational study investigated the extent to which the expectation confirmation model can predict the intention of students to continue using virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI). It also examined the relationships of satisfaction, perceived usefulness, and the confirmation level with the intention to continue using. The data were collected through an e-questionnaire in which 367 male and female students from the Institute of Public Administration (IPA) participated. They had previously used computer applications and software through the VDI for a number of their courses. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the hypotheses. The results indicated that satisfaction and perceived usefulness were statistically significant in predicting that the students intended to continue VDI use. The confirmation level indirectly predicted the students’ intention to continue using VDI through its effect on satisfaction and perceived usefulness. The findings suggest that it is important to improve learning experiences through VDI to raise students’ satisfaction due to its impact on their intention to continue using VDI. The study also recommends that more research be conducted in the field of VDI to explore other factors that explain and contribute to continued VDI use.
Stigma Reduction through Addiction and Naloxone Education

Abstract Decreasing stigma levels is critical for improving treatment access and outcomes for individuals with substance use disorder (SUD). This research evaluated the effectiveness of an educational session for students in criminal justice and psychology on the science of drug addiction and naloxone use in improving attitudes toward addiction, comfort using naloxone, and reducing stigma. Students attended a three-hour session that included education about SUD and treatment, speakers in recovery, and naloxone training. Post-educational intervention surveys revealed greater acceptance of the disease model of addiction, knowledge, and comfort using naloxone and reduced stigma. Educating students before they enter mental health and criminal justice professions could help increase addiction knowledge and reduce stigma among these professional groups.
Real-Time Multiple Pedestrian Tracking With Joint Detection and Embedding Deep Learning Model for Embedded Systems

This paper proposes an improvement to the multi-object tracking system framework based on the image inputs. By analyzing the role and performance of each block in the original multi-objects tracking system, the blocks of the original system are reconstructed to enhance the efficiency and yield a faster processing speed suiting the real-time applications. In the proposed method, the first two parts of the multi-object tracking system are merged into a single neural network designed for object detection and feature extraction. A new object association judgment method and JDE inspired prediction head are included in order to achieve a better and an outstanding association effect resulting in the overall improvement of the original system by 45.2%. The enhanced method is aimed at the application of smart roadside units and uses fixed-viewpoint image input to achieve multi-object tracking on embedded platforms. The proposed method is implemented on the NVIDIA Jetson AGX Xavier embedded platform. The NVIDIA TensorRT software development kit is used to accelerate the neural network. The overall performance of the proposed system yields better efficiency compared to that of the original SDE design and the overall computing performance achieve up to 14–26 images per second, making it ideal for the real-time smart roadside unit applications.
Comment on ‘Going with the flow: Experimental simulation of sediment transport from a foraminifera perspective’ by Ash‐Mor et al. (2022), Sedimentology, 69, 1231–1251

The study by Ash-Mor et al. (2022) discusses three main aspects: (i) the use of carbonate biota as sediment transport indicators linking the shallow-water environment with the adjacent slopes and basins; (ii) sediment sorting processes related to the size and shape of individual skeletal grains; and (iii) the impact of earthquakes on marine sedimentation patterns. This comment aims to evaluate part of the research presented in Ash-Mor et al. (2022), but also to review the results from the precursor study by Ash-Mor et al. (2017) discussing deposits from the same sedimentary setting.
Dyskerin Downregulation Can Induce ER Stress and Promote Autophagy via AKT-mTOR Signaling Deregulation

Dyskerin is an evolutionarily conserved nucleolar protein implicated in a wide range of fundamental biological roles, including telomere maintenance and ribosome biogenesis. Germline mutations of DKC1, the human gene encoding dyskerin, cause the hereditary disorders known as X-linked dyskeratosis congenita (X-DC). Moreover, dyskerin is upregulated in several cancers. Due to the pleiotropic functions of dyskerin, the X-DC clinical features overlap with those of both telomeropathies and ribosomopathies. In this paper, we evaluate the telomerase-independent effects of dyskerin depletion on cellular physiology by using inducible DCK1 knockdown. This system allows the downregulation of DKC1 expression within a short timeframe. We report that, in these cellular systems, dyskerin depletion induces the accumulation of unfolded/misfolded proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum, which in turn induces the activation of the PERK branch of the unfolded protein response. We also demonstrate that the PERK-eIF2a-ATF4-CHOP signaling pathway, activated by dyskerin downregulation, triggers a functional autophagic flux through the inhibition of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway. By revealing a novel unpredicted connection between the loss of dyskerin, autophagy and UPR, our results establish a firm link between the lowering of dyskerin levels and the activation of the ER stress response, that plays a key role in the pathogenesis of several diseases.
Adoptive Immunotherapy With Engineered iNKT Cells to Target Cancer Cells and the Suppressive Microenvironment

Invariant Natural Killer T (iNKT) cells are T lymphocytes expressing a conserved semi-invariant TCR specific for lipid antigens (Ags) restricted for the monomorphic MHC class I-related molecule CD1d. iNKT cells infiltrate mouse and human tumors and play an important role in the immune surveillance against solid and hematological malignancies. Because of unique functional features, they are attractive platforms for adoptive cells immunotherapy of cancer compared to conventional T cells. iNKT cells can directly kill CD1d-expressing cancer cells, but also restrict immunosuppressive myelomonocytic populations in the tumor microenvironment (TME) via CD1d-cognate recognition, promoting anti-tumor responses irrespective of the CD1d expression by cancer cells. Moreover, iNKT cells can be adoptively transferred across MHC barriers without risk of alloreaction because CD1d molecules are identical in all individuals, in addition to their ability to suppress graft vs. host disease (GvHD) without impairing the anti-tumor responses. Within this functional framework, iNKT cells are successfully engineered to acquire a second antigen-specificity by expressing recombinant TCRs or Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) specific for tumor-associated antigens, enabling the direct targeting of antigen-expressing cancer cells, while maintaining their CD1d-dependent functions. These new evidences support the exploitation of iNKT cells for donor unrestricted, and possibly off the shelf, adoptive cell therapies enabling the concurrent targeting of cancer cells and suppressive microenvironment.
Bronchoscopic and Histologic Features of Patients with Lung Cancer

Introduction: Lung cancer refers to a group of diseases resulting from the abnormal growth of cells of the breathing tract, in particular of the lung tissue. Objectives: To determine the bronchoscopic and histologic features useful in the confirmation of the diagnosis of these malignant neoplasms. Methods: We carried out a descriptive and cross-sectional investigation of 346 patients with lung cancer treated in the Pulmonology Service of Dr. Juan Bruno Zayas Alfonso Teaching General Hospital in Santiago de Cuba during 2016 and 2017, to whom a bronchoscopy was performed. The variables included age, sex, diagnostic technique used, histopatologic diagnosis and most frequent localization. Results: Patients prevailed in the ages between 56 and 75 (66.1%), as well as the male sex (65.0%). The bronchial biopsy was the procedure that mostly revealed the presence of cancer (61.3%) and the most frequent histologic type was squamous cell carcinoma (67.8%). Conclusions: The importance of bronchoscopy and its diagnostic procedures was demonstrated to confirm the existence of the morbid process.
An Investigation of the Beta Anomaly in Emerging Markets: A South African Case

High-risk stocks tend to provide lower returns than low-risk stocks on a risk-adjusted basis. These results (referred to as the low-beta anomaly) run counter to theoretical expectations. This paper examines the beta anomaly in one of the largest emerging markets in Africa, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). It employs both time-series and cross-sectional econometric techniques to analyze the risk–return relationship implied by the CAPM, using data that span over 5 years and 220 companies. To check for robustness, the analysis period was extended to 10 years, and we also applied the Fama–French three-factor model. The findings suggest the existence of the beta anomaly and a negatively sloped SML, indicating that beta is not the only determinant of risk in the South African stock market. We also found positive beta–idiosyncratic volatility (IVOL) correlations. However, after controlling for IVOL and the adverse effects of COVID-19 for an extended study period, the beta anomaly disappeared.