Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sleep Disorders in Patients with Parkinson's Disease during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case–Control Study

Objective: To assess the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on sleep disorders among Parkinson's disease (PD) patients using validated questionnaires. Materials and Methods: This prospective study involved 50 PD patients and 50 age, gender, and body mass index-matched controls. All participants underwent assessment of cognition using Montreal Cognitive Assessment scale, sleep quality using Parkinson's disease sleep scale-2 (PDSS-2; for PD patients) and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI; for PD patients and healthy controls), excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) using Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS), insomnia symptoms and severity using insomnia severity index (ISI), restless legs syndrome (RLS) using International RLS Study Group criteria, rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (RBD) using RBD Single-Question Screen (RBD1Q), and depression using Patient Health Questionnaire-9 scale. Results: Eighty-eight percent of PD patients reported one or more sleep disorders, compared to 28% controls. While 72% of PD patients reported poor sleep quality (PDSS-2 ≥15, PSQI >5), 60% had insomnia, 58% reported RBD, 50% had EDS, and 36% reported RLS. Depressive symptoms were reported by 70% patients. PD patients with and without poor sleep quality were comparable with regards to demographic and clinical variables, except for depressive symptoms (P < 0.001). Depressive symptoms showed a significant association with EDS (P = 0.008), RBD (P < 0.001), and insomnia (P = 0.001). Conclusion: Prevalence of sleep disorders increased in PD patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Prevalence of EDS, RBD, and RLS in PD patients was higher compared to that reported in studies during the pre-COVID-19 times. Presence of depressive symptoms was a significant correlate of presence of sleep disorders in PD patients.
Oxygen Vacancy Injection on (111) CeO2 Nanocrystal Facets for Efficient H2O2 Detection

Facet and defect engineering have achieved great success in improving the catalytic performance of CeO2, but the inconsistent reports on the synergistic effect of facet and oxygen vacancy and the lack of investigation on the heavily doped oxygen vacancy keeps it an attractive subject. Inspired by this, CeO2 nanocrystals with selectively exposed crystalline facets (octahedron, cube, sphere, rod) and abundant oxygen vacancies have been synthesized to investigate the synergistic effect of facet and heavily doped oxygen vacancy. The contrasting electrochemical behavior displayed by diverse reduced CeO2 nanocrystals verifies that oxygen vacancy acts distinctly on different facets. The thermodynamically most stable CeO2 octahedron enclosed by heavily doped (111) facets surprisingly exhibited the optimum non-enzymatic H2O2 sensing performance, with a high sensitivity (128.83 µA mM−1 cm−2), a broad linear range (20 µM~13.61 mM), and a low detection limit (1.63 µM). Meanwhile, the sensor presented satisfying selectivity, repeatability, stability, as well as its feasibility in medical disinfectants. Furthermore, the synergistic effect of facet and oxygen vacancy was clarified by the inclined distribution states of oxygen vacancy and the electronic transmission property. This work enlightens prospective research on the synergistic effect of alternative crystal surface engineering strategies.
Alinhamento de vocabulário de domínio utilizando os sistemas AML e LogMap

Introdução: No contexto da Web Semântica, a interoperabilidade entre ontologias heterogêneas é um desafio devido a diversos fatores entre os quais se destacam a ambiguidade e a redundância semântica. Para superar tais desafios, adota-se sistemas/algoritmos para alinhamento de ontologias. Neste estudo, entende-se que vocabulários controlados são uma forma particular de ontologias. Objetivo: obter um vocabulário resultante do alinhamento e fusão dos vocabulários Domínios Científicos e Áreas Científicas da FCT, EuroSciVoc e UNESCO nomenclature for fields of Science and Technology, no domínio Ciências da Computação, para ser usado no âmbito do projeto IViSSEM. Metodologia: revisão da literatura sobre sistemas/algoritmos para alinhamento de ontologias, utilizando a metodologia PRISMA; alinhamento dos três vocabulários; e validação do vocabulário por meio do estudo Delphi. Resultados: procedeu-se à análise dos 25 sistemas de alinhamento de ontologias e variantes que participaram de pelo menos uma track da competição entre 2018 e 2019. Destes sistemas foram selecionados Agreement Maker Light e LogMap para realizar o alinhamento dos três vocabulários, fazendo um recorte para a área da Ciência da Computação. Conclusão: O vocabulário obtido a partir do Agreement Maker Light apresentou uma melhor performance. Ao final foi obtido o vocabulário, com 98 termos, no domínio da Ciência da Computação a ser adotado pelo projeto IViSSEM. O alinhamento resultante entre o vocabulário utilizado a nível nacional pela FCT (Portugal) com um empregue pela União Europeia (EuroSciVoc) e outro do domínio da Ciência&Tecnologia (UNESCO), estabelecendo relações proveitosas para outras universidades e projetos, bem como para a própria FCT.
Vascularization in Bioartificial Parenchymal Tissue: Bioink and Bioprinting Strategies

Among advanced therapy medicinal products, tissue-engineered products have the potential to address the current critical shortage of donor organs and provide future alternative options in organ replacement therapy. The clinically available tissue-engineered products comprise bradytrophic tissue such as skin, cornea, and cartilage. A sufficient macro- and microvascular network to support the viability and function of effector cells has been identified as one of the main challenges in developing bioartificial parenchymal tissue. Three-dimensional bioprinting is an emerging technology that might overcome this challenge by precise spatial bioink deposition for the generation of a predefined architecture. Bioinks are printing substrates that may contain cells, matrix compounds, and signaling molecules within support materials such as hydrogels. Bioinks can provide cues to promote vascularization, including proangiogenic signaling molecules and cocultured cells. Both of these strategies are reported to enhance vascularization. We review pre-, intra-, and postprinting strategies such as bioink composition, bioprinting platforms, and material deposition strategies for building vascularized tissue. In addition, bioconvergence approaches such as computer simulation and artificial intelligence can support current experimental designs. Imaging-derived vascular trees can serve as blueprints. While acknowledging that a lack of structured evidence inhibits further meta-analysis, this review discusses an end-to-end process for the fabrication of vascularized, parenchymal tissue.
p-Coumaric acid, Kaempferol, Astragalin and Tiliroside Influence the Expression of Glycoforms in AGS Gastric Cancer Cells

Abnormal glycosylation of cancer cells is considered a key factor of carcinogenesis related to growth, proliferation, migration and invasion of tumor cells. Many plant-based polyphenolic compounds reveal potential anti-cancer properties effecting cellular signaling systems. Herein, we assessed the effects of phenolic acid, p-coumaric acid and flavonoids such as kaempferol, astragalin or tiliroside on expression of selected cancer-related glycoforms and enzymes involved in their formation in AGS gastric cancer cells. The cells were treated with 80 and 160 µM of the compounds. RT-PCR, Western blotting and ELISA tests were performed to determine the influence of polyphenolics on analyzed factors. All the examined compounds inhibited the expression of MUC1, ST6GalNAcT2 and FUT4 mRNAs. C1GalT1, St3Gal-IV and FUT4 proteins as well as MUC1 domain, Tn and sialyl T antigen detected in cell lysates were also lowered. Both concentrations of kaempferol, astragalin and tiliroside also suppressed ppGalNAcT2 and C1GalT1 mRNAs. MUC1 cytoplasmic domain, sialyl Tn, T antigens in cell lysates and sialyl T in culture medium were inhibited only by kaempferol and tiliroside. Nuclear factor NF-κB mRNA expression decreased after treatment with both concentrations of kaempferol, astragalin and tiliroside. NF-κB protein expression was inhibited by kaempferol and tiliroside. The results indicate the rationality of application of examined polyphenolics as potential preventive agents against gastric cancer development.
NO 3 – , K + , and chlorophyll index in fertigated grapevines in the semi-arid region of Brazil

: Evaluating the effects of N and K supply on grapevines ( Vitis vinifera L.) and the techniques for nutritional diagnosis is of great importance for fertigation management of this crop. This study evaluated the effects of N and K fertigation on the soluble concentrations of NO 3– and K + in the petiole sap and on the leaf chlorophyll index in drip irrigated ‘Syrah’ grapevine (from 17 June 2013 to 25 Nov 2014). The treatments consisted of five levels of N (0, 15, 30, 60 and 120 kg ha –1 ) and K 2 O (0, 15, 30, 60 and 120 kg ha –1 ), combined in an incomplete 5 2 factorial scheme in 13 combinations and arranged in randomized blocks with four replications. We determined NO 3– and K + concentrations in petiole sap, leaf chlorophyll index, grapevine cluster mass and number per plant, mean grapevine cluster mass, and phenolic composition. High NO 3– concentrations contributed positively to grapevine yield; however, increased K+ concentrations caused a negative response of sap. For 120 kg N ha –1 rate, NO 3 – in the sap and chlorophyll index showed higher values at the flowering stage, while high values for K + were observed during the grape-ripening stage.
Adapting and monitoring daily CICO implementation in high schools

Abstract Previous research has demonstrated a need for contextual fit when implementing behavior supports in high schools (Flannery et al., The High School Journal, 96(4), 267–282, 2013; Flannery & Kato, Preventing School Failure: Alternative Education for Children and Youth, 61(1), 69–79, 2017). As high schools move beyond the implementation of Tier 1 and begin to implement Tiers 2 and 3, school implementation teams must identify effective interventions that fit the high school context. The current study assessed whether Check-In Check-Out (CICO; Hawken et al., Responding to problem behavior in schools: The check-in, check-out intervention (3rd ed.). The Guilford Press, 2021), with strategic contextual adaptations, could be implemented with fidelity and whether high daily implementation fidelity was related to student behavior performance. Teacher feedback quality was also explored. Results showed high fidelity implementation at the systems and procedural level for all participants and a significant, small correlation between procedural fidelity and daily points earned.
Switching-Cell Structure-Based Generic Five-Level Current-Source Inverter

In this article, a new single-phase five-level current-source inverter is proposed. The proposed inverter provides open/short-circuit immunity and minimizes overlap time by adding four small film capacitors, thus enhancing the inverter's reliability. The efficiency and output waveforms quality are improved due to reduced overlap-time interval. The proposed inverter also provides natural balancing of the inductor currents. In addition, the n switching cells can be used to extend to the proposed N-level inverter. The operating principle, steady-state analysis, fault-state analysis, and parameter selections of the proposed inverter are presented. Furthermore, a comparative study of the proposed inverter and other five-level current-source inverters is addressed. Finally, a 1 kW prototype is implemented to verify the feasibility of the proposed inverter.
Improving Arctic weather and seasonal climate prediction: recommendations for future forecast systems evolution from the European project APPLICATE

The Arctic environment is changing, increasing the vulnerability of local communities and ecosystems, and impacting its socio-economic landscape. In this context, weather and climate prediction systems can be powerful tools to support strategic planning and decision-making at different time horizons. This article presents several success stories from the H2020 project APPLICATE on how to advance Arctic weather and seasonal climate prediction, synthesizing the key lessons learned throughout the project and providing recommendations for future model and forecast system development.
Body of Management Competencies for Engineer 4.0 (BoMC4E4.0) – A Model Proposal

: Purpose: The purpose of this Article is to present a proposal for a model of managerial competence in the fourth industrial revolution, known as industry 4.0. The consequence of this revolution is the emergence of new requirements in terms of the competences of employees at every organizational level. The authors focused on the requirements of 4.0 engineers, in connection with the managerial competences expected of them. Design/methodology/approach: In order to answer the research questions posed, a review of the literature and commercial reports presenting the results of research on the expected managerial competences and the profile of an engineer 4.0 was carried out. Findings: The conducted research allowed for the development of the Body of management competencies for Engineer 4.0 model - BoMC4E4.0. Practical Implications: Research results will help to identify the scope of managerial competences of an engineer in the era of Industry 4.0, which in practice may contribute to the creation of requirements for candidates applying for a job in a managerial position in manufacturing companies, educational entities to adjust training programs to contemporary requirements of industry and other researcher to undertake in-depth research in this field. Originality value: The basic and original scientific contribution is the model Body of management competencies for Engineer 4.0 - BoMC4E4.0, developed based on literature research. This model considers three research perspectives: general for Industry 4.0, managerial and engineering. This approach is original and has not been analyzed and published before.
A Subthreshold Layout Strategy for Faster and Lower Energy Complex Digital Circuits

This work presents complex circuitry from subthreshold standard cell libraries created by geometric STI spacer patterning for bulk planar CMOS technology nodes. Performance/leakage granularity enhancement affords safer multi-Vt synthesis in aggressive voltage scaling schemes. Libraries are evaluated in silicon through implementation of 32-bit datapath 128-bit AES cores. Intra-die nominal temperature (20 °C) analysis reveals improvements of up to 8.65×/24% MEP-to-MEP in frequency and energy-per-cycle respectively, compared to a state-of-the-art subthreshold library. A negative temperature correlation with performance enhancement is demonstrated extending beyond the cell level and into more complex designs. MEP-to-MEP performance enhancement and energy-per-cycle reduction are demonstrated over a temperature range of 0 °C to 85 °C.
Magnetizing Inrush Current Elimination Strategy Based on a Parallel Type Asynchronous Closing Hybrid Transformer

When the power transformer is connected to power grids, due to the existing remanent magnetism (RM) and the voltage transient component, the transformer will generate a large magnetizing inrush current (MIC). The MIC not only seriously threatens the safe operation of the transformer, but also causes the misoperation in the differential protections. To solve the aforementioned problems, a novel MIC elimination strategy of the hybrid transformer (HT) based on an asynchronous closing technology is proposed in this article. First, through the rational design of the HT topology, the parallel auxiliary winding (PAW) of the HT is established and the magnetic coupling mechanism is realized, which lay the magnetic circuit foundation for the MIC management. Second, a step-type synchronous magnetic field is established through PAW without considering RM. After the action of step-type magnetic field, the core flux increases sinusoidal linearly and enters into the rated steady stable. Finally, by controlling the stabilization time of the oblique wave and the primary voltage signal of the power grid, when the core flux is stabilized, the nonsynchronous closing of the HT can effectively alleviate the generation of the MIC. The validity and feasibility of the proposed scheme are verified by building an HT prototype platform, which provides some reference for the difficulty of measuring RM and avoiding MIC in the power system.
Can We Change Their Minds? Investigating an Embedded Tutor's Influence on Students' Mindsets and Writing

This article describes a semester-long study that used replicable, aggregable, data-supported (RAD) research methods to investigate embedded tutoring efficacy. The research occurred in three sections of an engineering course, one of which had a course-embedded writing tutor. Over the course of a semester, the researcher investigated changes in students’ mindsets, namely their beliefs about the malleability of writing skills. Results suggested students who worked with the embedded tutor improved their mindsets significantly more than did nontutored students. Students in the course-embedded section became more growth-minded, seeing themselves as capable of improving. The researcher also blindly rated samples of students’ writing and found tutored students improved their literature-review drafts more significantly than did nontutored students. Tutored students’ revised literature reviews were significantly better in terms of organization, style, and mechanics. These findings suggest an embedded tutor can not only improve students’ writing performance but also influence their mindsets, demonstrating the important role writing centers can play in promoting the growth mindset.
Actin Retrograde Flow Regulated by the Wiskott–Aldrich Syndrome Protein Drives the Natural Killer Cell Response

Simple Summary Immune cells sense mechanical stimuli from their microenvironment by transducing them into biochemical signals through mechanosensors, in a process called mechanotransduction. The cytoskeleton mediates mechanotransduction in response to local environmental changes. The cytoskeletal component, actin, provides the structural basis for the NK cell immunological synapse (NKIS) and polarization of the signaling complex and secretory apparatus. Actin-mediated mechanotransduction is essential to adjust and to improve the natural killer (NK) cell response to changes induced by the microenvironment. Wiskott–Aldrich Syndrome protein (WASp), another key cytoskeletal component, plays a role in actin filament nucleation, and hence it’s branching toward the membrane. Here, we found that WASp regulates mechanotransduction by controlling F-actin movement thereby modulating NK cell signaling and the equilibrium between activation versus inhibition. WASp regulation of the actin retrograde flow (ARF) provides a novel mechanism to modulate the functional outcome of NK cells in response to their environment. Abstract Understanding the crosstalk between natural killer (NK) cells and the tumor microenvironment (TME) has enhanced the potential of exploiting the interplay between activation and inhibition of NK cells for immunotherapy. This interaction is crucial for understanding how tumor cells escape NK cell immune surveillance. NK cell dysfunction is regulated by two molecular mechanisms, downregulated activating receptor ligand expression on the tumor cells, and upregulated inhibitory signals delivered to NK cells. Recent studies demonstrated the role of mechanotransduction in modulating NK cell responses in the TME. The immunological synapse represents a functional interface between the NK cell and its target, regulated by Actin Retrograde Flow (ARF), which drives the adhesion molecules and receptors toward the central zone of the immunological synapse (IS). Here, we further characterize the role of ARF in controlling the immune response of NK cells, using CRISPR/cas9-mediated Wiskott–Aldrich Syndrome protein (WASp) gene silencing of NK cells. We demonstrate that WASp regulates ARF velocity, affecting the conformation and function of the key NK inhibitory regulator, SH2-domain containing protein tyrosine phosphatase-1 (SHP-1), and consequently, the NK cell response. Our results demonstrate the potential of modulating the biophysical and intracellular regulation of NK activation as a promising approach for improving immunotherapy.
Scheduling algorithms for truly heterogeneous hierarchical fog networks

Fog computing has emerged as a viable framework for processing delay sensitive applications. Modern applications consist of latency‐sensitive and latency‐tolerant jobs, leading to fog architectures that are often multi‐tiered/hierarchical. FiFSA (hierarchical first fog scheduling algorithm) and EFSA (hierarchical elected fog scheduling algorithm) are capable of scheduling both online and batch jobs on hierarchical fog‐cloud architectures. We consider heterogeneity in computing capacity—both among fog devices in separate layers, and among fog devices in the same layers. In general, online jobs with modest cpu requirements are scheduled on lower tier fog devices, and batch jobs with significant cpu requirements are scheduled on higher tier‐fog nodes, or the cloud data center (cdc). FiFSA assigns jobs to the first fog device with sufficient spare capacity. EFSA employs a MinMin heuristic that assigns jobs to the fog device that results in minimum completion time, while considering fog load. The performance of the proposed algorithms has been evaluated on a real‐life workload trace, using both simulation scenarios and a prototype testbed. FiFSA and EFSA offer an improvement of 19% to 70% in completion times and an improvement of 42% to 72% in system cost over other comparable algorithms.
Key considerations for choosing a statistical method to deal with incomplete treatment adherence in pragmatic trials

Pragmatic trials offer practical means of obtaining real‐world evidence to help improve decision‐making in comparative effectiveness settings. Unfortunately, incomplete adherence is a common problem in pragmatic trials. The commonly used methods in randomized control trials often cannot handle the added complexity imposed by incomplete adherence, resulting in biased estimates. Several naive methods and advanced causal inference methods (e.g., inverse probability weighting and instrumental variable‐based approaches) have been used in the literature to deal with incomplete adherence. Practitioners and applied researchers are often confused about which method to consider under a given setting. This current work is aimed to review commonly used statistical methods to deal with non‐adherence along with their key assumptions, advantages, and limitations, with a particular focus on pragmatic trials. We have listed the applicable settings for these methods and provided a summary of available software. All methods were applied to two hypothetical datasets to demonstrate how these methods perform in a given scenario, along with the R codes. The key considerations include the type of intervention strategy (point treatment settings, where treatment is administered only once versus sustained treatment settings, where treatment has to be continued over time) and availability of data (e.g., the extent of measured or unmeasured covariates that are associated with adherence, dependent confounding impacted by past treatment, and potential violation of assumptions). This study will guide practitioners and applied researchers to use the appropriate statistical method to address incomplete adherence in pragmatic trial settings for both the point and sustained treatment strategies.