Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nutritional Preconditioning in Cancer Treatment in Relation to DNA Damage and Aging

Dietary restriction (DR) is the most successful nutritional intervention for extending lifespan and preserving health in numerous species. Reducing food intake triggers a protective response that shifts energy resources from growth to maintenance and resilience mechanisms. This so-called survival response has been shown to particularly increase life- and health span and decrease DNA damage in DNA repair–deficient mice exhibiting accelerated aging. Accumulation of DNA damage is the main cause of aging, but also of cancer. Moreover, radiotherapies and most chemotherapies are based on damaging DNA, consistent with their ability to induce toxicity and accelerate aging. Since fasting and DR decrease DNA damage and its effects, nutritional preconditioning holds promise for improving (cancer) therapy and preventing short- and long-term side effects of anticancer treatments. This review provides an overview of the link between aging and cancer, highlights important preclinical studies applying such nutritional preconditioning, and summarizes the first clinical trials implementing nutritional preconditioning in cancer treatment.
From adhesion to wetting of a soft particle

Using a thermodynamical approach, we calculate the deformation of a spherical elastic particle placed on a rigid substrate, under zero external load, and including an ingredient of importance in soft matter: the interfacial tension of the cap. In a first part, we limit the study to small deformation. In contrast with previous studies, we obtain an expression for the energy that precisely contains the JKR and Young–Dupre asymptotic regimes, and which establishes a continuous bridge between them. In the second part, we consider the large deformation case, which is relevant for future comparison with numerical simulations and experiments on very soft materials. Using a fruitful analogy with fracture mechanics, we derive the exact energy of the problem and thus obtain the equilibrium state for any given choice of physical parameters.
Eco-environmental effects of urban expansion in Xinjiang and the corresponding mechanisms

ABSTRACT The Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is an ecologically fragile area in China where rapid urbanization might threaten the safety of the ecological environment. This study assessed the main driving factors of urban expansion in Xinjiang and their interactions based on the geodetector method. Acomprehensive model of the effects of urban land expansion on the ecological environment was then constructed and applied to Xinjiang from 1997 to 2017. Factors including local government expenditures, per-capita wages of urban residents, slope, gross domestic product, proportions of secondary and tertiary industries, and population had significant effects on urban land expansion. The socio-economic pressure index grew rapidly in the study area from 1997 to 2017 with large spatial differences, while the land-use status index decreased. The eco-environmental response index and the comprehensive ecological environmental index increased steadily during the study period. Economic development was conducive to improving the overall ecological environment. The complementary effects of socio-economic pressure, land-use status, and ecological environmental response reduced the spatial differences in the comprehensive ecological environmental index in Xinjiang during the study period.
Recurrent hybridization underlies the evolution of novelty in Gentiana (Gentianaceae) in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Abstract The Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) and adjacent areas are centres of diversity for several alpine groups. Although it is known that the QTP acted as a source area for diversification of the alpine genus Gentiana, the evolutionary processes underlying diversity in this genus, especially the formation of narrow endemics, are still poorly understood. Hybridization has been proposed as a driver of plant endemism in the QTP but few cases have been documented with genetic data. Here, we describe a new endemic species in Gentiana section Cruciata as G. hoae sp. nov., and explore its evolutionary history with complete plastid genomes and nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer sequence data. Genetic divergence within G. hoae ~3 million years ago was followed by postglacial expansion on the QTP, suggesting Pleistocene glaciations as a key factor shaping the population history of G. hoae. Furthermore, a mismatch between plastid and nuclear data suggest that G. hoae participated in historical hybridization, while population sequencing show this species continues to hybridize with the co-occurring congener G. straminea in three locations. Our results indicate that hybridization may be a common process in the evolution of Gentiana and may be widespread among recently diverged taxa of the QTP.
A study of high-dose As and BF2 implantations into SIMOX materials

Thin film, <0.2 mu m, SOI layers were implanted with high doses of As and BF2 to simulate actual source/drain formation of MOS devices. Electrical measurements and cross-sectional TEM (XTEM) were used to evaluate the degree of recrystallization achieved after furnace annealing BF2-implanted samples showed complete recrystallization and a high degree of activation for all examined conditions. XTEM pictures of As-implanted samples showed polycrystalline structures for higher energies; electrical measurements showed increasing sheet resistivity with increasing implantation energy. Arsenic implantation at elevated substrate temperature in order to recrystallize the SOI film during implantation was also studied. XTEM showed no polycrystals or defects, and measured sheet resistivities were comparable to bulk values as indicated by SUPREM3 simulations. The results of this study are useful when converting an existing NMOS or CMOS process to SIMOX substrates.
The Effect of Multiplicative Scatter Correction (MSC) and Linearity Improvement in NIR Spectroscopy

Near-infrared (NIR) reflectance spectra of five different food products were measured. The spectra were transformed by multiplicative scatter correction (MSC). Principal component regression (PCR) was performed, on both scatter-corrected and uncorrected spectra. Calibration and prediction were performed for four food constituents: protein, fat, water, and carbohydrates. All regressions gave lower prediction errors (7–68% improvement) by the use of MSC spectra than by the use of uncorrected absorbance spectra. One of these data sets was studied in more detail to clarify the effects of the MSC, by using PCR score, residual, and leverage plots. The improvement by using nonlinear regression methods is indicated.
Fluorescence Emission Derived from Dipicolinic Acid, its Sodium, and its Calcium Salts

Aqueous solutions of the calcium and sodium salts of dipicolinic acid (DPA) were shown to have weak fluorescence when excited at wavelengths near 300 nm, but no fluorescence was observed from DPA alone. Upon UV irradiation at 254 nm the fluorescence of all three forms increases dramatically. The emission spectrum of calcium-DPA (CaDPA) has a maximum at 406 nm with full width at half-maximum of 70 nm. Changes in the absorption spectrum of the irradiated solution and the fact that the changes neither in absorption nor in fluorescence reverse after several days in the dark indicate that a photochemical reaction has taken place. The shapes of the emission spectra for all three DPA forms were very close to identical for excitation wavelengths in the range of 270 to 310 nm and for UV irradiation up to three hours, suggesting that one particular photoproduct dominates in producing the enhanced fluorescence.
Psychotherapeutic Effect of Using Songs and Music for the Promotion of Basic Education Among Adult Learners: An Analysis

Various teaching methods and approaches have been researched and used in nonformal education, but the abstract technique of songs and music is uncommon. The peculiar characteristics of adult learners make teaching and learning to be complex. This study is experimental. Seventy-six (76) adult learners were purposefully selected and divided into two groups of thirty-eight (38) each. Group A was exposed to songs in both Nupe and English language over a period of time. Observation and narrative methods were used to study the effect of songs and music as a tool for the facilitating of learning among adults’ learners. The facilitators encouraged the learners to identify new words which were written separately on boards to spell and pronounce. Learners in Group B were exposed to the normal learning process of using primers to facilitate learning. At the end of one month, both groups were examined and evaluated. Data were analyzed using percentage. The results of the experiment showed that the learners in Group A exhibited more than 80.0% of success in assimilation as against Group B with 38% success when both were examined. 31 out of the 38 (81.5%) learners from Group A can identify and read fairly with little assistance while 14 learners from Group B (36.8%) can read in relation to music played and identification of words identified and written on board by the facilitator. Group A members were more enthusiastic to learn as they were involved in generating means of learning; they were able to identify words and produce sentences from the words written on the board. The study also showed that songs and music produce a psychotherapeutic effect that soothes the learning process and produce a positive outcome while teaching adult learners. The paper recommends the inclusion of local songs and music into the non-formal education curriculum. Also, facilitators should be more creative in the teaching and learning process of adult education.
Pengaruh Penambahan SPACE terhadap Karakteristik dan Stabilitas Gel Freeze Dried Amniotic Membrane Stem Cell-Metabolite Product

Pendahuluan : Sebagai organ terluas yang menyusun tubuh manusia, kulit menjadi salah satu lokasi penting dalam menghantarkan obat atau bahan aktif tertentu ke dalam tubuh manusia. Beberapa bahan aktif berbentuk makromolekul dengan berat molekul lebih dari 500 Da tidak dapat menembus stratum korneum sehingga membutuhkan bantuan penetration enhancer. SPACE ( Skin Penetrating and Cell Entering ) merupakan rangkaian molekul peptida berukuran kecil yang berpotensi bekerja sebagai enhancer dalam menghantarkan makromolekul dengan cara yang tidak invasif. Namun SPACE merupakan enhancer golongan baru sehingga efek penambahan SPACE terhadap karakteristik dan stabilitas fisik pada formulasi sediaan gel masih belum banyak diketahui. Tujuan : Penelitian kali ini bertujuan untuk mengevaluasi efek pemberian SPACE pada karakteristik dan stabilitas fisik sediaan gel freeze dried Amniotic Membrane Stem Cell-Metabolite Product . Metode : Karakteristik fisik sediaan gel freeze dried AMSC-MP dengan SPACE dievaluasi menggunakan parameter organoleptis (warna, bau, bentuk, tekstur), pH dan diameter sebar sediaan. Stabilitas fisik sediaan akan dievaluasi dengan menguji karakteristik fisik sediaan selama 30 hari penyimpanan. Hasil : Gel freeze dried Amniotic Membrane Stem Cell memiliki pH sekitar 6,1 dan diameter sebar sediaan sekitar 6,0 cm. Seluruh hasil pengujian karakteristik masih memenuhi rentang yang dipersyaratkan. Hasil uji karakteristik dianalisis menggunakan statistika metode ANOVA satu arah dan tidak menunjukkan adanya perbedaan bermakna antar formula. Semua formula F1, F2, F3 dan F4 stabil selama 30 hari penyimpanan. Kesimpulan : Penambahan SPACE tidak mempengaruhi karakteristik dan stabilitas fisik sediaan gel freeze dried Amniotic Membrane Stem Cell-Metabolite Product .
Estimation of hydrocarbon types in light gas oils and diesel fuels by ultraviolet absorption spectroscopy and multivariate calibration

Ultraviolet absorption spectra are used in conjunction with multivariate calibration methods to predict the percent content of saturates (61-99%), monoaromatics (1-34%), diaromatics (0-5%), and polyaromatics (0-1%) in light gas oil and diesel fuel samples. A total of 114 samples taken from three pilot plant studies between 1992 and 1994 were used to develop the calibration models. Supercritical fluid chromatography with flame ionization detection was employed as the reference method for quantifying hydrocarbon types. Several multivariate calibration methods (classical least squares, multiple linear regression, principal components regression (PCR), and partial least squares (PLS)) were examined. PCR and PLS gave the best overall performance, with root-mean-squared errors of prediction (absolute) of 0.9% (saturates), 0.8% (monoaromatics), 0.2% (diaromatics), and 0.05% (polyaromatics) based on 44 prediction samples. Relative errors (absolute × 100/range) for these same species were 2.4%, 2.4%, 3.2%, and 5.3.
Affective commitment, service quality and selected sub-dimensions of customer citizenship behaviour: a study of ride-hailing services

PurposeMarketing literature has made little progress on the connection between service quality and customer citizenship advocacy, helping and feedback sub-dimensions that may promote competitiveness. It is also unclear to what extent service quality may serve as an underlying motivation for explaining the relationship between affective commitment (a primary antecedent of customer citizenship) and the selected sub-dimensions. Consequently, the aim of the current research is to develop a customer citizenship behaviour model and address these matters in a peer-to-peer service context.Design/methodology/approachSurvey data were collected from 610 customers of a ride-hailing peer-to-peer service brand. Data analysis included structural equation modelling and bootstrapping.FindingsAffective commitment influences service quality. Service quality motivates customer citizenship behaviours directed towards the ride-hailing brand (feedback) and other customers (advocacy and helping). Service quality provides an indirect path for connecting affective commitment with the customer citizenship behaviours in varying degrees.Originality/valueThis study is the first to verify the relevance of all three customer citizenship behaviours in a single model as influenced by service quality. The current research is further a step forward in understanding the mediating role of service quality and its potential to ensure customers' feelings of attachment towards the brand are translated in citizenship actions. The findings are noteworthy, considering the varying service levels generally experienced in a peer-to-peer service environment. Peer-to-peer service brands may fall back on their emotional connection with customers to influence service judgements and ultimately benefit from customer citizenship behaviours.
What moves us also moves policy: the role of affect in mobilizing education policy on sustainability

ABSTRACT This article explores the role of affect in influencing whether and how education policy on sustainability is circulated, adopted or resisted. Drawing on empirical data from K-12 education across Canada, the paper examines the mobility of sustainability in education policy in relation to i) collective affective conditions, ii) the mediating influences of affective bodily encounters, and iii) affect as a target of apparatuses of power. The analysis suggests how collective conditions of precarity or environmental responsibility, policy actors’ attachments to nature and relationships with other policy actors, and the affective mediations of technologies of power such as eco-certification programs, all contribute to mobilizing sustainability in education policy in the schools, divisions, and ministries under study. The article offers insights for sustainability initiatives in education and for research attending to the affective mobilities of education policy.
A diffuse domain method for two-phase flows with large density ratio in complex geometries

Abstract We present a quasi-incompressible Navier–Stokes–Cahn–Hilliard (q-NSCH) diffuse interface model for two-phase fluid flows with variable physical properties that maintains thermodynamic consistency. Then, we couple the diffuse domain method with this two-phase fluid model – yielding a new q-NSCH-DD model – to simulate the two-phase flows with moving contact lines in complex geometries. The original complex domain is extended to a larger regular domain, usually a cuboid, and the complex domain boundary is replaced by an interfacial region with finite thickness. A phase-field function is introduced to approximate the characteristic function of the original domain of interest. The original fluid model, q-NSCH, is reformulated on the larger domain with additional source terms that approximate the boundary conditions on the solid surface. We show that the q-NSCH-DD system converges to the q-NSCH system asymptotically as the thickness of the diffuse domain interface introduced by the phase-field function shrinks to zero ($\epsilon \rightarrow 0$) with $\mathcal {O}(\epsilon )$. Our analytic results are confirmed numerically by measuring the errors in both $L^{2}$ and $L^{\infty }$ norms. In addition, we show that the q-NSCH-DD system not only allows the contact line to move on curved boundaries, but also makes the fluid–fluid interface intersect the solid object at an angle that is consistent with the prescribed contact angle.
Phase Ordering and Crystallization Kinetics in Ultrathin Poly(ethylene oxide)/Poly(methyl methacrylate) Blend Films

Crystallization in ultrathin Poly(Ethylene Oxide)/Poly(Methyl Methacrylate) (PEO/PMMA) blend films with thickness of ca. 10 nm was investigated by means of microscopic and in situ spectroscopic methods. It was revealed that the blend films undergo a phase ordering in a humid atmosphere before or during crystallization, with PEO de-mixing with PMMA and segregating to the free film interface on the PMMA layer. The de-mixed PEO chains crystallize into a fractal-like morphology by a diffusion-limited process, and the crystal growth is 1-dimensional with Avrami exponent n ≈ 1, resulting in flat-on crystal lamellae with the PEO chains oriented normal to the film plane.
Do Dominant Ants Affect Secondary Productivity, Behavior and Diversity in a Guild of Woodland Ants?

The degree to which competition by dominant species shapes ecological communities remains a largely unresolved debate. In ants, unimodal dominance–richness relationships are common and suggest that dominant species, when very abundant, competitively exclude non-dominant species. However, few studies have investigated the underlying mechanisms by which dominant ants might affect coexistence and the maintenance of species richness. In this study, we first examined the relationship between the richness of non-dominant ant species and the abundance of a dominant ant species, Formica subsericea, among forest ant assemblages in the eastern US. This relationship was hump-shaped or not significant depending on the inclusion or exclusion of an influential observation. Moreover, we found only limited evidence that F. subsericea negatively affects the productivity or behavior of non-dominant ant species. For example, at the colony-level, the size and productivity of colonies of non-dominant ant species were not different when they were in close proximity to dominant ant nests than when they were away and, in fact, was associated with increased productivity in one species. Additionally, the number of foraging workers of only one non-dominant ant species was lower at food sources near than far from dominant F. subsericea nests, while the number of foragers of other species was not negatively affected. However, foraging activity of the non-dominant ant species was greater at night when F. subsericea was inactive, suggesting a potential mechanism by which some non-dominant species avoid interactions with competitively superior species. Gaining a mechanistic understanding of how patterns of community structure arise requires linking processes from colonies to communities. Our study suggests the negative effects of dominant ant species on non-dominant species may be offset by mechanisms promoting coexistence.
Low-power transimpedance amplifier for cryogenic integration with quantum devices

The development of quantum electronic devices operating below a few Kelvin degrees is raising the demand for cryogenic complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor electronics (CMOS) to be used as in situ classical control/readout circuitry. Having a minimal spatial separation between quantum and classical hardware is necessary to limit the electrical wiring to room temperature and the associated heat load and parasitic capacitances. Here, we report prototypical demonstrations of hybrid circuits combining silicon quantum dot devices and a classical transimpedance amplifier, which is characterized and then used to measure the current through the quantum dots. The two devices are positioned next to each other at 4.2 K to assess the use of the cryogenic transimpedance amplifier with respect to a room-temperature transimpedance amplifier. A quantum device built on the same substrate as the transimpedance amplifier is characterized down to 10 mK. The transimpedance amplifier is based on commercial 28 nm fully depleted Silicon-on-insulator (FDSOI) CMOS. It consists of a two-stage Miller-compensated operational amplifier with a 10 MΩ polysilicon feedback resistor, yielding a gain of 1.1 × 10 7 V/A. We show that the transimpedance amplifier operates at 10 mK with only 1 μW of power consumption, low enough to prevent heating. It exhibits linear response up to ±40 nA and a measurement bandwidth of 2.6 kHz, which could be extended to about 200 kHz by design optimization. The realization of custom-made electronics in FDSOI technology for cryogenic operation at any temperature will improve measurement speed and quality inside cryostats with higher bandwidth, lower noise, and higher signal-to-noise ratio.
Improved Testing of AI-Based Anomaly Detection Systems Using Synthetic Surveillance Data

Major transportation surveillance protocols have not been specified with cyber security in mind and therefore provide no encryption nor identification. These issues expose air and sea transport to false data injection attacks (FDIAs), in which an attacker modifies, blocks or emits fake surveillance messages to dupe controllers and surveillance systems. There has been growing interest in conducting research on machine learning-based anomaly detection systems that address these new threats. However, significant amounts of data are needed to achieve meaningful results with this type of model. Raw, genuine data can be obtained from existing databases but need to be preprocessed before being fed to a model. Acquiring anomalous data is another challenge: such data is much too scarce for both the Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast (ADS-B) and the Automatic Identification System (AIS). Crafting anomalous data by hand, which has been the sole method applied to date, is hardly suitable for broad detection model testing. This paper proposes an approach built upon existing libraries and ideas that offers ML researchers the necessary tools to facilitate the access and processing of genuine data as well as to automatically generate synthetic anomalous surveillance data to constitute broad, elaborated test datasets. We demonstrate the usability of the approach by discussing work in progress that includes the reproduction of related work, creation of relevant datasets and design of advanced anomaly detection models for both domains of application.