Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Effect of Proinflammatory Cytokines on the Proliferation, Migration and Secretory Activity of Mesenchymal Stem/Stromal Cells (WJ-MSCs) under 5% O2 and 21% O2 Culture Conditions

Treatment with Mesenchymal Stem/Stromal Cells (MSCs) in clinical trials is becoming one of the most-popular and fast-developing branches of modern regenerative medicine, as it is still in an experimental phase. The cross-section of diseases to which these cells are applied is very wide, ranging from degenerative diseases, through autoimmune processes and to acute inflammatory diseases, e.g., viral infections. Indeed, now that first clinical trials applying MSCs against COVID-19 have started, important questions concern not only the therapeutic properties of MSCs, but also the changes that might occur in the cell features as a response to the “cytokine storm” present in the acute phase of an infection and capable of posing a risk to a patient. The aim of our study was thus to assess changes potentially occurring in the biology of MSCs in the active inflammatory environment, e.g., in regards to the cell cycle, cell migration and secretory capacity. The study using MSCs derived from Wharton’s jelly (WJ-MSCs) was conducted under two aerobic conditions: 21% O2 vs. 5% O2, since oxygen concentration is one of the key factors in inflammation. Under both oxygen conditions cells were exposed to proinflammatory cytokines involved significantly in acute inflammation, i.e., IFNγ, TNFα and IL-1β at different concentrations. Regardless of the aerobic conditions, WJ-MSCs in the inflammatory environment do not lose features typical for mesenchymal cells, and their proliferation dynamic remains unchanged. Sudden fluctuations in proliferation, the early indicator of potential genetic disturbance, were not observed, while the cells’ migration activity increased. The presence of pro-inflammatory factors was also found to increase the secretion of such anti-inflammatory cytokines as IL-4 and IL-10. It is concluded that the inflammatory milieu in vitro does not cause phenotype changes or give rise to proliferation disruption of WJ-MSCs, and nor does it inhibit the secretory properties providing for their use against acute inflammation.
Mechanical and Electrical Performance of Flexible Polymer Film Designed for a Textile Electrically-Conductive Path

Electro-conductive paths that are mechanically resistant and stable during simulated aging cycles are promising, in relation to the non-invasive application in e-textiles in our everyday surroundings. In the paper, an analysis of the influence of electro-conductive filler, as well as ionic liquid on surface resistance is provided. Authors proved that depending on the tested variant, obtained surface resistance may vary from 50 kΩ (when 50 phr of Ag and [bmim][PF6] ionic liquid applied) to 26 GΩ (when 25 phr of Ag and [bmim][PF6] ionic liquid applied). The samples were also evaluated after simulated aging cycles and the stability of electric properties was confirmed. Moreover, it was proved that the addition of ionic liquids reduced the resistance of vulcanizates, while no significant influence of the extrusion process on conductivity was observed.
A Neural Network Approach to Identify Glioblastoma Progression Phenotype from Multimodal MRI

Simple Summary Glioblastoma is the most common malignant primary brain tumor and has a poor prognosis with inevitable recurrence or progression. The phenotypes of its progression patterns can be diverse, which may potentially affect the treatment plan and clinical outcome. Our study aimed to identify its progression pattern before surgery by using multimodal MRI. The results showed the different progression phenotypes are clinically important, and by using quantitative MR radiomics, together with neural network-based imaging analysis, we can predict glioblastoma progression phenotypes preoperatively. Abstract The phenotypes of glioblastoma (GBM) progression after treatment are heterogeneous in both imaging and clinical prognosis. This study aims to apply radiomics and neural network analysis to preoperative multimodal MRI data to characterize tumor progression phenotypes. We retrospectively reviewed 41 patients with newly diagnosed cerebral GBM from 2009–2016 who comprised the machine learning training group, and prospectively included 18 patients from 2017–2018 for data validation. Preoperative MRI examinations included structural MRI, diffusion tensor imaging, and perfusion MRI. Tumor progression patterns were categorized as diffuse or localized. A supervised machine learning model and neural network-based models (VGG16 and ResNet50) were used to establish the prediction model of the pattern of progression. The diffuse progression pattern showed a significantly worse prognosis regarding overall survival (p = 0.032). A total of 153 of the 841 radiomic features were used to classify progression patterns using different machine learning models with an overall accuracy of 81% (range: 77.5–82.5%, AUC = 0.83–0.89). Further application of the pretrained ResNet50 and VGG 16 neural network models demonstrated an overall accuracy of 93.1 and 96.1%. The progression patterns of GBM are an important prognostic factor and can potentially be predicted by combining multimodal MR radiomics with machine learning.
Risk Stratification of Cholangiocarcinoma Patients Presenting with Jaundice: A Retrospective Analysis from a Tertiary Referral Center

Simple Summary Jaundice is a common clinical presentation of cholangiocarcinoma; however, the prognostic impact of this symptom is poorly understood. We retrospectively analyzed all consecutive cases presenting with jaundice between January 2010 and December 2017. During the study period, 200 patients (0.049% of all admissions) with CCA were identified. Most of them presented with advance disease, and median survival was 4.5 months. Age, stage of disease, presence of jaundice at the moment of diagnosis, and lack of concomitant viral hepatitis were associated with better survival. A nomogram was constructed that significantly predicts short term survival and could be used to tailor management. Abstract Cholangiocarcinomas (CCAs) are a heterogeneous group of tumors that arise from the biliary tract. Jaundice is a common clinical presentation; however, the prognostic impact of this symptom is poorly understood, and current management recommendations lack solid evidence. We aim to assess the clinical outcomes and predictive factors of CCA patients presenting with jaundice in the Emergency Room (ER). We retrospectively analyzed all consecutive ER cases presenting with jaundice between January 2010 and December 2017. During the study period, 403,766 patients were admitted to the ER, 1217 (0.3%) presented with jaundice, and in 200 (0.049%), the diagnosis was CCA. CCA cases increased during the study period (p for trend 0.026). Most of them presented with advance disease (stage III 46.5%, stage IV 43.5%) and median survival was 4.5 months (95% CI 3.4–6.0). Factors associated with better survival were age, stage of disease, presence of jaundice at the moment of diagnosis, and lack of concomitant viral hepatitis. A nomogram was constructed that significantly predicts 1-month, 6-month, and 1-year survival after patients’ admission. In conclusion, the majority of CCA patients presenting with jaundice to the ER have advanced disease and poor prognosis. Risk stratification of these patients can allow tailored management.
Objective Outcome Measures Continue to Improve from 6 to 12 Months after Conservatively Treated Distal Radius Fractures in the Elderly—A Prospective Evaluation of 50 Patients

Distal radius fractures (DRF) in the elderly population above 65 years represent 18% of all fractures and are thereby the second most frequent fracture in the elderly. Fracture dislocation and comminution are often used to determine whether non-operative or operative treatment is indicated. The purpose of this prospective case series of minimally displaced DRF treated with a dorsal cast was to assess the complication rate and patient-reported outcome measures. This single-centre, single-blinded, prospective case series followed 50 conservatively treated DRF patients for one year. Primary outcomes were complications and Quick Disability of Arm Shoulder and Hand (qDASH) score. Secondary outcomes were range of motion (ROM), grip strength and pain, and Patient-Rated Wrist/Hand Evaluation (PRWHE). Results showed only minor complications with a return to prior ROM, qDASH, and pain after 12 months and improvement in outcomes after 6–12 months. In conclusion, the majority of DRF patients who were treated non-operatively with five-week dorsal casting recover fully after minimally displaced DRF. This standard approach is thus considered safe, and the present results provide a reference for other studies.
Resveratrol, Metabolic Dysregulation, and Alzheimer’s Disease: Considerations for Neurogenerative Disease

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) has traditionally been discussed as a disease where serious cognitive decline is a result of Aβ-plaque accumulation, tau tangle formation, and neurodegeneration. Recently, it has been shown that metabolic dysregulation observed with insulin resistance and type-2 diabetes actively contributes to the progression of AD. One of the pathologies linking metabolic disease to AD is the release of inflammatory cytokines that contribute to the development of brain neuroinflammation and mitochondrial dysfunction, ultimately resulting in amyloid-beta peptide production and accumulation. Improving these metabolic impairments has been shown to be effective at reducing AD progression and improving cognitive function. The polyphenol resveratrol (RSV) improves peripheral metabolic disorders and may provide similar benefits centrally in the brain. RSV reduces inflammatory cytokine release, improves mitochondrial energetic function, and improves Aβ-peptide clearance by activating SIRT1 and AMPK. RSV has also been linked to improved cognitive function; however, the mechanisms of action are less defined. However, there is evidence to suggest that chronic RSV-driven AMPK activation may be detrimental to synaptic function and growth, which would directly impact cognition. This review will discuss the benefits and adverse effects of RSV on the brain, highlighting the major signaling pathways and some of the gaps surrounding the use of RSV as a treatment for AD.
Black Female Adolescents’ Sexuality: Pleasure Expectancies, Sexual Guilt, and Age of Sexual Debut

Abstract This study examined individual and familial influences on Black female adolescents’ (N = 1426) sexual pleasure expectancies, sexual guilt, and age of sexual debut using data from the National Longitudinal Study on Adolescent to Adult Health. Results indicated significant differences between Black female adolescents that were sexually active and those that were not. Religious importance, having a residential father, and perceived pubertal timing were significantly associated with sexual guilt and pleasure expectancies. Religious importance and perceived pubertal timing were also associated with later ages of sexual debut. These results have implications for sexuality education and future research using sex positive and intimate justice frameworks.
Finance, Globalization, and Urban Primacy

Abstract We use data from 131 countries in the period 2000–14 to analyze the determinants of urban primacy, calculated as the share of the city with the largest gross domestic product (GDP) in a country in the total GDP of that country. While prior research has largely neglected the role of financial factors, we demonstrate that urban primacy is related positively to the size of financial activity. In addition, currency depreciation in relation to the US dollar is related to lower urban primacy, while gross capital outflows are related to higher urban primacy. We find that trade openness—a key indicator of globalization—also coincides with higher urban primacy, but this relationship is statistically and economically less significant than that between finance and urban primacy. Among other factors, we show that urban primacy is smaller in countries with a large population, high population density, a large agricultural sector, and a federal political structure, and particularly high in countries where primate cities have seaport functions. Our main results hold in both developed and developing countries. We discuss a wide range of mechanisms through which finance can affect urban primacy, including agglomeration economies, proximity to power, access to capital, financialization, and financial instability. In short, finance has a crucial impact on the geographic distribution of economic activity.
Anti-disturbance control for time-varying delayed semi-Markovian jump systems with saturation and generally uncertain transition rates via disturbance observer

The issue of anti-disturbance control for semi-Markovian jump systems (S-MJSs) with saturation via disturbance observer is investigated in this paper. Compared with the existing results, time-varying delay, actuator saturation, exogenous disturbance and generally uncertain transition rates are all considered in S-MJSs. Firstly, the sufficient condition of stochastic stability based on S-MJSs with time-varying delay is proposed by stochastic Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional. Secondly, disturbance observer-based control is applied in S-MJSs for addressing exogenous disturbance, and the controller is designed to guarantee the system performance. After that, the maximum estimation of domain of attraction is solved by an optimisation problem. Finally, two practical cases are introduced for testifying the accuracy of the proposed methods.
20-month-olds Use Social Categories to Make Inductive Inferences about Agents’ Preferences

ABSTRACT Adults use social-group membership to make inductive inferences about the properties of novel individuals, and this tendency is well established by the preschool years. Recent evidence suggests that infants attend to features associated with social groups and use social-group membership to interpret an agents’ actions. The current study sought to replicate and extend these findings by clarifying whether infants’ responses in prior studies reflected “in the moment” influences of social-group membership or inductive inferences about agents’ properties and behaviors. Specifically, we investigated whether 20-month-old infants expect members of a social group to share characteristics, even when the target agent acts alone in the absence of other group members. Our results demonstrated that infants expected two individuals to share food preferences when they belonged to the same social group, but they had no expectations about whether members of two different social groups would share food preferences. These results suggest that by 20 months of age, infants use social-group membership to make inductive inferences about the properties of novel individuals, even when that individual is acting in the absence of its group members.
Reactive motion planning using time-layered C-spaces for a collaborative robot PaDY

A reactive motion-planning for collaborative robots using the time-layered C-spaces (TLC-spaces) is proposed in this paper. First, the time-augmented C-space (TAC-space) is introduced. TAC-space is an implementation of the configuration-time space with multiple moving obstacles [Latombe JC. Robot motion planning. Kluwer Academic; 1991. p. 22, 23]. The TAC-space is obtained by stacking the current and predicted future C-spaces along the time axis using predicted motions of the obstacles. Then, TLC-spaces is constructed as the collection of only those C-spaces in the TAC-space that are relevant to the motion planning with moving obstacles. The trajectory that reaches the goal configuration at the specified target time is generated under dynamic constraints including robot velocity and acceleration. We focus on a collaborative robot, PaDY, whose task is to deliver tools and parts to the worker in a factory. Similar to an actual assembly process in an automobile production system, six scenarios are selected for the evaluation of the proposed motion planning method. The simulation results using the real-life motion of workers show that the computation time required for the proposed motion planning using TLC-spaces is shorter than that of our previous method using TAC-space. The experimental results show that the proposed method is applicable to PaDY in human environments. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT
Maximum height of mountain forests abruptly decreases above an elevation breakpoint

ABSTRACT Canopy height is an excellent indicator of forest productivity, biodiversity and other ecosystem functions. Yet, we know little about how elevation drives canopy height in mountain areas. Here we take advantage of an ambitious airborne LiDAR flight plan to assess the relationship between elevation and maximum forest canopy height, and discuss its implications for the monitoring of mountain forests’ responses to climate change. We characterized vegetation structure using Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) data provided by the Spanish Geographic Institute. For each ALS return within forested areas, we calculated the maximum canopy height in a 20 × 20 m grid, and then added information on potential drivers of maximum canopy height, including ground elevation, terrain slope and aspect, soil characteristics, and continentality. We observed a strong, negative, piece-wise response of maximum canopy height to increasing elevation, with a well-defined breakpoint (at 1623 ± 5 m) that sets the beginning of the relationship between both variables. Above this point, the maximum canopy height decreased at a rate of 1.7 m per each 100 m gain in elevation. Elevation alone explained 63% of the variance in maximum canopy height, much more than any other tested variable. We observed species- and aspect-specific effects of elevation on maximum canopy height that match previous local studies, suggesting common patterns across mountain ranges. Our study is the first regional analysis of the relationship between elevation and maximum canopy height at such spatial resolution. The tree-height decline breakpoint holds an intrinsic potential to monitor mountain forests, and can thus serve as a robust indicator to appraise the effects of climate change, and address fundamental questions about how tree development varies along elevation gradients at regional or global scales.
The synergistic use of microwave coarse-scale measurements and two adopted high-resolution indices driven from long-term T-V scatter plot for fine-scale soil moisture estimation

ABSTRACT In an attempt to retrieve soil moisture content (SMC) from remote sensing techniques, this article suggests and evaluates a developed approach that overcomes three of the most fundamental limitations of the temperature–vegetation (T-V) scatter plot method that are (1) low accuracy of the T-V scatter plot method in cases that the corresponding scatter plot and its wet and dry edges are not formed appropriately, (2) incompatibility of the T-V index maps in different days, and (3) inability to obtain the absolute SMC values from the T-V indices. The research consists of three main steps. In the first step, the measurements of eight global in situ SMC networks were applied to select the most appropriate and accurate microwave remote sensing mission among from Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2, Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity, and Soil Moisture Active Passive. The results outlined the superiority of SMAP’s products in terms of RMSE and correlation coefficient (root mean square difference (RMSE) = 0.3–0.12 m3/m3 and R = 0.53–0.93). At the second step, the 1-year T-V scatter plot was formed and then, two adopted soil moisture indices, namely the annual soil moisture index (ASMIHR) and daily soil moisture index (DSMIHR), were extracted. The ASMIHR was driven from the annual wet and dry edges and a novel concept called “co-moisture line” was introduced to obtain the DSMIHR. In the third step of the proposed method, Disaggregation based on Physical and Theoretical scale Change was applied as the downscaling algorithm with a novelty to identify the parameter of partial derivative of microwave data relative to SMC indices using the relationship between ASMIHR and coarse-scale SMAP pixels. Across four SMAP coarse-scale pixels located in the study area, the corresponding parameter was obtained with the average correlation coefficient 0.7. This step was followed by integrating DSMIHR and SMAP products to provide absolute SMC values at intermediate spatial resolution. The proposed method was evaluated on the agricultural site of Soil Moisture Active Passive Validation Experiment 2016-Manitoba. The ultimate results of the proposed method in terms of absolute SMC values proved promising consistency with field measurements (R = 0.66 and no-bias RMSE = 0.06 m3/m3).
Mechanism of the Initial States of a Bubble Formation and Departure from a Heated Surface in a Subcooled Flow

Abstract Growth of a nonisothermal bubble on a heated horizontal surface in a subcooled flow is studied to determine the significance of different heat transfer mechanisms on the bubble growth. The heat transfer mechanisms that are considered are (1) microlayer evaporation, (2) transient thermal boundary layer conduction, and (3) bubble surface evaporation and condensation. The results indicate that a different heat transfer mechanism dominates the bubble growth at different stages of the bubble growth. And, the temperature gradient inside the bubble decreases after bubble liftoff in high Reynolds numbers. The results also show an oscillatory heat flux during the initial stages of the bubble growth.
Learning to avoid biased reasoning: effects of interleaved practice and worked examples

ABSTRACT It is yet unclear which teaching methods are most effective for improving critical thinking (CT) skills and especially for the ability to avoid biased reasoning. Two experiments (laboratory: N = 85; classroom: N = 117), investigated the effect of practice schedule (interleaved/blocked) on students’ learning and transfer of unbiased reasoning, and whether it interacts with practice-task format (worked-examples/problems). After receiving CT-instructions, participants practiced in: (1) a blocked schedule with worked examples, (2) an interleaved schedule with worked examples, (3) a blocked schedule with problems, or (4) an interleaved schedule with problems. In both experiments, learning outcomes improved after instruction/practice. Surprisingly, there were no indications that interleaved practice led to better learning/transfer than blocked practice, irrespective of task format. The practice-task format did matter for novices’ learning: worked examples were more effective than low-assistance practice problems, which demonstrates –for the first time – that the worked-example effect also applies to novices’ learning to avoid biased reasoning.
Docosahexaenoic acid production by Schizochytrium sp.: review and prospect

ABSTRACT Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is one of the essential polyunsaturated fatty acids required for human health. Recently Schizochytrium sp. has become an ideal microorganism for the industrial production of DHA due to its advantages of easy cultivation, fast growth rate, simple fatty acid composition and high DHA content. This review focuses on the new progress about DHA extraction from Schizochytrium sp. Current efforts about the screening and improvement of Schizochytrium sp. , optimization of the fermentation, lipid extraction and DHA purification were discussed. Meanwhile, the different routes involved in DHA synthesis in Schizochytrium sp. were described. At last, we propose that breeding of stable high DHA-yielding Schizochytrium sp. , exploring low-cost and high-efficiency fermentation substrates, and clarifying DHA synthesis pathways are the future research priorities.