Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparison of the Level of Awareness about the Transmission of Echinococcosis and Toxocariasis between Pet Owners and Non-Pet Owners in Greece

Ζoonotic parasitic diseases that can occur through animal contact pose risks to pets, their owners and to their bond. This study aims to assess the level of knowledge about zoonoses, specifically echinococcosis and toxocariasis, among cat/dog owners and non-pet owners in Greece. Multiple-choice questionnaires were designed to obtain data regarding the knowledge of pet and non-pet owners on echinococcosis and toxocariasis, including signs and symptoms of these zoonoses, ways of transmission and precautions that need to be taken into account in order to avoid it. A total of 185 questionnaires were retrieved and data was expressed as absolute (Ν) and relative frequencies (%). Associations between pet ownership, residence and outcome variables were evaluated using the Fisher exact test and Chi-squared test, respectively. Multifactorial linear regression analysis was used to investigate the cross-sectional association between demographic characteristics and the awareness of helminthic zoonoses. All tests were two-sided and statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. Our study revealed a disturbing lack of awareness of echinococcosis and toxocariasis (mean zoonotic knowledge score 8.11 ± 3.18) independently of pet ownership. Surprisingly, in some cases the ignorance of pet owners exceeded that of non-pet owners. Given the progressive impact of toxocariasis in public health and the high prevalence of echinococcosis in the Mediterranean region, measures should be taken to inform people about zoonoses and eliminate their putative transmission.
Factors influencing the distribution and abundance of endemic pigeons on São Tomé Island (Gulf of Guinea)

Summary Understanding the factors that determine habitat use and abundance of exploited species is essential to develop effective conservation strategies. We studied the four forest pigeons on São Tomé Island to assess the species’ distribution and abundance patterns. We determined ecological factors likely to be associated with each species’ use of habitats and numbers, as well as the influence of hunting pressure. In total, 35 km of line transects were surveyed in the rainy season and at the start of the dry season. Pigeons differed in their use of habitats; there were also strong seasonality effects. The most abundant species was the Lemon Dove Columba simplex, the only non-hunted species. The São Tomé Green Pigeon Treron sanctithomae and Maroon Pigeon Columba thomensis were less abundant and had more restricted ranges. Both species were strongly associated with old-growth forests. In contrast, the Bronze-naped Pigeon Columba malherbii was relatively abundant and widespread; this species favours human-altered habitats such as shade forests and non-forested areas. Fruit availability measured within the different habitats was linked with the distribution and abundance of the three hunted species. Potential human predation pressure on all species was determined from hunting signs found along the surveyed transects. There was a significant negative correlation between the abundance of two of the hunted species and hunting pressure. Our results indicate the importance of adequately protecting old-growth and secondary forests as core habitats for the survival of viable populations of all pigeon species in the island. However, control of hunting is also crucial.
Degradation Mechanism of Concrete Subjected to External Sulfate Attack: Comparison of Different Curing Conditions

Sulfate induced degradation of concrete brings great damage to concrete structures in saline or offshore areas. The degradation mechanism of cast-in-situ concrete still remains unclear. This paper investigates the degradation process and corresponding mechanism of cast-in-situ concrete when immersed in sulfate-rich corrosive environments. Concrete samples with different curing conditions were prepared and immersed in sulfate solutions for 12 months to simulate the corrosion of precast and cast-in-situ concrete structures, respectively. Tests regarding the changes of physical, chemical, and mechanical properties of concrete samples were conducted and recorded continuously during the immersion. Micro-structural and mineral methods were performed to analyze the changes of concrete samples after immersion. Results indicate that the corrosion process of cast-in-situ concrete is much faster than the degradation of precast concrete. Chemical attack is the main cause of degradation for both precast and cast-in-situ concrete. Concrete in the environment with higher sulfate concentration suffers more severe degradation. The water/cement ratio has a significant influence on the durability of concrete. A lower water/cement ratio results in obviously better resistance against sulfate attack for both precast and cast-in-situ concrete.
Transformational tools for next-generation plant ecology: manipulation of gene expression for the functional analysis of genes

Plant ecology in the future will benefit from the efficient use of next-generation sequencing methods. This includes the identification of genes and markers of potential ecological importance. Here we review how next-generation sequencing approaches have been used to genetically characterise the North American tobacco species Nicotiana attenuata. We first describe transcriptome sequencing on the GS FLX Titanium platform. We then explain how we have designed an AGILENT 44k transcriptomic array to study transcriptomic changes elicited by ecologically relevant biotic and abiotic interactions in N. attenuata. Virus-induced gene silencing and stable transformation that have been used to manipulate gene expression in N. attenuata are then reviewed. Overall, we have demonstrated next-generation sequencing to be a valuable tool to identify genetic loci for ecologically relevant traits. Our approaches can be used in non-model organisms to identify candidate genes of ecological relevance, and to confirm their ecological function. Future studies of non-model organisms need to not only characterise gene expression changes under different environments, but manipulate gene expression to falsify hypotheses about the function of genes and their ecological role.
Feeding Habits of the Japanese Tree Frog, Hyla japonica, in the Reproductive Season

Abstract We examined the diet of Hyla japonica, a prolonged breeder, in the reproductive season (early May to late July). This species breeds in rice fields. Females attended the breeding site only at the time of spawning, but males remained and foraged in rice fields for their continuous advertising during the prolonged season. A high frequency of empty stomachs and fewer and less stomach contents observed at the beginning of the breeding season, may result from energetic constraints associated with reproduction in males. Diverse ground-dwelling invertebrates predominated in the diet, but aquatic organisms were quite few. We estimated the prey availability in the environment by sweeps. The most easily available prey such as ants, beetles, dipterans, caterpillars, and spiders were numerously consumed by frogs. Significant correlations between the diet compositions and prey availability suggest that H. japonica is an opportunistic predator.
Synergy between Acceptance of Violence and Sexist Attitudes as a Dating Violence Risk Factor

The normalization of aggressive behavior in teenage couples when they are dating is a phenomenon that is currently reaching very worrying proportions. The consequences are creating a serious public health problem and have hence aroused the interest of many researchers as to its causes. Most have centered on the role of the aggressor. However, the processes of aggression and victimization are inseparable, and relegating the victims to the background only contributes to increasing the prevalence, severity, and perdurability of the problem. The objectives of this study were to: (i) identify the types and frequency of abuse that adolescents suffer in their relationships; (ii) analyze the relationship between sexist attitudes, acceptance of violence, and victimization; and (iii) determine predictors of the violence suffered in adolescent dating relationships. The sample comprised 2577 adolescents (55.2% girls) of 14 to 18 years in age (M = 15.9, SD = 1.2). The instruments used were the dating violence questionnaire (Cuestionario de Violencia de Novios, CUVINO) and the Scale of detection of sexism in adolescents (Escala de Detección de Sexismo en Adolescentes, DSA). The results indicate that victims showed high tolerance towards gender violence. Acceptance was greater the more frequent the abuse or aggressions suffered. Regarding sexist attitudes, only those belonging to the benevolent dimension had predictive value. The results also show that the interaction between acceptance of the abuse suffered and the manifestation of benevolent sexist attitudes predicted victimization involving specific forms of aggression.
Citalopram Administration Does Not Promote Function or Histological Recovery after Spinal Cord Injury

Citalopram is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, and although widely used as an antidepressant, this drug has also demonstrated interesting repairing properties leading to motor recovery and pathology amelioration in animal models of stroke and degeneration. Here, we tested the efficacy of both 7-day and 8-week citalopram treatment in a contusive spinal cord injury (SCI) rat model. A combination of behavioral tests, histological and serum cytokine analysis was used to assess overall recovery. Despite promoting a mild reduction of inflammatory cells as well as an early, but transient increase of specific serum cytokines, citalopram administration showed no overall beneficial effects on motor performance or lesion extension. Our results do not support citalopram treatment as a therapeutic strategy for SCI.
Correction: Self-Assembling Space Architecture: tessellated shell structures for space habitats

As habitation and operation needs evolve around new commercial space stations in LEO (Low Earth Orbit) and exploration missions to the Moon and Mars, space architecture must adapt to address new use-case and deployment contexts. Rather than relying on fixed, rigid shell or fixed, inflatable modules, a new paradigm for modular in-space construction can offer adaptive, reconfigurable, and re-usable outer shells. Our tessellated shell structure approach proposes multifunctional tiles (structural units augmented with sensing, guidance navigation and control, and shielding) that assemble autonomously via magnetically-mediated bonding along regular, geometric edges. We propose an extensible paradigm for in-orbit space habitat construction via quasi-stochastic self-assembly in microgravity and discuss re-purposing these shells for surface deployments as well. This 2019 AIAA SciTech paper details our v2 TESSERAE prototype design (building on the v1 system presented in our 2018 AIAA SciTech report), including the integrated sensing and GNC approach, progress on proof-of-concept prototypes with accompanying simulation models, and extensibility to other shell tessellations and multi-module space station polyhedral packing arrangements. This research serves as a technology demonstration mission, presented for this paper in the context of an upcoming suborbital deployment test.
Comparative Evaluation of Dental Implant Failure among Healthy and Well-Controlled Diabetic Patients—A 3-Year Retrospective Study

Diabetes mellitus is known to compromise the various aspects of homeostasis, including the immune response and the composition of oral microflora. One of the oral manifestations of diabetes mellitus is tooth loss and the survival rate of dental implants chosen as a treatment modality for its rehabilitation is controversial. The current study aims to evaluate and compare the failure rate of dental implants between well-controlled diabetic and healthy patients. A retrospective study of case-control design was conceptualized with 121 well-controlled diabetic and 136 healthy individuals. Records of subjects who had undergone oral rehabilitation with dental implants between the periods of January 2013 to January 2016 were retrieved. Post-operative evaluation was carried out for all patients for about three years to assess the immediate and long-term success of the procedure. From a total of 742 dental implants, 377 were placed in well-controlled diabetic patients (case group) and 365 in healthy subjects (control group). A comparable (9.81%), but non-significant (p = 0.422) failure rate was found in the case group in comparison to the control group (9.04%). A non-significant (p = 0.392) raised number (4.98%) of failure cases were reported among females in comparison to males (4.44%). In respect to arch, the mandibular posterior region was reported as the highest failure cases (3.09%; p = 0.411), with 2.29% of cases reported in the mandibular anterior (p = 0.430) and maxillary posterior (p = 0.983) each. The maxillary anterior region was found to have the least number (1.75%; p = 0.999) of failure cases. More (4.98%; p = 0.361) cases were reported to fail during the functional loading stage in contrast to osseointegration (4.44%; p = 0.365). A well-controlled diabetic status does not impose any additional risk for individuals undergoing dental implant therapy.
Techniques for tracing PHA‐producing organisms and for qualitative and quantitative analysis of intra‐ and extracellular PHA

Poly(hydroxyalkanoates) (PHAs) constitute a versatile family of prokaryotic reserve materials that, thanks to their plastic‐like properties, displays high potential for application in various fields of the plastic market. Various methods are reported for tracing PHA‐producing organisms, and for qualitative and quantitative analysis of both intra‐ and extracellular PHA. Different techniques are needed first to discover novel powerful PHA‐producing microbes, second to identify new PHA‐building blocks, and thirdly for structural and conformational PHA analysis on the intramolecular level. Further, as the aspect of utmost industrial significance, methods for fast, reliable, and routine process control during PHA bioproduction are required. This review tracks the development of different methods for PHA detection and determination, such as gravimetry, turbidimetry, optical, fluorescence, or electron microscopic techniques, UV, Raman, and infrared spectrometry, genetic methods (Southern blot hybridization, PCR, fluorescence‐labeled in situ hybridization), enzyme‐based biosensors, 1H and 13C NMR, and advanced gas and liquid chromatographic approaches. We propose the most suitable techniques for particular challenges of PHA research and production, and critically assess their strengths and limitations. Moreover, we provide suggestions for future developments in order to accelerate the final launch of PHA on the “bioplastic” market as anticipated since decades by the respective scientific community.
Extraction of a Bipolar Disorder associated genetic pattern

Bipolar Disorder is a widely known psychiatric disorder with an onset in adolescence or early adulthood. Also known as manic-depressive illness, bipolar disorder is one of the most common severe mental illnesses that triggers involuntary mood reactions affecting mainly the ability of dealing with daily tasks: it is indeed often to experience educational difficulties, job related problems, interpersonal difficulties, psychosocial dysfunction, marital issues, multiple suicide attempts, completed suicide and medication side effects [24] [50]. It has been estimated that there is a recurrence factor on 90% of the patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder during their lifetime [52] and this is mostly related with a faulty medication system induced by disease’s comorbidity, where one or more psychiatric pathologies are found to be related with a primary disorder. Bipolar disorder is often unrecognized and misdiagnosed [59], hence more unexpected relapses fall into the need of being submitted to a new diagnostic process in order to find which medication should be prescribed to a certain patient, avoiding worst case scenarios where these start to have unexpected outcomes like suicidal behaviors. The growth of machine learning (ML) opens a whole new world when trying to solve problems within this area. Databases containing patients’ clinical and genetic information have been disclosed for researching purposes (as an example, BDGene [10] and StepBD [46]). A few studies in the literature have applied machine learning methods to classify patients according to their mood [2] and to predict relapses [47] whereas others approached bipolar related disorders such as schizophrenia [48]. In this work, we focus on patient’s clinical-genetic data disclosed by the Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium (WTCCC) [13]. Some works have studied patients genetic data using this same data set whilst aiming to find gene sequences associated with bipolar disorder [36]. These studies are limited to the application of a restricted set of genetic data whilst applying machine learning methods. In this work we would like to advance the area by (1) applying an unsupervised machine learning approach in order to confirm genetic patterns mentioned in the literature or discovering new associations, (2) revealing a possible gender-disease direct relation that matches the specific clinical-genetic features whilst highlighting subgroups similarities, and (3) discovering gene signatures of individual patients in order to reduce first cases misdiagnosis rate.
Drug-Induced Gingival Overgrowth: The Effect of Cyclosporin A and Mycophenolate Mophetil on Human Gingival Fibroblasts

Drug-induced gingival overgrowth may occur after a chronic administration of three classes of systemic drugs: Anticonvulsants, immunosuppressants, and calcium channel blockers. This study aimed to investigate how cyclosporin A and mycophenolate mophetil (immunosuppressive drugs) could interfere with human gingival fibroblasts functions, leading to gingival enlargement. Human gingival fibroblasts derived from the tissue of a 60-year-old female were cultured in a DMEME medium. A stock solution with 1 mg/mL of mycophenolate and 1 mg/mL of cyclosporine were prepared and dissolved in a DMEM medium to prepare a serial dilution at the concentrations of 5000, 2000, 1000, 500, and 100 ng/mL, for both treatments. Cell viability was measured using the PrestoBlue™ Reagent Protocol. Quantitative real-time RT-PCR was performed in order to analyze the expression of 57 genes coding for gingival fibroblasts “Extracellular Matrix and Adhesion Molecules”. Mycophenolate and cyclosporine had no effect on fibroblast cell viability at 1000 ng/mL. Both the treatments showed similar effects on the expression profiling of treated cells: Downregulation of most extracellular matrix metalloproteases genes (MMP8, MMP11, MMP15, MMP16, MMP24) was assessed, while CDH1, ITGA2, ITGA7, LAMB3, MMP12, and MMP13 were recorded to be upregulated in fibroblasts treated with immunosuppressive drugs. It has been demonstrated that gingival overgrowth can be caused by the chronic administration of cyclosporin A and mycophenolate mophetil. However, given the contrasting data of literature, further investigations are needed, making clear the possible effects of immunosuppressive drugs on fibroblasts.
Understanding Stress Response to High-Arsenic Gold-Bearing Sulfide Concentrate in Extremely Metal-Resistant Acidophile Sulfobacillus thermotolerans

Biooxidation of gold-bearing arsenopyrite concentrates, using acidophilic microbial communities, is among the largest commercial biohydrometallurgical processes. However, molecular mechanisms of microbial responses to sulfide raw materials have not been widely studied. The goal of this research was to gain insight into the defense strategies of the acidophilic bacterium Sulfobacillus thermotolerans, which dominates microbial communities functioning in industrial biooxidation processes at >35 °C, against the toxic effect of the high-arsenic gold-bearing sulfide concentrate. In addition to extreme metal resistance, this acidophile proved to be one of the most As-tolerant microorganisms. Comparative proteomic analysis indicated that 30 out of 33 differentially expressed proteins were upregulated in response to the ore concentrate, while the synthesis level of the functional proteins required for cell survival was not negatively affected. Despite a high level of cellular metal(loid) accumulation, no specific metal(loid)-resistant systems were regulated. Instead, several proteins involved in the metabolic pathways and stress response, including MBL fold metallo-hydrolase, sulfide:quinone oxidoreductase, and GroEL chaperonin, may play crucial roles in resistance to the sulfide ore concentrate and arsenic, in particular. This study provides the first data on the microbial responses to sulfide ore concentrates and advances our understanding of defense mechanisms against toxic compounds in acidophiles.
MANAGING SMILE RISK

Market smiles and skews are usually managed by using local volatility models a la Dupire. We discover that the dynamics of the market smile predicted by local vol models is opposite of observed market behavior: when the price of the underlying decreases, local vol models predict that the smile shifts to higher prices; when the price increases, these models predict that the smile shifts to lower prices. Due to this contradiction between model and market, delta and vega hedges derived from the model can be unstable and may perform worse than naive Black-Scholes’ hedges. To eliminate this problem, we derive the SABR model, a stochastic volatility model in which the forward value satis.es dF̂ = âF̂dW1 dâ = oâdW2 and the forward F̂ and volatility â are correlated: dW1dW2 = 1⁄2dt. We use singular perturbation techniques to obtain the prices of European options under the SABR model, and from these prices we obtain explicit, closed-form algebraic formulas for the implied volatility as functions of today’s forward price f = F̂ (0) and the strike K . These formulas immediately yield the market price, the market risks, including vanna and volga risks, and show that the SABR model captures the correct dynamics of the smile. We apply the SABR model to USD interest rate options, and . nd good agreement between the theoretical and observed smiles.
A REVIEW: SOUND SOURCE LOCALIZATION AND AUDIO BEAM FORMATION

It is always desired to have a noise free communica-tion during the corporate and formal meetings. Sound source localization and the audio beam formation are the acoustic sig-nal processing techniques intended for this purpose. Both these methods deals with the microphone array signal processing to reduce the effect of noise on the output of microphones and to deliver a clean signal. Sound source localization is nothing but a method of estimating the spatial position of the speaker or sound source by exploiting the output from each sensor in the array. Similarly audio beam formation along with the appro-priate geometry of microphones in the array combines the in-coming signal into a noise free beam of signal. The beam for-mation changes the response pattern of the array so that it pro-vides maximum gain only in one angular direction which is pre-viously calculated by the sound source localizing part. Thus the combination of these two techniques can be used to capture the maximum from the speaker and ignoring the noise in the con-ference rooms. All this work will be done by using microphone array and MATLAB. Keywords— Sound source localization, audio beam formation, acoustic, microphone array processing, MATLAB.