Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fucoxanthin Prevents Long-Term Administration l-DOPA-Induced Neurotoxicity through the ERK/JNK-c-Jun System in 6-OHDA-Lesioned Mice and PC12 Cells

As the most abundant marine carotenoid extracted from seaweeds, fucoxanthin is considered to have neuroprotective activity via its excellent antioxidant properties. Oxidative stress is regarded as an important starting factor for neuronal cell loss and necrosis, is one of the causes of Parkinson’s disease (PD), and is considered to be the cause of adverse reactions caused by the current PD commonly used treatment drug levodopa (l-DA). Supplementation with antioxidants early in PD can effectively prevent neurodegeneration and inhibit apoptosis in dopaminergic neurons. At present, the effect of fucoxanthin in improving the adverse effects triggered by long-term l-DA administration in PD patients is unclear. In the present study, we found that fucoxanthin can reduce cytotoxicity and suppress the high concentration of l-DA (200 μM)-mediated cell apoptosis in the 6-OHDA-induced PC12 cells through improving the reduction in mitochondrial membrane potential, suppressing ROS over-expression, and inhibiting active of ERK/JNK-c-Jun system and expression of caspase-3 protein. These results were demonstrated by PD mice with long-term administration of l-DA showing enhanced motor ability after intervention with fucoxanthin. Our data indicate that fucoxanthin may prove useful in the treatment of PD patients with long-term l-DA administration.
Discovery of Azaindolin-2-One as a Dual Inhibitor of GSK3β and Tau Aggregation with Potential Neuroprotective Activity

The inhibition of glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK3β) activity through pharmacological intervention represents a promising approach for treating challenging neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s disease. Similarly, abnormal tau aggregate accumulation in neurons is a hallmark of various neurodegenerative diseases. We introduced new dual GSK3β/tau aggregation inhibitors due to the excellent clinical outcome of multitarget drugs. Compound (E)-2f stands out among the synthesized inhibitors as a promising GSK3β inhibitor (IC50 1.7 µM) with a pronounced tau anti-aggregation effect in a cell-based model of tauopathy. Concurrently, (E)-2f was demonstrated to be non-toxic to normal cells, making it a promising neuroprotective lead compound that needs further investigation.
Pituitary carcinoma: reclassification and implications in the NET schema

The entity known as pituitary carcinoma has been traditionally defined as a tumor of adenohypophysial cells that metastasizes systemically or craniospinally independent of the histological appearance of the lesion. Reported cases of pituitary carcinoma have clinically and histologically resembled their non-metastatic counterparts that were classified as adenomas; the majority of cases were initially diagnosed as adenomas, and with tumor progression and spread, the diagnosis was changed to carcinoma. This classification has been challenged since the definition of malignancy in most organs is not based only on metastatic spread. The extent of local invasion resulting in an inability to completely resect an adenohypophysial tumor can have serious consequences that can cause harm and are therefore not benign. To address this dilemma, it was proposed that pituitary tumors be classified as neuroendocrine tumors. This change in nomenclature is totally appropriate since these tumors are composed of classical neuroendocrine cells; as with other neuroendocrine tumors, they have variable behavior that can be indolent but can involve metastasis. With the new nomenclature, there is no requirement for a distinction between adenomas and carcinomas. Moreover, the WHO/IARC has provided an overarching classification for neuroendocrine neoplasms at all body sites; in this new classification, the term ‘neuroendocrine carcinoma’ is reserved for poorly differentiated high-grade malignancies that are clinically, morphologically and genetically distinct from well-differentiated neuroendocrine tumors. It remains to be determined if there are true pituitary neuroendocrine carcinomas.
Police interventions in victims’ encounters of intimate partner violence in a rural setting

One of the most frequently experienced types of violent crime in South African rural communities is interpersonal violence, which includes intimate partner violence. Rural policing is among the vital forms of intervention required to manage such incidents. This article employs a qualitative interpretative phenomenological analysis approach, to describe and interpret police members’ experiences of policing victims’ encounters of intimate partner violence in the rural Vhembe district in Limpopo. Fifteen police members, from the two South African Police Service’s subprogrammes: Visible Policing and Detective Service were sampled through purposive sampling. Unstructured open-ended interviews, field notes, diaries, and follow-up telephone interviews were used as data-collection methods. Data were analysed in accordance with the interpretative phenomenological analysis guidelines. The findings show that intimate partner violence in matrimonial and intimate relationships is common in this district; that it manifests as physical, emotional, sexual violence, and controlling behaviour and affects women, men, children, and the victims’ next-of-kin, with men mostly being the perpetrators. Paradoxes on the home front and cultural customs shape how the incidents are handled in the district communities and also determine the implementation of policing of the incidents leading to incident-focussed and evasive intervention strategies. The findings have implications for police training, further research, collaborative community stakeholder workshops, and setting up intimate partner violence community capacity-building centres.
Tubulin Carboxypeptidase Activity Promotes Focal Gelatin Degradation in Breast Tumor Cells and Induces Apoptosis in Breast Epithelial Cells That Is Overcome by Oncogenic Signaling

Simple Summary The recent discovery of the genetic identity of the tubulin carboxypeptidase (TCP) provides a unique opportunity to study the role of the detyrosination of α-tubulin (deTyr-Tub), as performed by the TCP, in breast epithelial cells and breast cancer cells. Previous research has shown that elevated deTyr-Tub conveys a poor prognosis in breast cancer and is upregulated in a coordinated manner at the invasive margin of patient tumor samples. Using TCP expression constructs, we have shown that increased deTyr-Tub promotes apoptosis in normal breast epithelial cells, that does not occur in the same cells with an oncogenic KRas mutation or Bcl-2/Bcl-xL overexpression. Furthermore, the addition of the TCP to the breast cancer cell lines MDA-MB-231 and Hs578t, also harboring Ras mutations, leads to increased focal gelatin degradation. Abstract Post-translational modifications (PTMs) of the microtubule network impart differential functions across normal cell types and their cancerous counterparts. The removal of the C-terminal tyrosine of α-tubulin (deTyr-Tub) as performed by the tubulin carboxypeptidase (TCP) is of particular interest in breast epithelial and breast cancer cells. The recent discovery of the genetic identity of the TCP to be a vasohibin (VASH1/2) coupled with a small vasohibin-binding protein (SVBP) allows for the functional effect of this tubulin PTM to be directly tested for the first time. Our studies revealed the immortalized breast epithelial cell line MCF10A undergoes apoptosis following transfection with TCP constructs, but the addition of oncogenic KRas or Bcl-2/Bcl-xL overexpression prevents subsequent apoptotic induction in the MCF10A background. Functionally, an increase in deTyr-Tub via TCP transfection in MDA-MB-231 and Hs578t breast cancer cells leads to enhanced focal gelatin degradation. Given the elevated deTyr-Tub at invasive tumor fronts and the correlation with poor breast cancer survival, these new discoveries help clarify how the TCP synergizes with oncogene activation, increases focal gelatin degradation, and may correspond to increased tumor cell invasion. These connections could inform more specific microtubule-directed therapies to target deTyr-tubulin.
Outlier and Normality Testing of the Residuals from the Carreau-Yasuda Model in Fitting the Rheological Behavior of the Non-Newtonian fluid TF2N

Non-Newtonian fluids include a variety of regularly encountered substances such as custard, honey, toothpaste, starch suspensions (including starch from corn starch), paint, blood, melted butter, and hairspray. For decades, scientists have investigated non-Newtonian fluid behavior and produced models to aid in the characterization of non-Newtonian fluid behavior. In addition to data interpolation and extrapolation, the outputs of these models may be utilized for material classification based on model parameters and aid with the simulation of computational fluid dynamics. The Carreau-Yasuda model fitted to the rheological behavior of the non-Newtonian fluid1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl) imide ([emim][TF2N]) was checked for its conformation to the normal distribution of its residual using the normality tests , which was found not to pass all of the test. After checking for the presence of an outlier using the Grubbs â€˜test, no outlier was detected. The ROUT method was then applied to detect the presence of outliers and three outliers were found and removed. The normality checks performed on the cleaned residues gave acceptable results in terms of normality tests and visual conformation of the residual, Q-Q plot and overlaid normality curve to the histogram, indicating that the model is now appropriate for the data.
Estimation of sulfuric acid concentration using ambient ion composition and concentration data obtained with atmospheric pressure interface time-of-flight ion mass spectrometer

Abstract. Sulfuric acid (H2SO4, SA) is the key compound in atmospheric new particle formation. Therefore, it is crucial to observe its concentration with sensitive instrumentation, such as chemical ionisation (CI) inlets coupled to atmospheric pressure interface time-of-flight (APi-TOF) mass spectrometers. However, there are environmental conditions for which and physical reasons why chemical ionisation cannot be used, for example in certain remote places or during flight measurements with limitations regarding chemicals. Here, we propose a theoretical method to estimate the SA concentration based on ambient ion composition and concentration measurements that are achieved by APi-TOF alone. We derive a theoretical expression to estimate the SA concentration and validate it with accurate CI-APi-TOF observations. Our validation shows that the developed estimate works well during daytime in a boreal forest (R2=0.85); however, it underestimates the SA concentration in, e.g. the Antarctic atmosphere during new particle formation events where the dominating pathway for nucleation involves sulfuric acid and a base (R2=0.48).
Development of PWM Control Technology in Multi-level Converters

The PWM control is the key technology in multi-level converters.Multi-level PWM control technology has developed very fast during last decade,different ways have been proposed on the basis of traditional two-level PWM method.Compared with two-level algorithms,multi-level PWM algorithms need to tackle some new problems,therefore new control strategies are needed.Generally,multi-level PWM strategies include three types of methods:multi-level Carrier PWM,multi-level Space Vector PWM and Optimal PWM.This paper presents analysis and an summary to existing multi-level PWM strategies.Finally,the internal relations between multi-level SVM and Carrier PWM algorithms are highlighted.
LEVEL OF COMMUNITY ENVIRONMENTAL SUPPORT FOR STUDENT LEARNING AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL CHILDREN IN SRI LANKA

The community environment wherein the school is situated is influenced by its members, leaders, and the availability of resources (social, human, and financial). The community environment plays a significant role in supporting the success of educational programmes and supporting the attainment of school goals. Such support can be understood as maintaining school safety, carrying out community learning hours and supporting various school programmes directly in contact with the community. This research was aimed at determining community environmental support for student learning, mainly taking into account gender differences as a factor among secondary school children in Sri Lanka. The study used a survey research design and a questionnaire instrument for data collection. A stratified random sampling technique was used to select 1350 secondary school students. To analyse the data, the research used descriptive analyses such as mean, standard deviation and MANOVA analysis. The results demonstrate that the community environmental support for student learning is was at a moderate level (overall mean of 3.522, overall S.D. of 0.931). MANOVA analysis shows significant differences in community environmental support based on gender as community support for female student learning is significantly higher than male students. The implications of the study indicate that community organisations can still increase their academic support in their city or village. Local community organisations can organise educational seminars and workshops, be involved in improving the school’s physical environment and infrastructure, sponsor events, provide financial assistance for specifically male students as well as female students.
Protein pattern formation induced by the joint effect of noise and delay in a multi-cellular system

We explore the combined effect of the intrinsic noise and time delay on the spatial pattern formation within the framework of a multi-scale mobile lattice model mimicking two-dimensional epithelium tissues. Every cell is represented by an elastic polygon changing its form and size under pressure from the surrounding cells. The model includes the procedure of minimization of the potential energy of tissue. The protein fluctuations in the tissue are driven by transcription/translation processes in cells exchanging chemical and mechanical signals. Network architecture includes an autorepressor model with time-delayed negative feedback with the only gene defining oscillations. Simultaneously, the expressed protein of the autorepressor acts as a positive regulator of the signaling protein by activating its transcription. The signaling species is assumed to spread from one cell to the other by the diffusion mechanism. We provide both deterministic and stochastic descriptions. The numerical simulation of spatially-extended stochastic oscillations is performed using a generalized Gillespie algorithm. We developed this method earlier to account for the non-Markovian properties of random biochemical events with delay. Finally, we demonstrate that time delay, intrinsic noise, and spatial signaling can cause a system to develop the protein pattern even when its deterministic counterpart exhibits no pattern formation.
Scanner-specific validation of a CT simulator using a COPD-emulated anthropomorphic phantom

Traditional methods of quantitative analysis of CT images typically involve working with patient data, which is often expensive and limited in terms of ground truth. To counter these restrictions, quantitative assessments can instead be made through Virtual Imaging Trials (VITs) which simulate the CT imaging process. This study sought to validate DukeSim (a scanner-specific CT simulator) utilizing clinically relevant biomarkers for a customized anthropomorphic chest phantom. The physical phantom was imaged utilizing two commercial CT scanners (Siemens Somatom Force and Definition Flash) with varying imaging parameters. A computational version of the phantom was simulated utilizing DukeSim for each corresponding real acquisition. Biomarkers were computed and compared between the real and virtually acquired CT images to assess the validity of DukeSim. The simulated images closely matched the real images both qualitatively and quantitatively, with the average biomarker percent difference of 3.84% (range 0.19% to 18.27%). Results showed that DukeSim is reasonably well validated across various patient imaging conditions and scanners, which indicates the utility of DukeSim for further VIT studies where real patient data may not be feasible.
Continuous Improvisation and Trading with Impro-Visor

Impro-Visor is a free open-source program designed to help musicians learn to improvise. Its main purpose is to help its user become a better improviser. It can exhibit creativity by improvising continuously on its own in a variety of soloist styles. We demonstrate that, in principle, Impro-Visor can continue creating indefinitely, without repeating the same sequence of musical ideas. We also demonstrate how Impro-Visor can alternate (“trade”) phrases with the soloist, again continuously, as well as recording what the soloist plays on a MIDI device. Related aspects that can be shown are learning an improvisational style through grammar acquisition and using “roadmaps” as a basis for trading. The figure shows a screen shot of Impro-Visor creating phrases in real-time and capturing the soloist’s input in real-time from a MIDI device.
CrowdSurge: A Crowd Density Monitoring Solution Using Smart Video Surveillance with Security Vulnerability Assessment

—Overcrowding and crowd density monitoring in various places and establishments are being implemented since the pandemic, which helps observe social distancing. This study is about the development of a crowd density solution by utilizing YOLOv4 and Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) called CrowdSurge. The practice of CCTV has been around for so many years with proven benefits. This has been combined with the state-of-the-art YOLOv4 algorithm that provides high video analytics and object detection performance. With the combination of the said technology and algorithm, it will serve as a smart surveillance system. A system and mobile application have been developed, and the YOLOv4 deep learning detection model was used to detect various set of scenarios considered to assess if the model executes according to the actions assigned in the experimental set-up. The browser-based application was tested using CVSS or Common Vulnerability Scoring system, which shows that the severity level of most vulnerabilities is low and has a minor impact on the system. Based on the overall usability testing and statistical results, the respondents are satisfied with both surveillance system and mobile applications developed in terms of functionality, usefulness, and aesthetics. Therefore, using the developed system in real-time surveillance can aid in crowd density reduction in an area. © 2022.
Inner Ear Pharmacotherapy for Residual Hearing Preservation in Cochlear Implant Surgery: A Systematic Review

Cochlear implantation initiates an inflammatory cascade in which both acute insertion trauma and chronic foreign body reaction lead to intracochlear fibrosis and loss of residual hearing. Several strategies have been proposed to attenuate the local reactive process after implantation, including intracochlear drug delivery. The present study gives an overview of what is being investigated in the field of inner ear therapeutics and cochlear implant surgery. The aim is to evaluate its potential benefit in clinical practice. A systematic search was conducted in PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases identifying comparative prospective studies examining the effect of direct inner ear drug application on mechanical cochlear trauma. Both animal and human studies were considered and all studies were assessed for quality according to the validated risk of bias tools. Intracochlear administration of drugs is a feasible method to reduce the local inflammatory reaction following cochlear implantation. In animal studies, corticosteroid use had a significant effect on outcome measures including auditory brainstem response, impedance, and histological changes. This effect was, however, only durable with prolonged drug delivery. Significant differences in outcome were predominantly seen in studies where the cochlear damage was extensive. Six additional reports assessing non-steroidal agents were found. Overall, evidence of anti-inflammatory effects in humans is still scarce.
A New Framework for Analyzing News in the Financial Markets to Enhance the Investor’s Perception

—In finance, the flow of news is constantly updated in a way that changes the investors’ understanding, influences their sentiment, and hence, shapes the financial markets (Asset returns, Volatility, Interest rates, etc.). Thus, one of the most important challenges that an investor has to overcome is to extract useful information from text data (News) in order to be used in decision making after reviewing all the literature dealing with the analysis of financial news. In this paper, we introduce an automated methodology to extract relevant words and topics from the FOMC (The Federal Open Market Committee) Minutes reports. Using the Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) algorithm to track the main topics in the FOMC reports especially the “inflation” topic, we made a dimension reduction of our corpus by considering only the first 250 words belonging to this topic. Using the reduced corpus, we applied filters to clean non discriminative words and we employ deep learning in detecting only sentiment-charged words. By the end, we obtained a list of the most relevant words (dictionary) in the FOMC minutes and a prediction (with an accuracy of 98.76% and a correlation of 77%) of the Fed Funds rates.
Microstructure and Hydrophobicity of the External Surface of a Sonoran Desert Beetle

We have studied the external surface (elytra) of the Sonoran Desert beetle (Eleodes eschscholtzii). Our aim was to assess whether this species has similar traits to some beetles from the Namibian Desert that are known to have hierarchical micropatterns that allow for water harvesting. We have conducted scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and apparent contact angle experiments on specimens collected at two sampling sites with different ambient humidity. The results show that the beetle’s external surface microstructure is composed of a compact array of polygons with randomly scattered protuberances. The density of the polygons in the microstructure is different for individuals collected in different sites: the polygon array is denser in the more humid site and less dense in the drier site. The measured contact angles also depend on the sampling site. For individuals collected in the drier site, the average apparent contact angle is 70°, whereas for the more humid site, the average apparent contact angle is 92°. FT-IR experiments are consistent with the presence of hydrophobic wax compounds in the studied surfaces. Our investigation opens new questions that are currently being addressed by experiments that are underway. For instance, it would be interesting to know whether the observed nanopatterns could be used in biomimetic devices for water harvesting purposes.