Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
First Records of the Palearctic Species Trechus obtusus Erichson from the Appalachian Region of the Southeastern United States (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Trechinae: Trechini)

Abstract The Palearctic species Trechus obtusus Erichson is reported for the first time from eastern North America. Recent collections in Virginia and North Carolina (new state records) indicate the establishment of the species in the Appalachian region. DNA was extracted from six individuals, and the COI barcoding region was sequenced. All but one of the COI barcode haplotypes were identical to those of T. obtusus collected in western North America. No matches were found with available Palearctic sequences. Individuals of T. obtusus were collected from caves and forest leaf litter, both habitats used by native trechine species. Sampled Appalachian populations of T. obtusus appear to be small, with the exception of the population in Mebane Saltpeter Cave (Pulaski County, VA), which is large and included teneral individuals. Currently, there is no evidence that the species is displacing or otherwise negatively affecting native trechines. The species should be monitored carefully going forward, and targeted sampling of synanthropic habitats will be the best method for early detection.
The mediating effect of quality of life on alcohol consumption and the 10-year type 2 diabetes mellitus risk score in adult Korean men

Background: The rate of high-risk drinking, a major cause of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), is increasing among Korean men. This study descriptive survey whether quality of life (QoL) mediates the relationship between drinking and 10-year T2DM risk scores in adult Korean men. Methods: We further analyzed data from the 7th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 7th (KNHANES VII) from 2016 to 2018, selecting 4134 men aged 40–69 years who were not diagnosed with T2DM. The data were analyzed using complex sample regression; after analyzing the mediation. Results: In step 1 of the regression, the drinking rate significantly predicted QoL (β = 0.08, p < 0.001), and in step 2, the drinking rate significantly predicted the 10-year T2DM risk score (β = 0.08, p < 0.001). In step 3, the drinking rate (β = 0.08, p < 0.001) and QoL (β = –0.09, p < 0.001) were found to significantly predict the 10-year T2DM risk score, confirming that QoL partially mediates the 10-year T2DM risk score (z = –3.62, p < 0.001). QoL was found to mediate the relationship between the drinking rate and 10-year T2DM risk score. Conclusions: Sex-specific risk factors must be considered to reduce the incidence of T2DM, and measures to promote healthy drinking habits need to be implemented to reduce the incidence of T2DM in men. Furthermore, these findings highlight the need to develop and actively implement various practical intervention strategies to enhance QoL.
Discovery of Proteins Responsible for Resistance to Three Chemotherapy Drugs in Breast Cancer Cells Using Proteomics and Bioinformatics Analysis

Chemoresistance is a daunting obstacle to the effective treatment of breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. Although the mechanism of chemotherapy drug resistance has been explored broadly, the precise mechanism at the proteome level remains unclear. Especially, comparative studies between widely used anticancer drugs in breast cancer are very limited. In this study, we employed proteomics and bioinformatics approaches on chemoresistant breast cancer cell lines to understand the underlying resistance mechanisms that resulted from doxorubicin (DR), paclitaxel (PR), and tamoxifen (TAR). In total, 10,385 proteins were identified and quantified from three TMT 6-plex and one TMT 10-plex experiments. Bioinformatics analysis showed that Notch signaling, immune response, and protein re-localization processes were uniquely associated with DR, PR, and TAR resistance, respectively. In addition, proteomic signatures related to drug resistance were identified as potential targets of many FDA-approved drugs. Furthermore, we identified potential prognostic proteins with significant effects on overall survival. Representatively, PLXNB2 expression was associated with a highly significant increase in risk, and downregulation of ACOX3 was correlated with a worse overall survival rate. Consequently, our study provides new insights into the proteomic aspects of the distinct mechanisms underlying chemoresistance in breast cancer.
SARS-CoV-2 mRNA Vaccine-Induced Cellular and Humoral Immunity in Hemodialysis Patients

Background/Aims: Chronic kidney disease CKD patients on intermittent hemodialysis IHD are exposed to SARS-CoV-2 infection and carry a risk of developing severe symptoms. The aim of this study was to evaluate the humoral and cellular immunity induced by two doses of mRNA vaccines, the Pfizer-BioNTech (Comirnaty) COVID-19 Vaccine and the Moderna (mRNA-1273) COVID-19 vaccine. Patients and methods: The study included 281 patients from five dialysis centers in northern Poland. Within 2 weeks prior to the first dose of the vaccine, a blood sample was collected for an evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. Thirty to forty-five days after the second dose of the vaccine, a blood sample was taken to evaluate humoral and cellular response. Results: Patients with stage 5 CKD on IHD were characterized by a considerable SARS-CoV-2 vaccine-induced seroconversion rate. The strongest factors influencing the antibodies AB level after vaccination were a pre-vaccination history of SARS-CoV-2 infection, age, the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio NLR, neutrophil absolute count, and the hemoglobin level. Cellular immunity was higher in patients with a pre-vaccination history of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Cellular immunity depended on the albumin level. Positive cellular response to vaccination was a positive factor reducing all-cause mortality, except for COVID-19 mortality (no such deaths were reported during our follow-up). Cellular immunity and humoral immunity were positively mutually dependent. High levels of albumin and hemoglobin, low neutrophil count, and a reduced NLR, translated into better response to vaccination. Conclusions: Patients with stage 5 CKD on IHD were characterized by a considerable SARS-CoV-2 vaccine-induced seroconversion rate and a good rate of cellular immunity. The factors that change with exacerbating inflammation and malnutrition (albumin, hemoglobin, neutrophil count, the NLR) affected the efficacy of the vaccination.
The Impact of Sub-Millisecond Damage Fixation Kinetics on the In Vitro Sparing Effect at Ultra-High Dose Rate in UNIVERSE

The impact of the exact temporal pulse structure on the potential cell and tissue sparing of ultra-high dose-rate irradiation applied in FLASH studies has gained increasing attention. A previous version of our biophysical mechanistic model (UNIVERSE: UNIfied and VERSatile bio response Engine), based on the oxygen depletion hypothesis, has been extended in this work by considering oxygen-dependent damage fixation dynamics on the sub-milliseconds scale and introducing an explicit implementation of the temporal pulse structure. The model successfully reproduces in vitro experimental data on the fast kinetics of the oxygen effect in irradiated mammalian cells. The implemented changes result in a reduction in the assumed amount of oxygen depletion. Furthermore, its increase towards conventional dose-rates is parameterized based on experimental data from the literature. A recalculation of previous benchmarks shows that the model retains its predictive power, while the assumed amount of depleted oxygen approaches measured values. The updated UNIVERSE could be used to investigate the impact of different combinations of pulse structure parameters (e.g., dose per pulse, pulse frequency, number of pulses, etc.), thereby aiding the optimization of potential clinical application and the development of suitable accelerators.
The Impact of Information and Communication Technology Factors on the User Intention to Participate in the Sharing Economy

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of system and interaction quality, security factors, trust and perceived ease to use on the user intention to participate in the sharing economy. Information and communications technology (ICT) promotes the development of a sharing economy. Such influential factors include system and interaction quality, security factors, and ease of use of ICT. In this work, a questionnaire survey was administered with 318 sharing economy users with multiple hypotheses investigated via a structural equation model (SEM). Results show that system and interaction qualities have a significant positive impact on the perceived ease of use (PEU). Safety factors and group psychology also have significant positive effects on perceived trust (PT). Altogether, PEU and PT have significant effects on the users’ adoption of a sharing economy. The paper contributes to the sharing economy and consumer behaviour literature in a comprehensive perspective.
Is physician location sensitive to changes in patients’ financial responsibility?

ABSTRACT This study examines how changes to patients’ financial responsibility affect physicians’ behavior. This is achieved by examining a health insurance reform that changes patients’ relative financial responsibilities for a medical service that can be received at one of two locations. In particular, this study examines how physicians’ treatment location decisions change after the reform. This study finds that physicians who previously work across the two locations are increasingly observed working at the location that becomes cheaper for patients. Thus, physicians’ responsiveness to new policies may be an important lever by which certain demand-side health insurance reforms successfully operate.
A Positive Impact of an Observational Study on Breastfeeding Rates in Two Neonatal Intensive Care Units

We aimed to investigate whether the participation in an observational study on breastfeeding (Doal) modified breastfeeding outcomes in enrolling neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). This bi-centric before-and-after study included neonates who were admitted during a 4-month period before and a 4-month period after the implementation of Doal. Breastfeeding intention and breastfeeding rates at discharge were compared between the two periods. The association between inclusion in Doal and breastfeeding at discharge was assessed among the infants fulfilling the inclusion criteria of Doal. The present study included 655 neonates. After adjustments, both breastfeeding (aOR 1.21, 95%CI [1.1; 1.4], p = 0.001) and exclusive breastfeeding (aOR 1.8, 95%CI [1.4; 2.3], p < 0.001) at discharge increased in the period after. Breastfeeding intention was higher in one center in the period after (79%) compared to before (59%, p = 0.019). Compared to the period before, neonates who were not included in Doal in the period after had a lower chance to be breastfed at discharge, whereas those included were more frequently exclusively breastfed. The participation in an observational study on breastfeeding was associated with an increase in breastfeeding outcomes in enrolling neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). Patients who are not included deserve attention as they are at risk to be disadvantaged regarding breastfeeding success.
CLINICAL AND MICROBIOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF NON-SURGICAL TREATMENT OF CHRONIC PERIODONTITIS IN CONTROLLED AND UNCONTROLLED TYPE 2 DIABETIC PATIENTS

SUMMARY Chronic periodontitis is a common complication in diabetes. The aim of this study was to evaluate some clinical and microbiological parameters in controlled and uncontrolled type 2 diabetes mellitus (type 2 DM) patients compared to non-diabetic (NDM) individuals, as well as to assess the effect of non-surgical periodontal therapy on these parameters. The study was performed in 61 type 2 DM patients with periodontitis (group 1A: 29 patients having achieved good metabolic control, HbA1c <7%; group 1B: 32 patients with poor metabolic control, HbA1c ≥7%), and 31 NDM individuals suffering from periodontitis. Periodontal indices (plaque index, PI; gingival index, GI; probing pocket depth, PPD; and clinical attachment level, CAL) were measured and subgingival plaque samples were analyzed using polymerase chain reaction prior to treatment initiation and 3 months post-treatment. The results recorded on the majority of measured parameters indicated that differences in treatment success achieved in the three treatment groups were not statistically significant (∆PI p=0.646; ∆GI p=0.303; and ∆CAL p=0.233). Likewise, comparison of the effectiveness in microorganism reduction revealed no significant differences between DM groups and NDM patients. Therefore, study results supported the hypothesis that periodontal therapy outcome was unaffected by the level of glycemic control in patients with diabetes.
The impact of parental language ideology and family language policy on language shift and language maintenance: Bilingual perspective

This study aims to investigate parents� language ideology and family language policy (FLP) among Acehnese families that impact on language shift and language maintenance of Acehnese as a heritage language. The participants of the study were 10 female parents from one of the suburbs in Lhokseumawe City, who have young children from 2 years to 15 years old. The study employed a descriptive qualitative method. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews. The result of the study shows that the majority of parents� belief that Indonesian is significant for their children's education, has resulted in parents prioritizing Indonesian for their children as the dominant language to speak at home. Furthermore, the family language policy adopted by parents has an impact on language shift among Acehnese children to the Indonesian language. �Parents are reluctant to speak Acehnese to their children as a mother tongue and tend to abandon their heritage language. There are two significant points that are lost due to the consequence of parents� belief and there the family language policy to choose only Indonesian as a mother tongue to their children; first, it has led their children to grow as monolingual people that somehow is a big loss for the Acehnese children in order to gain various benefits culturally, cognitively, and communicatively from being bilinguals; second, Acehnese is under serious threat as Acehnese children ability in speaking their heritage language keep decreasing. Thus, strong efforts need to be done by all parties for Acehnese language preservation as a part of the unique identity of the Acehnese people.
Distributed optimal coordination across multiple decision-makers and its application to demand response in Smart

With the prevalence of coupling engineering systems such as multi-agent systems, wireless networks and the smart grid, solving optimization problems across multiple decision-makers emerges to be of theoretical significance and practical relevance. Resource allocation for systems with limited resources, energy consumption control for electricity users, and economic dispatch among a network of generators in smart grids are typical examples of multi-decision-maker optimization problems. These optimization problems are explored from the perspectives of non-cooperative games and networked optimization in this dissertation. The background, introduction and motivation for this topic are included in the first two chapters. The specific problems considered in the dissertation are summarized as follows. Energy consumption control among a network of electricity users in smart grids is considered. An aggregate game approach is proposed to solve it by noticing that the aggregate energy consumption is unknown to the electricity users during the energy consumption scheduling process. Average consensus based updating strategies are developed to search for the Nash equilibrium of the energy consumption game. A general energy consumption game with possibly multiple Nash equilibria is firstly explored. In this case, the Nash equilibrium is exponentially stable under the given strategy. In particular, energy consumption game (for heating ventilation and air conditioning systems) that admits a unique Nash equilibrium is then investigated. Based on the uniqueness of the Nash equilibrium, a non-local convergence result is Nanyang Technological University Singapore
Comparison between Areas of Bone Visualization Using Radiolucent Hybrid Fixator Frames and Graphically Simulated Metallic Frames: An Ex Vivo Study

The objective of this study is to evaluate the difference between the amount of bone visible with the superimposition of a radiolucent hybrid external fixator and a graphically simulated metallic frame. Eighteen frames were applied to eighteen bone specimens. The fracture area (FA), the radiolucent area (RLA) and the radiopaque area (ROA) inside the FA were calculated for each construct on both postoperative views. The ratio between the RLA and FA and between the ROA and FA was used to evaluate the amount of bone visible in the FA with a radiolucent and a radiopaque fixator, respectively. Finally, the areas of RLA and ROA were compared using the Wilcoxon test and Friedman test to evaluate the effect of the radiolucent material on the amount of bone visible. Differences were considered significant if p < 0.5. In every specimen p was <0.5. The amount of bone visible was significantly higher with the radiolucent frame compared to the radiopaque frame. Based on the results of this study, the use of radiolucent materials can be a valuable option for external fixation, in order to decrease the radiographic interference of the frame, allowing better assessment of fracture reduction and bone healing on postoperative radiographs.
The effect of seamount chain subduction and accretion

Seamount chains (oceanic plateaus, submarine ridges) are unique morphologic features on the seafloor, which resulted from the motion of the lithosphere over a convective plume. Seamount chains are being carried along by plate motions, which are eventually subducted beneath continental/oceanic plates or accreted in the accretionary complex, thus causing a series of effects in the convergent margin. In this paper, we briefly review the distribution and features of the typical modern seamount chains, including Hawaiian‐Emperor and Louisville seamount chains, Cocos, Ninetyeast and Caroline ridges, and Ogasawara Plateau, and mainly focus on the effects of seamount chains subduction and accretion. The geological effects mainly include the following: (1) deformation and tectonic erosion of the overriding plate; (2) flat‐slab subduction in the convergent margin; (3) growth of continental crust through time; (4) subduction initiation of plate tectonics; (5) generation of large earthquakes; (6) magmatism of the volcanic arc; and (7) formation of porphyry copper and gold deposits. The subduction of seamount chains resulted in similar effects in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB) which is one of the largest and longest‐lived accretionary orogens on Earth. However, there are still many aspects that need further improvements, such as identification of the seamounts in the geological record, and geodynamic effects of subducted seamount chains. A detailed study on these sides of the seamount chains will enable us to further understand the tectonic evolution and metallogenesis of the CAOB, especially in accretionary orogenesis, continental crust growth, and subduction initiation dynamics.
Beam-Membrane Coupled Piezoelectric Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducers with Enhanced Transmitting Sensitivity

Piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducers (PMUTs) are a promising alternative to conventional bulk piezoelectric ceramic-based ultrasonic transducers. However, the transmitting sensitivity of the reported PMUTs is far from satisfactory. In this paper, we report a beam-membrane coupled PMUT (BM-PMUT), which enhances the transmitting sensitivity via simultaneously increasing the acoustic emission areas and maintaining the comparable vibration amplitude. Experimental results show that the center and edge transmitting sensitivities of the BM-PMUT are 108.1 and 96 nm/V at 370 kHz, which are 109.9 and 49.6 nm/V at 677 kHz for the traditional PMUT (T-PMUT). Thus, the BM-PMUT realizes piston-like mode shapes and achieves around twofold improvement in the effective acoustic emission area relative to the traditional T-PMUT of the same size. Due to the larger acoustic emission areas and comparable vibration amplitudes, the normalized far-field sound pressure level of the BM-PMUT is 8.5 dB higher than that of the T-PMUT.
Water Sorption, Solubility, and Translucency of 3D-Printed Denture Base Resins

This study aimed to evaluate the water sorption, solubility, and translucency of 3D-printed denture base resins (NextDent, FormLabs, and Asiga), compare them to heat-polymerized acrylic denture base resins, and assess their performance under the effects of thermal cycling. A total of 80 acrylic disc specimens were used in the current study, categorized into four groups (n = 10); in one group, the samples were fabricated conventionally with a heat-polymerizing process (control), while the other three groups were fabricated digitally from different 3D-printed reins (NextDent, FormLabs, and Asiga). Specimens were fabricated according to the manufacturers’ recommendations and immersed in distilled water for 48 h at 37 °C. Data on water sorption, solubility, and translucency measurements (T1) were obtained. All the specimens were subjected to 5000 thermal cycles, and then the measures were repeated using the same method (T2). Data analysis was attained via ANOVA and the post hoc Tukey test (α = 0.05). The type of resin significantly affected the values of water sorption, solubility, and translucency (p < 0.001). The water sorption of 3D-printed resins was increased significantly in comparison to control with or without a thermal cycling effect. In terms of solubility, a significant increase in 3D-printed resins before thermocycling was observed; however, after thermocycling, Asiga had a significantly low value compared to the other groups (p < 0.001). Thermal cycling increased the water sorption and solubility of all tested materials. In comparison to control, the translucency of the 3D-printed resins was significantly decreased (p < 0.001). The translucency was significantly decreased per material in terms of the thermal cycling effect (before and after). NextDent showed significantly low translucency values (p < 0.001) compared to the other groups. All 3D-printed resin groups had higher water sorption and solubility and lower translucency values in comparison to the heat-polymerized resin group. Regardless of resin types, thermal cycling adversely affected all tested properties.