Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Targeting Gut Microbiota in Cancer Cachexia: Towards New Treatment Options

Cancer cachexia is a complex multifactorial syndrome whose hallmarks are weight loss due to the wasting of muscle tissue with or without the loss of adipose tissue, anorexia, systemic inflammation, and multi-organ metabolic alterations, which negatively impact patients’ response to anticancer treatments, quality of life, and overall survival. Despite its clinical relevance, cancer cachexia often remains an underestimated complication due to the lack of rigorous diagnostic and therapeutic pathways. A number of studies have shown alterations in gut microbiota diversity and composition in association with cancer cachexia markers and symptoms, thus supporting a central role for dysbiosis in the pathogenesis of this syndrome. Different tools of microbiota manipulation, including probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, and fecal microbiota transplantation, have been investigated, demonstrating encouraging improvements in cachexia outcomes. Albeit pioneering, these studies pave the way for future research with the aim of exploring the role of gut microbiota in cancer cachexia more deeply and setting up effective microbiota-targeting interventions to be translated into clinical practice.
Safe Zone to Avoid Pneumothorax in a CT-Guided Lung Biopsy

Pneumothorax is one of the most frequent complications of computed tomography (CT)-guided lung biopsies. We aim to identify the safe zone of the needle–pleura angle during a CT-guided lung biopsy. Fifty-two patients underwent CT-guided lung biopsies between January 2020 and September 2022 (27 males, 25 females, median age 70 years). Right and left needle angles were measured and correlated to the incidence of pneumothorax. The minimum delta (δmin) was calculated as the absolute value of the difference between a 90° angle and the right and left angles. t-test p-values for δmin were conducted. We recorded 29 patients with pneumothorax, including intraprocedural and transient, postprocedural with minimal symptoms, or postprocedural requiring a chest tube insertion. Thirty-two patients had a δmin ≥ 10°, while 20 had a δmin < 10°. Of the patients with a δmin < 10°, 30% experienced pneumothorax compared to 71.8% in patients with δmin ≥ 10° (p = 0.0023). The study results show that as the needle’s angle deviates from the perpendicular, with an absolute value of more than 10°, the likelihood of pneumothorax increases significantly. A needle–pleura angle between 80° and 100° gives the operator a safe zone to reduce the risk of pneumothorax.
Numerical analysis of piled rafts

SUMMARY An approximate numerical method for the analysis of piled raft foundations is presented. The raft is modelled as a thin plate and the piles as interacting non-linear springs. Both the raft and the piles are interacting with the soil which is modelled as an elastic layer. Two sources of non-linearity are accounted for: (i) the unilateral contact at the raft—soil interface and (ii) the non-linear load—settlement relationship of the piles. Both theoretical solutions and experimental results are used to verify that, despite the approximations involved, the proposed method of analysis can provide satisfactory solutions in both linear and non-linear range. ( 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Risk of COVID-19 Infection After Full Immunization in Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease on Treatment: A Research Network Analysis

Background: Acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is an issue in treating patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) due to concerns for infection risk and poor post-vaccination antibody response. We examined the potential impact of IBD treatments on SARS-CoV-2 infection rates after full immunization against COVID-19. Methods: Patients who received vaccines between January 2020 and July 2021 were identified. The post-immunization Covid-19 infection rate at 3 and 6 months was assessed in IBD patients receiving treatment. The infection rates were compared to patients without IBD. Results: The total number of IBD patients was 143,248; of those (n=9405), 6.6% were fully vaccinated. In IBD patients taking biologic agents/small molecules, no difference in Covid-19 infection rate was found at 3 (1.3% vs. 0.97%, p=0.30) and 6 months (2.2% vs. 1.7%, p=0.19) when compared to non-IBD patients. No significant difference in Covid-19 infection rate was found among patients receiving systemic steroids at 3 (1.6% vs. 1.6%, p=1) and 6 months (2.6% vs. 2.9%, p=0.50) between the IBD and non-IBD cohorts. Conclusions: The COVID-19 immunization rate is suboptimal among IBD patients (6.6%). Vaccination in this cohort is under-utilized and should be encouraged by all healthcare providers.
Graphene Oxide Decreases Pro-Inflammatory Proteins Production in Skeletal Muscle Cells Exposed to SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein

Aim The experiments aimed to document the presence of the ACE2 receptor on human muscle cells and the effects of the interaction of these cells with the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in terms of induction of pro-inflammatory proteins, as well as to assess the possibility of reducing the pool of these proteins with the use of graphene oxide (GO) flakes. Methods Human Skeletal Myoblast (HSkM), purchased from Gibco were maintained in standard condition according to the manufacturer’s instruction. The cells were divided into 4 groups; 1. C-control, 2. S-with addition of spike protein, 3. GO-with the addition of graphene oxide, 4. GO-S-with addition of GO followed by the addition of S protein. Protein S (PX-COV-P049) was purchased from ProteoGenix (France). GO was obtained from Advanced Graphene Products (Zielona Gora, Poland). The influence of all the factors on the morphology of cells was investigated using light and confocal microscopy. ACE2 protein expression on muscle cells was visualized and 40 pro-inflammatory cytokines were investigated using the membrane antibody array method. The protein profile of the lysate of cells from individual groups was also analyzed by mass spectrometry. Conclusion The experiments confirmed the presence of the ACE2 receptor in human skeletal muscle cells. It has also been documented that the SARS-CoV-2 virus spike protein influences the activation of selected pro-inflammatory proteins that promote cytokine storm and oxidative stress in muscle cells. The use of low levels of graphene oxide does not adversely affect muscle cells, reducing the levels of most proteins, including pro-inflammatory proteins. It can be assumed that GO may support anti-inflammatory therapy in muscles by scavenging proteins that activate cytokine storm.
Dynamic MRI of the Mesenchymal Stem Cells Distribution during Intravenous Transplantation in a Rat Model of Ischemic Stroke

Systemic transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) is a promising approach for the treatment of ischemia-associated disorders, including stroke. However, exact mechanisms underlying its beneficial effects are still debated. In this respect, studies of the transplanted cells distribution and homing are indispensable. We proposed an MRI protocol which allowed us to estimate the dynamic distribution of single superparamagnetic iron oxide labeled MSCs in live ischemic rat brain during intravenous transplantation after the transient middle cerebral artery occlusion. Additionally, we evaluated therapeutic efficacy of cell therapy in this rat stroke model. According to the dynamic MRI data, limited numbers of MSCs accumulated diffusely in the brain vessels starting at the 7th minute from the onset of infusion, reached its maximum by 29 min, and gradually eliminated from cerebral circulation during 24 h. Despite low numbers of cells entering brain blood flow and their short-term engraftment, MSCs transplantation induced long lasting improvement of the neurological deficit, but without acceleration of the stroke volume reduction compared to the control animals during 14 post-transplantation days. Taken together, these findings indicate that MSCs convey their positive action by triggering certain paracrine mechanisms or cell–cell interactions or invoking direct long-lasting effects on brain vessels.
Rarita-Schwinger field in non-abelian Klein-Kaluza theories

The author deals with 3/2-spinor fields in the framework of the non-abelian Klein-Kaluza theory. He introduces a dimensional reduction procedure for a 3/2-spinor field and a generalisation of the minimal coupling scheme. He gets dipole electric moments for a 3/2-spin particle of value 10-31 cm and PC breaking for a gauge group G with odd parameters. Reflections in higher (additional) dimensions were proposed as a conjugation of 'colour' charges connected with Yang-Mills fields. His approach avoids the Velo-Zwanziger paradox (acausal propagation in an external gauge field).
Numerical simulation of a dual-branch laser/amplifier switch based on a thyristor-like structure

We present stationary simulations of a dual-branch heterostructure laser/optical-amplifier switch. The simulations of the thyristor-like structure show that the state of each anode branch can be maintained and controlled by small gate currents between ON and OFF. The switching approach employed here exhibits an extinction ratio of about 30 dB between the ON- and OFF-branch currents, with nearly symmetric rise and fall times of 5.1 and 6.1 ns, respectively. The device can be utilized as either a dual-branch laser or as an optical-amplifier space-division switch, e.g., in 2/spl times/2 switch matrices.
Drag coefficient of a rigid spherical particle in a near-critical binary fluid mixture, beyond the regime of the Gaussian model

The drag coefficient of a rigid spherical particle deviates from Stokes law when it is put into a near-critical fluid mixture in the homogeneous phase with the critical composition. The deviation ($\unicode[STIX]{x0394}\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FE}_{d}$) is experimentally shown to depend approximately linearly on the correlation length of the composition fluctuation far from the particle ($\unicode[STIX]{x1D709}_{\infty }$), and is suggested to be caused by the preferential adsorption between one component and the particle surface. In contrast, the dependence was shown to be much steeper in the previous theoretical studies based on the Gaussian free-energy density. In the vicinity of the particle, especially when the adsorption of the preferred component makes the composition strongly off-critical, the correlation length becomes very small as compared with $\unicode[STIX]{x1D709}_{\infty }$. This spatial inhomogeneity, not considered in the previous theoretical studies, can influence the dependence of $\unicode[STIX]{x0394}\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FE}_{d}$ on $\unicode[STIX]{x1D709}_{\infty }$. To examine this possibility, we here apply a renormalized local functional theory, describing the preferential adsorption in terms of the surface field. This theory was previously proposed to explain the interaction of walls immersed in a (near-)critical binary fluid mixture. The free-energy density in this theory, coarse-grained up to the local correlation length, has a very complicated dependence on the order parameter, as compared with the Gaussian free-energy density. Still, a concise expression of the drag coefficient, which was derived in one of the previous theoretical studies, turns out to be valid in the present formulation. We show that, as $\unicode[STIX]{x1D709}_{\infty }$ becomes larger, the dependence of $\unicode[STIX]{x0394}\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FE}_{d}$ on $\unicode[STIX]{x1D709}_{\infty }$ becomes distinctly gradual and close to the linear dependence.
Optical transitions in InxGa1−xN alloys grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

We present the results of optical studies of InxGa1−xN alloys (0<x<0.2) grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition on top of thick GaN epitaxial layers with sapphire as substrates. Photoluminescence (PL) and photoreflectance measurements were performed at various temperatures to determine the band gap and its variation as a function of temperature for samples with different indium concentrations. Carrier recombination dynamics in the alloy samples were studied using time‐resolved luminescence spectroscopy. While the measured decay time for the alloy near‐band‐edge PL emissions was observed to be generally around a few hundred picoseconds at 10 K, it was found that the decay time decreased rapidly as the sample temperatures increased. This indicates a strong influence of temperature on the processes of trapping and recombination of excited carriers at impurities and defects in the InGaN alloys.
Energy loss of 1-50 keV H, He, C, N, O, Ne, and Ar ions transmitted through thin carbon foils

Thin foils are used extensively in space plasma spectrometers, for example, for generation of a coincidence measurement via secondary electron emission in time-of-flight mass spectrometers and charge conversion of energetic neutral atoms (ENAs) in ENA imagers. An ion or neutral atom passing through the carbon foil experiences energy loss and straggling that can degrade the energy resolution or mass resolution. These effects need to be quantified in order to permit efficient instrument development and modeling. We present measurements of energy loss and energy loss straggling for H, He, C, N, O, Ne, and Ar ions between 1 and 50keV passing through carbon foils of different thicknesses (nominally between 0.5 and 3.0μg∕cm2). We derive empirical relationships for the energy loss and energy loss straggling as a function of foil thickness, ion species, and ion energy. In particular, below ∼10keV the energy loss of hydrogen seems to vary with foil thickness and the energy loss straggling seems to vary with the sq.
Brain Tumor Classification Using Meta-Heuristic Optimized Convolutional Neural Networks

The field of medical image processing plays a significant role in brain tumor classification. The survival rate of patients can be increased by diagnosing the tumor at an early stage. Several automatic systems have been developed to perform the tumor recognition process. However, the existing systems could be more efficient in identifying the exact tumor region and hidden edge details with minimum computation complexity. The Harris Hawks optimized convolution network (HHOCNN) is used in this work to resolve these issues. The brain magnetic resonance (MR) images are pre-processed, and the noisy pixels are eliminated to minimize the false tumor recognition rate. Then, the candidate region process is applied to identify the tumor region. The candidate region method investigates the boundary regions with the help of the line segments concept, which reduces the loss of hidden edge details. Various features are extracted from the segmented region, which is classified by applying a convolutional neural network (CNN). The CNN computes the exact region of the tumor with fault tolerance. The proposed HHOCNN system was implemented using MATLAB, and performance was evaluated using pixel accuracy, error rate, accuracy, specificity, and sensitivity metrics. The nature-inspired Harris Hawks optimization algorithm minimizes the misclassification error rate and improves the overall tumor recognition accuracy to 98% achieved on the Kaggle dataset.
Infill sampling criteria for surrogate-based optimization with constraint handling

This article discusses the benefits of different infill sampling criteria used in surrogate-based constrained global optimization. A new method which selects multiple updates based on Pareto optimal solutions is introduced showing improvements over a number of existing methods. The construction of surrogates (also known as meta-models or response surface models) involves the selection of a limited number of designs which are analysed using the original expensive functions. A typical approach involves two stages. First the surrogate is built using an initial sampling plan; the second stage updates the model using an infill sampling criterion to select further designs that offer improvement. Selecting multiple update points at each iteration, allowing distribution of the expensive function evaluations on several processors offers large potential for accelerating the overall optimization process. This article provides a comparison between different infill sampling criteria suitable for selecting multiple update points in the presence of constraints.
Extended Ackermann formula for multivariable control systems

The matrix Cayley-Hamilton theorem is first derived to show that Ackermann's formula for the pole-placement problem of SISO systems can be extended to the case of a class of MIMO systems. Moreover, the extended Ackermann formula newly developed by the authors is employed for fast determination of the desired feedback gain matrix for a general MIMO system with an appropriate artificial input. The proposed method will enhance the application of state-space pole-placement concepts to a general class of multivariable control systems.
Distribution functions of extreme sea waves and river discharges

Some of the important elements to be considered by the designer in the field of water defenses and hydraulic structures include the determination of the maximum environmental loads such as maximum wave height, maximum water level and maximum river discharge at locations of interest. These maxima can be estimated by various statistical methods based on observations. The main point of interest is the behaviour of each method for predicting these extrema and its deviation from the true value. An overview of statistical methods is given to determine the extreme values of river and sea related variables. The method of Regional Frequency Analysis (RFA) is proposed to predict the occurrence probabilities of these extrema. The RFA intends to extend the dataset by pooling the data of neighboring locations and establishes the regional growth curve of a so-called “homogenous region”. An important aspect is the formation of the homogeneous regions because only for those regions data can be pooled. Statistical methods will also be presented to derive homogeneous clusters. Applications include the prediction of extreme river discharges in Northwest and Central Europe and extreme waves along the Dutch North Sea coasts.
DES Validations of Cavity Acoustics over the Subsonic to Supersonic Range

The present work follows on from a successful validation study into the use of 3D CFD with advanced turbulence modeling to predict narrowband and broadband flow noise in a rectangular cavity (L/D=5,W/D=1) at M=0.85. In the present study, this body of work is extended in three ways: first, from the transonic case to a range of flow speeds, from subsonic through to supersonic, M=0.6 to 1.35. Secondly, comparison is made between three DES variants; two of which are frequently referenced in the literature, namely SpalartAllmaras and k-ω-SST, and our own variant based on the standard k-e model as used in the previous work. Thirdly, we reduce uncertainties due to mesh and discretisation scheme dependence by comparing results from coarse and fine meshes, and blended discretisation schemes. The Mach number sweep predictions are then compared with the M219 cavity measured point spectra along the cavity ceiling, and RMS pressure along its length. The results are in good agreement with the measurements. Nomenclature L, D, W = Length, Depth, Width cavity dimensions (inches) M = Mach Number (dimensionless)
A Novel Measure of Cardiopulmonary Coupling During Sleep Based on the Synchrosqueezing Transform Algorithm

Objective: This paper presents a novel method to quantify cardiopulmonary dynamics for automatic sleep apnea detection by integrating the synchrosqueezing transform (SST) algorithm with the standard cardiopulmonary coupling (CPC) method. Methods: Simulated data were designed to validate the reliability of the proposed method, with varying levels of signal bandwidth and noise contamination. Real data were collected from the Physionet sleep apnea database, consisting of 70 single-lead ECGs with expert-labeled apnea annotations on a minute-by-minute basis. Three different signal processing techniques applied to sinus interbeat interval and respiratory time series include short-time Fourier transform, continuous Wavelet transform, and synchrosqueezing transform, respectively. Subsequently, the CPC index was computed to construct sleep spectrograms. Features derived from such spectrogram were used as input to five machine- learning-based classifiers including decision trees, support vector machines, k-nearest neighbors, etc. Results: The simulation results showed that the SST-CPC method is robust to both noise level and signal bandwidth, outperforming Fourier-based and Wavelet-based approaches. Meanwhile, the SST-CPC spectrogram exhibited relatively explicit temporal-frequency biomarkers compared with the rest. Furthermore, by integrating SST-CPC features with common-used heart rate and respiratory features, accuracies for per-minute apnea detection improved from 72% to 83%, validating the added value of CPC biomarkers in sleep apnea detection. Conclusion: The SST-CPC method improves the accuracy of automatic sleep apnea detection and presents comparable performances with those automated algorithms reported in the literature. Significance: The proposed SST-CPC method enhances sleep diagnostic capabilities, and may serve as a complementary tool to the routine diagnosis of sleep respiratory events.
The status of Peripantostylops and Othnielmarshia (Mammalia: Notoungulata: Henricosborniidae) from the early-middle Eocene of Patagonia (Argentina)

ABSTRACT The Vacan fauna was defined by the fossil mammalian content of the Vacan Member (Sarmiento Formation) at Cañadón Vaca fossil locality (Chubut Province, Argentina), although several other local faunas from nearby areas (e.g. Río Chico oeste) were also attributed to the Vacan age estimated ca. 45–42 Ma time interval. This fauna contains poorly understood native South American ungulates, such as the Henricosborniidae. This group includes Henricosbornia, Peripantostylops, Othnielmarshia, Simpsonotus, Orome, and Nanolophodon, but both its definition and phylogenetic relationships remain unclear. In particular, Othnielmarshia and Peripantostylops were established as guide taxa of the Vacan fauna, but their knowledge has remained obscure since more than 50 years. The re-study of the Ameghino’s collection and the specimens collected by the Scarritt Pocket Expeditions in Cañadón Vaca and other nearby localities allows us to 1) provide an update on the systematic status of Othnielmarshia and Peripantostylops; 2) emend their diagnoses; 3) establish comparisons with other related taxa from the same period, proposing synonymies; and 4) recognise both taxa in several local faunas from the Sarmiento and Las Flores formations. We also highlight the variability in certain controversial characters of henricosborniids, which should be evaluated for the definition of the group.