Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Functionalising Collagen-Based Scaffolds With Platelet-Rich Plasma for Enhanced Skin Wound Healing Potential

Porous collagen-glycosaminoglycan (collagen-GAG) scaffolds have shown promising clinical results for wound healing; however, these scaffolds do not replace the dermal and epidermal layer simultaneously and rely on local endogenous signaling to direct healing. Functionalizing collagen-GAG scaffolds with signaling factors, and/or additional matrix molecules, could help overcome these challenges. An ideal candidate for this is platelet-rich plasma (PRP) as it is a natural reservoir of growth factors, can be activated to form a fibrin gel, and is available intraoperatively. We tested the factors released from PRP (PRPr) and found that at specific concentrations, PRPr enhanced cell proliferation and migration and induced angiogenesis to a greater extent than fetal bovine serum (FBS) controls. This motivated us to develop a strategy to successfully incorporate PRP homogeneously within the pores of the collagen-GAG scaffolds. The composite scaffold released key growth factors for wound healing (FGF, TGFβ) and vascularization (VEGF, PDGF) for up to 14 days. In addition, the composite scaffold had enhanced mechanical properties (when compared to PRP gel alone), while providing a continuous upper surface of extracellular matrix (ECM) for keratinocyte seeding. The levels of the factors released from the composite scaffold were sufficient to sustain proliferation of key cells involved in wound healing, including human endothelial cells, mesenchymal stromal cells, fibroblasts, and keratinocytes; even in the absence of FBS supplementation. In functional in vitro and in vivo vascularization assays, our composite scaffold demonstrated increased angiogenic and vascularization potential, which is known to lead to enhanced wound healing. Upon pro-inflammatory induction, macrophages released lower levels of the pro-inflammatory marker MIP-1α when treated with PRPr; and released higher levels of the anti-inflammatory marker IL1-ra upon both pro- and anti-inflammatory induction when treated with the composite scaffold. Finally, our composite scaffold supported a co-culture system of human fibroblasts and keratinocytes that resulted in an epidermal-like layer, with keratinocytes constrained to the surface of the scaffold; by contrast, keratinocytes were observed infiltrating the PRP-free scaffold. This novel composite scaffold has the potential for rapid translation to the clinic by isolating PRP from a patient intraoperatively and combining it with regulatory approved scaffolds to enhance wound repair.
Linking Earth Observations for Assessing the Food Security Situation in Vietnam: A Landscape Approach

Land cover change and its impact on food security is a topic that has major implications for development in population-dense Southeast Asia. The main drivers of forest loss include the expansion of agriculture and plantation estates, growth of urban centers, extraction of natural resources, and water infrastructure development. The design and implementation of appropriate land use policies requires accurate and timely information on land cover dynamics to account for potential political, economical, and agricultural consequences. Therefore, SERVIR-Mekong led the collaborative development of a Regional Land Cover Monitoring System (RLCMS) with key regional stakeholders across the greater Mekong region. Through this effort, a modular system was used to create yearly land cover maps for the period 1988 - 2017. In this study, we compared this 30-year land cover time-series with Viet Nam national forest resources and agricultural productivity statistics. We used remote sensing-derived land cover products to quantify landscape changes and linked those with food availability, one of food security dimension, from a landscape approach perspective. We found that agricultural production has soared while the coverage of agricultural areas has remained relatively stable. Land cover change dynamics coincide with important legislation regarding environmental management and sustainable development strategies in Viet Nam. Our findings indicate that Vietnam has made major steps towards improving its' food security. We demonstrate that RLCMS is a valuable tool for evaluating the relationship between policies and their impacts on food security, ecosystem services and natural capital.
Decoding Movement From Electrocorticographic Activity: A Review

Electrocorticography (ECoG) holds promise to provide efficient neuroprosthetic solutions for people suffering from neurological disabilities. This recording technique combines adequate temporal and spatial resolution with the lower risks of medical complications compared to the other invasive methods. ECoG is routinely used in clinical practice for preoperative cortical mapping in epileptic patients. During the last two decades, research utilizing ECoG has considerably grown, including the paradigms where behaviorally relevant information is extracted from ECoG activity with decoding algorithms of different complexity. Several research groups have advanced toward the development of assistive devices driven by brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) that decode motor commands from multichannel ECoG recordings. Here we review the evolution of this field and its recent tendencies, and discuss the potential areas for future development.
Mapping Cucumber Vein Yellowing Virus Resistance in Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) by Using BSA-seq Analysis

Cucumber vein yellowing virus (CVYV) causes severe yield losses in cucurbit crops across Mediterranean countries. The control of this virus is based on cultural practices to prevent the presence of its vector (Bemisia tabaci) and breeding for natural resistance, which requires the identification of the loci involved and the development of molecular markers for linkage analysis. In this work, we mapped a monogenic locus for resistance to CVYV in cucumber by using a Bulked Segregant Analysis (BSA) strategy coupled with whole-genome resequencing. We phenotyped 135 F3 families from a segregating population between a susceptible pickling cucumber and a resistant Long Dutch type cucumber for CVYV resistance. Phenotypic analysis determined the monogenic and incomplete dominance inheritance of the resistance. We named the locus CsCvy-1. For mapping this locus, 15 resistant and 15 susceptible homozygous F2 individuals were selected for whole genome resequencing. By using a customized bioinformatics pipeline, we identified a unique region in chromosome 5 associated to resistance to CVYV, explaining more than 80% of the variability. The resequencing data provided us with additional SNP markers to decrease the interval of CsCvy-1 to 625 kb, containing 24 annotated genes. Markers flanking CsCvy-1 in a 5.3 cM interval were developed for marker-assisted selection (MAS) in breeding programs and will be useful for the identification of the target gene in future studies.
Neural Representation of Parental Monitoring and Links to Adolescent Risk Taking

Decades of developmental research have demonstrated the positive role of parental monitoring during adolescence, a time during which youth seek exploration and show heightened risk taking. The present study employed a novel neural pattern similarity approach to identify neural patterns underpinning parental monitoring, with attention to implications for adolescent risk taking. Mothers (N = 23) underwent an fMRI scan during which they completed a risk-taking task and viewed the risk-taking behavior of their adolescent child. Using a representational similarity analysis, we examined the neural pattern similarity between mothers’ anticipation of their child’s risk taking and their own decisions. Higher parental monitoring was reflected in greater similarity between neural pattern of anticipating their adolescents’ risk taking and experiencing their own safe outcomes. Moreover, greater neural pattern similarity between mothers’ anticipation and their own safe outcomes was associated with lower risk-taking propensity in adolescents. Taken together, the present study provides preliminary evidence for the neural patterns underpinning parental monitoring, highlighting the importance of incorporating parents’ brain as a window to understand parenting practices and adolescent risk taking.
Uncoupling of Microvascular Blood Flow and Capillary Density in Vascular Cognitive Impairment

Cerebral small vessel disease (cSVD) plays an important role in dementia and is a major cause for vascular cognitive impairment (VCI). Recent studies hypothesized that capillary dysfunction including reduction of capillary patency, rather than a flow-limiting pathology is crucial in cSVD. As cSVD is considered a systemic microvascular disease, we examined sublingual microvascular blood flow and capillary density in patients with VCI and controls. Fifteen patients with VCI due to cSVD and 15 controls underwent intravital microscopy of the sublingual microvessels. Microvascular blood flow and capillary density in high and low flow areas were determined for each participant. Flow-density coupling was examined by determining the ratio of density changes to flow changes, and the ratio of feed vessel red blood cell (RBC) velocity to capillary RBC velocity. These were compared between VCI and controls. In healthy controls, capillary density increased proportionally with feed vessel blood flow increase. In patients with VCI, no increase of capillary density was observed. Moreover, increase of feed vessel RBC velocity led to significant increase of capillary RBC velocity in VCI, whereas in controls, the capillary RBC increased only slightly. Flow-density coupling differed significantly between VCI and controls, also after correcting for age and hypertension. Our findings suggest uncoupling of microvascular blood flow and capillary density in patients with VCI. This uncoupling may impair oxygen and nutrients exchange when blood flow increases in response to increased metabolic demand, ultimately leading to tissue damage.
Phytochemical and Biological Investigations of Methanol Extract of Leaves of Ziziphus mauritiana Lam

Siete compuestos fueron aislados del extracto metanolico de hojas de Ziziphus mauritiana. Las estructuras de los compuestos aislados fueron identificadas como γ-fagarina (1), β-sitosterol (2), estigmasterol (3), α-amirina (4), lupeol (5), β-amirina (6) y betulina (7 ) por medio de extensivos estudios espectroscopicos y por co-TLC con muestras autenticas. Este es el primer informe de aislamiento de los compuestos 1-7 a partir de esta especie vegetal. Los extractos de las hojas fueron investigados por efectos tromboliticos, estabilizadores de membrana, antimicrobianos, antidiarreicos y potenciales analgesicos junto a la propiedad de inducir sueno en el modelo animal. Las actividades tromboliticos y la estabilizacion de la membrana se evaluaron mediante el uso de eritrocitos humanos comparando con estreptoquinasa estandar y el acido acetilsalicilico, respectivamente. El extracto metanolico redujo la frecuencia de las heces diarreicas en comparacion con el estandar de loperamida. En la induccion por aceite de ricino de diarrea en ratones, se observo una disminucion dosis dependiente de los transitos gastrointestinales. En el metodo del coletazo producido por calor radiante, el extracto metabolico mostro una actividad antinociceptiva moderada, en comparacion con la morfina estandar
Relationships Among Active Engagement in Life Activities and Quality of Life for Assisted-Living Residents

This cross-sectional research explored the relationships between active engagement in life activities (leisure, social, and instrumental activities of daily living) and quality of life for seniors aged 65 and older residing in assisted living facilities. It is increasingly recognized that active participation in diverse physical, cognitive, and social activities can promote older adults’ quality of life, including physical and mental health, but there is limited information about this in the population of residents in assisted living facilities. It is estimated that there are one million older adults residing in assisted living facilities, making assisted living facilities a rapidly growing segment of senior housing. Older adults who relocate to assisted living facilities commonly experience lifestyle changes, often related to their altered physical and social environment, reduced demands regarding household chores and meal preparation, and new opportunities for recreation and socialization. In this study, interviews were conducted with 131 ambulatory residents from assisted living facilities in the New York City metropolitan area using the 55-Item Activity Checklist, SF-36v2, Life Satisfaction Index-Z, and demographic questions. Results found significant low to moderate correlations between retained engagement in life activities (leisure, social, and instrumental activities of daily living) and life satisfaction, and several quality of life domains, including physical functioning, mental health, general health, and vitality. Older adults continued to engage in a greater percentage of everyday life activities they identified as important. This data supports exploration of client-centered activity programs to promote participation of residents in assisted living facilities in diverse activities to both maintain resident functional abilities and manage functional decline.
Synchronized Tracking in Multiple Omnidirectional Cameras with Overlapping View

A multi-camera setup for a surveillance system enables a larger coverage area, especially when a single camera has limited monitoring capability due to certain obstacles. Therefore, for large-scale coverage, multiple cameras are the best option. In this paper, we present a method for detecting multiple objects using several cameras with large overlapping views as this allows synchronization of object identification from a number of views. The proposed method uses a graph structure that is robust enough to represent any detected moving objects by defining their vertices and edges to determine their relationships. By evaluating these object features, represented as a set of attributes in a graph, we can perform lightweight multiple object detection using several cameras, as well as performing object tracking within each camera’s field of view and between two cameras. By evaluating each vertex hierarchically as a subgraph, we can further observe the features of the detected object and perform automatic separation of occluding objects. Experimental results show that the proposed method would improve the accuracy of object tracking by reducing the occurrences of incorrect identification compared to individual camera-based tracking. key words: weighted undirected graph, multiple objects detection and tracking, multiple overlapping cameras, surveillance
The effect of individualization of fiberglass posts using bulk-fill resin-based composites on cementation: an in vitro study

Objectives This study evaluated the bond strength of various fiberglass post cementation techniques using different resin-based composites. Materials and Methods The roots from a total of 100 bovine incisors were randomly assigned to 5 treatment groups: G1, post + Scotchbond Multi-Purpose (SBMP) + RelyX ARC luting agent; G2, relined post (Filtek Z250) + SBMP + RelyX ARC; G3, individualized post (Filtek Z250) + SBMP; G4, individualized post (Filtek Bulk-Fill) + SBMP; G5, individualized post (Filtek Bulk-Fill Flow) + SBMP. The samples were subjected to the push-out (n = 10) and pull-out (n = 10) bond strength tests. Data from the push-out bond strength test were analyzed using 2-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with the Bonferroni post hoc test, and data from the pull-out bond strength test were analyzed using 1-way ANOVA. Results The data for push-out bond strength presented higher values for G2 and G5, mainly in the cervical and middle thirds, and the data from the apical third showed a lower mean push-out bond strength in all groups. No significant difference was noted for pull-out bond strength among all groups. The most frequent failure modes observed were adhesive failure between dentine and resin and mixed failure. Conclusions Fiberglass post cementation using restorative and flowable bulk-fill composites with the individualization technique may be a promising alternative to existing methods of post cementation.
Seasonal variation in apparent conductivity and soil salinity at two Narragansett Bay, RI salt marshes

Measurement of the apparent conductivity of salt marsh sediments using electromagnetic induction (EMI) is a rapid alternative to traditional methods of salinity determination that can be used to map soil salinity across a marsh surface. Soil salinity measures can provide information about marsh processes, since salinity is important in determining the structure and function of tidally influenced marsh communities. While EMI has been shown to accurately reflect salinity to a specified depth, more information is needed on the potential for spatial and temporal variability in apparent conductivity measures that may impact the interpretation of salinity data. In this study we mapped soil salinity at two salt marshes in the Narragansett Bay, RI estuary monthly over the course of several years to examine spatial and temporal trends in marsh salinity. Mean monthly calculated salinity was 25.8 ± 5.5 ppt at Narrow River marsh (NAR), located near the mouth of the Bay, and 17.7 ± 5.3 ppt at Passeonkquis marsh (PAS) located in the upper Bay. Salinity varied seasonally with both marshes, showing the lowest values (16.3 and 8.3 ppt, respectively) in April and highest values (35.4 and 26.2 ppt, respectively) in August. Contour plots of calculated salinities showed that while the mean whole-marsh calculated salinity at both sites changed over time, within-marsh patterns of higher versus lower salinity were maintained at NAR but changed over time at PAS. Calculated salinity was significantly negatively correlated with elevation at NAR during a sub-set of 12 sample events, but not at PAS. Best-supported linear regression models for both sites included one-month and 6-month cumulative rainfall, and tide state as potential factors driving observed changes in calculated salinity. Mapping apparent conductivity of salt marsh sediments may be useful both identifying within-marsh micro-habitats, and documenting marsh-wide changes in salinity over time.
An evaluation of the construction of the device along with the software for digital archiving, sending the data, and supporting the diagnosis of cervical cancer

Cervical cancer is still an important cause of mortality among women in a number of countries. There are effective methods of prevention and early diagnosis, but they require well-trained medical professionals including cytologists. Within this project, we built a prototype of a new device together with implemented software using U-NET and CNN architectures of neural networks (ANN), to convert the currently used optical microscopes into fully independent scanning and evaluating systems for cytological samples. To evaluate the specificity and sensitivity of the system, 2058 (2000 normal and 58 abnormal samples) consecutive liquid-based cytology (LBC) samples were analysed. The observed sensitivity and specificity to distinguish normal and abnormal samples was 100%. We observed slight incompatibility in the evaluation of the type of abnormality. The use of ANN is promising for increasing the effectiveness of cervical screening. The low cost of neural network usage further increases the potential areas of application of the presented method. Further refinement of neural networks on a larger sample size is required to evaluate the software.
Analysis of miRNA expression profiles in the liver of ClockΔ19 mutant mice

The circadian clock controls the physiological functions of many tissues including the liver via an autoregulatory transcriptional−translational feedback loop, of which CLOCK is a core positive component. In addition, many studies have indicated that microRNAs (miRNAs) regulate liver function. However, how CLOCK-regulated miRNAs are linked to liver function remains largely unknown. In this study, miRNAs expression profiles were performed in the liver of ClockΔ19 mutant mice. Compared to wild type mice, totals of 61 and 57 putative CLOCK-regulated miRNAs were differentially expressed (fold change absolute value ≥2) at zeitgeber time 2 and zeitgeber time 14, respectively. According to the pathway analyses, the target genes of differentially expressed miRNAs were mainly involved in pathways in cancer, the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway and the MAPK signaling pathway. Protein−protein interaction analyses revealed that the hub genes were primarily associated with pathway in cancer and circadian rhythms. Expression validation showed that while the expression levels of miR-195 and miR-340 were up-regulated, the rhythms of these two miRNAs were always maintained. The expression level of nr1d2 mRNA was down-regulated. We identified a number of prospective CLOCK-regulated miRNAs that play roles in the various physiological processes of the liver, providing a reference to better understanding the potential regulatory mechanisms in the liver.
An Integrated Method to Remove Color Cast and Contrast Enhancement for Underwater Image

Light scattering and absorption of light in water cause underwater images to be poorly contrasted, haze and dominated by a single color cast. A solution to this is to find methods to improve the quality of the image that eventually leads to better visualization. We propose an integrated approach using Adaptive Gray World (AGW) and Differential Gray-Levels Histogram Equalization for Color Images (DHECI) to remove the color cast as well as improve the contrast and colorfulness of the underwater image. The AGW is an adaptive version of the GW method where apart from computing the global mean, the local mean of each channel of an image is taken into consideration and both are weighted before combining them. It is applied to remove the color cast, thereafter the DHECI is used to improve the contrast and colorfulness of the underwater image. The results of the proposed method are compared with seven state-of-the-art methods using qualitative and quantitative measures. The experimental results showed that in most cases the proposed method produced better quantitative scores than the compared methods. key words: underwater image enhancement, color cast, contrast enhancement
Semi-Automatic Task Graph Construction for H-Matrix Arithmetic

A new method to construct task graphs for \mcH-matrix arithmetic is introduced, which uses the information associated with all tasks of the standard recursive \mcH-matrix algorithms, e.g., the block index set of the matrix blocks involved in the computation. Task refinement, i.e., the replacement of tasks by sub-computations, is then used to proceed in the \mcH-matrix hierarchy until the matrix blocks containing the actual matrix data are reached. This process is a natural extension of the classical, recursive way in which \mcH-matrix arithmetic is defined and thereby simplifies the efficient usage of many-core systems. Examples for standard and accumulator based \mcH-arithmetic are shown for model problems with different block structures.