Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Inventors' small worlds: academic and CNRS researchers in networks of inventors in France

In this paper we map the networks of inventors in France using data on patent applications at European Patent Office. We focus on two related issues: structural properties of social networks of inventors and the positions of academic inventors therein. First, we revisit earlier findings that social networks of inventors are “small worlds”, i.e. having prominent local structure and short social distances at the same time, and show that when examining the “small world” features of social networks a researcher must carefully choose the proper random network against which small worlds properties of the observed network are tested. We find that inventors’ networks in some technological fields are, indeed, small worlds, while in other fields not. Small worlds are found in those technological fields where presence of academic and CNRS inventors is significant. Second, we find that that both academic and CNRS inventors are highly central actors both locally and globally. We then use a modularity algorithm to uncover the block-model structure of the network, and find that the boundaries of tightly-knit clusters of inventors often coincide with firms’ boundaries. This may explain why academic and CNRS inventors which are more likely to behave as “free lancers” for different firms exhibit higher centrality scores. We, indeed, find that academic and CNRS inventors are more likely to occupy important positions between clusters. 1 DIME – Universita di Brescia & KITeS – Universita Bocconi, Italy. 2 BETA – University of Strasbourg, France. 3 UNU-MERIT – Maastricht University, Netherlands
Aboveground biomass and carbon stock assessment in the Eastern Himalaya foothills along the Indo-Bhutan border

ABSTRACT Aboveground biomass (AGB) and the distribution of carbon stock was assessed in a swath of territory along the Indo-Bhutan border. This tract between Brahmaputra river’s floodplain and foothills of Eastern Himalayas, is a part of the Indo-Bhutan biodiversity hotspot. Using Landsat satellite data, the analysis assessed spatio-temporal landuse/landcover changes during 1989 and 2019. AGB and carbon stock were estimated using a forest inventory. Total AGB losses were 21.44 and 7.24 Mt in India and Bhutan respectively. Tree density ranged between 107–350 and 253–853 trees ha−1 in India and Bhutan respectively and tended to decrease with increasing tree diameter. Anthocephalus Chinensis (76 trees ha−1), Aphanamixis Polystachya (64), Syzygium Formosum (62) were the most dominant species in India while Quercus Spp (249 trees ha−1), Abies densa (190), Rhodendron (155) dominated in Bhutan. AGB and carbon losses were more marked in India than Bhutan. Land cover changes were not uniformly spatially distributed throughout the study area and dense forests in India decreased at a rate seven times that of Bhutan’s. Consequently, AGB losses in India were three fold those of Bhutan’s.
EMBEDDING THE ELEMENT OF FUN IN TEACHING WRITING FOR ESL YOUNG LEARNERS USING BALLOON POPPING TECHNIQUE

Teaching English to young learners is an arduous task but a meaningful one too. Teachers of young learners strive to provide fun and engaging instructions in the ESL classrooms as to augment students’ language proficiency and development. In the effort to improve students’ writing skills, there are a variety of methods that can be used in the classroom. However, mostly teachers adopt the traditional approach of paper and pencil technique which bores the students and lacks fun component in the classroom. To worsen the situation, students writing skills are still at a poor level. As such, this study embarks on a writing project using a balloon popping method which involves kinaesthetic and visual elements in amplifying the opportunity to pick up writing skills in a fun and engaging way. 35 primary school students participated in this study where a pre-test was carried out before the technique was introduced. This technique was carried out for 3 months and a post writing test was held afterwards. The results showed a tremendous increase in the grades where 85% of the students scored 70 marks and above in the post-test as compared to the pre-test scores. A semi-structured interview was also carried out with the group leaders and the teacher who taught them the technique in class. Reflection entries from the teacher were garnered to validate the post-test results. The students and teacher felt that this technique boosts students’ learning motivation, injects fun in learning, improves process writing and provides platform for alternative assessment. Fun and engaging approach can be used in ESL classes to enhance and assist learning. Future learning modules for students should embed similar economical activities that can be done at home with parents and guardians.
Towards intelligent transport systems: geospatial ontological framework and agent simulation

In an Intelligent Transport System (ITS) environment, the communication component is of high significance as it supports interactions between vehicles and the roadside infrastructure. Existing studies focus on the physical capability and capacity of the communication technologies, but the equally important development of suitable and efficient semantic content for transmission has received notably less attention. Using an ontology is one promising approach for context modelling in ubiquitous computing environments. In the transport domain, an ontology can be used both for context modelling and semantic contents for vehicular communications. This research explores the development of an ontological framework implementing a geosemantic messaging model to support vehicle-to-vehicle communications. To develop an ontology model, two scenarios (an ambulance situation and a breakdown on the motorway) are constructed to describe specific situations using short-range communication in an ITS environment. In the scenarios, spatiotemporal relations and semantic relations among vehicles and road facilities are extracted and defined as classes, objects, and properties/relations in the ontology model. For the ontology model, some functions and query templates are also developed to update vehicles’ movements and to provide some logical procedures that vehicles need to follow in emergency situations. To measure the effects of the vehicular communication based on the ontology model, an agent-based approach is adopted to dynamically simulate the moving vehicles and their communications following the scenarios. The simulation results demonstrate that the ontology model can support vehicular communications to update each vehicle’s context model and assist its decision-making process to resolve the emergency situations. The results also show the effect of vehicular communications on the efficiency trends of traffic in emergency situations, where some vehicles have a communication device, and others do not. The efficiency trends, based on the percentage of vehicles having a communication device, can be useful to set a transition period plan for implanting communication devices onto vehicles and the infrastructure. The geospatial ontological framework and agent simulation may contribute to increase the intelligence of ITS by supporting data-level and application-level implementation of autonomous vehicle agents to share knowledge in local contexts. This work can be easily extended to support more complex interactions amongst vehicles and the infrastructure.
Shear Modulus and Damping Ratio of Sand–Gravel Mixtures Over a Wide Strain Range

ABSTRACT A total of 153 cyclic triaxial tests were performed on 19 sand–gravel mixtures over the strain range of 10–5–10–2, which shows that the particle characteristics have significant influence on the small-strain shear-modulus G0, shear modulus reduction G/G0, and damping ratio λ. An improved Hardin’s equation for the G0 was proposed to consider the effects of particle characteristics and consolidation state. Furthermore, the KZM model correlation was improved to characterize the G/G0 curve. A four-parameter equation of λ with parent rock type, particle gradation, and consolidation condition was also introduced to characterize the λ curve.
Liana litter decomposes faster than tree litter in a multispecies and multisite experiment

Lianas account for a small fraction of forest biomass, but their contribution to leaf or litter biomass and thus to food webs can be substantial. Globally liana exhibit fast life‐history traits. Thus, liana litter may decompose faster than tree litter, and could enhance the decomposition of tree litter (complementarity effect). The differences in decomposition may also vary with mesofauna access or across forest communities. The contribution of these factors to nutrient biogeochemical cycling is poorly understood. We examined the decomposition of litter of 20 liana and 20 tree species of three different tropical forest communities in southern China, over 1 year. (i) We incubated the litter in bags with coarse and fine mesh to distinguish mesofaunal and microfaunal effects. (ii) We used single‐species litter bags to compare decomposition rates of lianas and trees, to test which functional traits best explained decomposition, and whether those traits differed between lianas and trees, and among forest types. (iv) We used mixed‐species litter bags to test whether liana litter enhances decomposition in litter mixtures. (v) We evaluated how leaf litter nutrients decayed in relation to litter mass. Litter decayed faster in coarse‐mesh than fine‐mesh bags, but there was no interaction effect with forest type or growth form. Liana litter decayed faster than tree litter in single‐species bags with mesofauna access and in mixed bags (liana‐only mix, tree‐only mix) without mesofauna. Lianas had higher nitrogen content and specific leaf area and lower leaf dry matter content (LDMC) and toughness than trees. Decomposition rate was significantly negatively related to LDMC. Litter of evergreen broadleaved forest decomposed slower than that of other forest types. Liana litter did not enhance the decomposition of tree litter in mixtures. Liana litter released calcium slightly faster than trees. Synthesis: Leaf litter decomposes faster for lianas than trees, despite high variability of traits and decomposition rates within each growth form and overlap between growth forms, and we found no evidence for the complementarity hypothesis. Our study sheds light on the potential role of lianas within brown food webs and their importance on terrestrial biogeochemistry.
Dehydroisohispanolone as a Promising NLRP3 Inhibitor Agent: Bioevaluation and Molecular Docking

Dehydroisohispanolone (DIH), is a labdane diterpene that has exhibited anti-inflammatory activity via inhibition of NF-κB activation, although its potential effects on inflammasome activation remain unexplored. This study aims to elucidate whether DIH modulates NLR family pyrin domain-containing protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome in macrophages. Our findings show that DIH inhibited NLRP3 activation triggered by Nigericin (Nig), adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and monosodium urate (MSU) crystals, indicating broad inhibitory effects. DIH significantly attenuated caspase-1 activation and secretion of the interleukin-1β (IL-1β) in J774A.1 cells. Interestingly, the protein expressions of NLRP3, apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a CARD (ASC), pro-caspase-1 and pro-IL-1β were not affected by DIH treatment. Furthermore, we found that DIH pretreatment also inhibited the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced NLRP3 inflammasome priming stage. In addition, DIH alleviated pyroptosis mediated by NLRP3 inflammasome activation. Similar results on IL-1β release were observed in Nig-activated bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs). Covalent molecular docking analysis revealed that DIH fits well into the ATP-binding site of NLRP3 protein, forming a covalent bond with Cys415. In conclusion, our experiments show that DIH is an effective NLRP3 inflammasome inhibitor and provide new evidence for its application in the therapy of inflammation-related diseases.
CLP36 promotes p53 deficient sarcoma progression through suppression of atrophin-1 interacting protein-4 (AIP-4)-dependent degradation of YAP1

Background: p53 deficiency is a key causal factor for tumor development and progression. p53 acts in this process through, at least in part, cooperation with YAP1 but the underlying molecular mechanism is incompletely understood. In this paper, we show that CLP36, an actinin-binding cytoskeletal protein, links p53 deficiency to up-regulation of YAP1 expression and sarcoma progression. Methods: Immunohistochemical staining and Western blotting were used to investigate the effect of p53 deficiency on CLP36 expression in sarcoma tissues and cells. Furthermore, molecular, cellular, and genetic knockout and knockdown approaches were employed to investigate the functions of CLP36 in regulation of sarcoma cell behavior in culture and tumor growth in mice. Finally, biochemical approaches were used to investigate the molecular mechanism by which CLP36 regulates the malignant behavior of p53 deficient sarcoma cells. Results: We have found that the expression of CLP36 is up-regulated in response to loss of p53 in sarcoma tissues and cells. Depletion of CLP36 inhibited malignant behavior of p53 deficient sarcoma cells. Furthermore, knockout of CLP36 in mice markedly inhibited p53 deficiency-induced tumorigenesis and improved the survival of the p53 deficient mice. Mechanistically, CLP36 promoted p53 deficiency-induced tumorigenesis through inhibition of E3 ligase atrophin-1 interacting protein-4 (AIP-4)-dependent proteasomal degradation of YAP1 and consequently increase of YAP1 expression. Conclusions: Our results reveal a crucial role of CLP36 in linking p53 deficiency to up-regulation of YAP1 expression and sarcoma progression. Our findings suggest that therapeutic targeting the CLP36/YAP1 signaling axis may provide an effective strategy for alleviation of p53 deficient sarcoma progression.
Early Intensive Physical Rehabilitation Combined with a Protocolized Decannulation Process in Tracheostomized Survivors from Severe COVID-19 Pneumonia with Chronic Critical Illness

(1) Background: Intensive care unit (ICU) survivors from severe COVID-19 acute respiratory distress syndrome (CARDS) with chronic critical illness (CCI) may be considered vast resource consumers with a poor prognosis. We hypothesized that a holistic approach combining an early intensive rehabilitation with a protocol of difficult weaning would improve patient outcomes (2) Methods: A single-center retrospective study in a five-bed post-ICU weaning and intensive rehabilitation center with a dedicated fitness room specifically equipped to safely deliver physical activity sessions in frail patients with CCI. (3) Results: Among 502 CARDS patients admitted to the ICU from March 2020 to March 2022, 50 consecutive tracheostomized patients were included in the program. After a median of 39 ICU days, 25 days of rehabilitation were needed to restore patients’ autonomy (ADL, from 0 to 6; p < 0.001), to significantly improve their aerobic capacity (6-min walking test distance, from 0 to 253 m; p < 0.001) and to reduce patients’ vulnerability (frailty score, from 7 to 3; p < 0.001) and hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS, from 18 to 10; p < 0.001). Forty-eight decannulated patients (96%) were discharged home. (4) Conclusions: A protocolized weaning strategy combined with early intensive rehabilitation in a dedicated specialized center boosted the physical and mental recovery.
Orexin-A Reverse Bone Mass Loss Induced by Chronic Intermittent Hypoxia Through OX1R-Nrf2/HIF-1α Pathway

Background Recent studies suggest that there is a potential connection between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and osteoporosis through dysregulation of bone metabolism. Orexin-A, a neuroprotective peptide secreted by the hypothalamus, is at a lower level in the plasma of OSA patients, which regulates appetite, energy expenditure and sleep-wake states. However, the protective effect of orexin-A on bone metabolism in OSA is unclear. Purpose To investigate whether the activation of OX1R by orexin-A can reverse bone mass loss induced by chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH). Methods Mice were randomly divided into the normoxia group and CIH group. Within the CIH or normoxia groups, treatment groups were given a subcutaneous injection of either orexin-A or saline vehicle once every day for 4 weeks and then femurs were removed for micro-CT scans. Histology and immunohistochemical staining were performed to observe and calculate the changes in femurs as a result of hypoxia. Cell immunofluorescence and immunohistochemical staining were used to detect the expression of orexin receptors in MC3T3-E1 cells or in bones. CCK-8 assay, ALP assay kit and alizarin red staining were used to detect the viability, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, and capacity of mineralization, respectively. The effect of orexin-A on osteogenic differentiation of MC3T3-E1 cells was evaluated using qRT-PCR, Western blot and cell staining. Results CIH led to a decrease in the amount and density of trabecular bone, downregulated OCN expression while increasing osteoclast numbers in femurs and inhibited the expression of RUNX2, OSX, OPN and Nrf2 in MC3T3-E1 cells. Orexin-A treatment alleviated these CIH-induced effects by combining to OX1R. The level of HIF-1α was elevated both in CIH and orexin-A treatment groups. Conclusion CIH environment inhibits osteogenesis and orexin-A can reverse bone mass loss induced by CIH through OX1R-Nrf2/HIF-1α pathway.
Multi‐objective strategy‐based resource allocation and performance improvements in 5G and beyond wireless networks

The increase in mobile communication has been caused the network traffic problem. For that, phantom cell is used for further spectrum efficiency enhancements. In this paper, improved cat swarm optimization clustering (ICSOC)‐based energy aware load balancing is made for both macro cell and small cell to improve the broadband network efficiency using 5G and beyond wireless networks. Then, Multilevel Feedback Queue with Round Robin (MFQ‐RR) scheduling is used to provide superior channel quality and well improved resource sharing for mobile phones. In this wireless network, the phantom cells provided a feasible and cost‐effective way of refining the network coverage and capacity for both local and wide area networks because of their low cost and easy deployment. This system has highly efficient, cost effective, and flexible that will fulfill the end user expectations, and it enhances the capacity and flexible multi‐RAT access to support the diverse applications. This system performance is evaluated using MATLAB 12 software. From experimental results, it is observed that the throughput and spectral efficiency are increased by 20% and 35%, respectively. As well as the packet delay is reduced to 12% and packet loss ratio is 33% decreased when compared with the existing techniques.
Perioperative Cardiovascular Outcome in Patients with Coronary Artery Disease Undergoing Major Vascular Surgery: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Background: Major adverse cardiac events (MACE) are a major contributor to morbidity and mortality in patients undergoing major vascular surgeries. We aim to assess the incidence, risk factors, and outcome of MACE in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) undergoing aortic surgeries. Methods: In this retrospective observational study, we included patients with CAD who underwent elective major vascular surgery, namely, thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm repairs and vascular bypass surgeries for aorto-occlusive disease, in our institute from January 2010 to December 2019. The association of preoperative risk factors including revised cardiac risk index factors, functional status of patients, severity of CAD, and its treatment status and technique of anesthesia with occurrence of MACE was analyzed. Results: Medical records of 141 patients were studied. The incidence of perioperative MACE was 11.3% (16/141) and overall in-hospital mortality was 6.4% (9/141), all of them related to MACE; implicating a 56.2% mortality in patients who develop MACE. The odds of a patient who had undergone preoperative coronary revascularization to develop a MACE was higher than a nonrevascularized patient (odds ratio: 3.9; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.34–11.34). There was found to be no benefit in the addition of epidural analgesia to general anesthesia in reducing perioperative MACE. Conclusions: Major vascular surgeries in patients with CAD are a highly morbid procedure and a perioperative MACE places them at a significantly high risk of mortality. Early detection of CAD and preoperative medical optimization can play a major role in reducing the risk of MACE.
INTERGENERATIONAL PROGRAM AND CARE: ANALYSIS OF MALAYSIA INTERGENERATIONAL MODULES, POLICIES AND GUIDELINES

Globally, there is growing interest in strengthening intergenerational connectivity through intergenerational practices. Intergenerational practice is one of the solutions to support the social and emotional needs of a senior citizen. The rationale of intergenerational learning is essential to provide benefits for the young and the older generations while offering mutual benefits through activity. Although the intergenerational exchange exists in Malaysia, there is still a lack of evidence on the program and care modules. The research aims to analyse the evidence of modules, policies, and guidelines related to Malaysia's intergenerational program. The research objectives are to identify intergenerational historical development and modules, review intergenerational policies and care facilities' guidelines. The focus policies and guidelines review are related to social, senior citizen, and childcare scope through the content analysis method. The result shows that the community-based intergenerational module is the preference for intergenerational development in Malaysia. The intergenerational aged care module typology can be further enhanced and extended to childcare facility building as one of the alternatives to the existing intergenerational care module.
A Deeper Insight into Evolutionary Patterns and Phylogenetic History of ORF Virus through the Whole Genome Sequencing of the First Italian Strains

Orf virus (ORFV) is distributed worldwide and is the causative agent of contagious ecthyma that mainly occurs in sheep and goats. This disease was reported for the first time at the end of 18th century in Europe but very little is currently known about the temporal and geographic origins of this virus. In the present study, the use of new Italian whole genomes allowed for better inference on the evolutionary history of ORFV. In accordance with previous studies, two genome types (S and G) were described for infection of sheep and goats, respectively. These two well-differentiated groups of genomes originated for evolutive convergence in the late 1800s in two different areas of the world (Europe for S type and Asia for G type), but it was only in the early 1900s that the effective size of ORFV increased among hosts and the virus spread across the whole European continent. The Italian strains which were sequenced in the present study were isolated on the Mediterranean island of Sardinian and showed to be exclusive to this geographic area. One of them is likely representative of the early European forms of ORFV which infected sheep and became extinct about one century ago. Such an ancient Sardinian strain may have reached the island simple by chance, where it quickly adapted to the new habitat.