Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Zoonotic Health Hazards in the Practice
of Emergency Medical Service Teams
– a Three-Year Observation

The study comprised a 3-year retrospective analysis of trips by the MRTs from the northern part of the Lubelskie Province. The data was taken from records functioning in the State Medical Rescue Service (SMRS) system. Analysis period: 1.01. 2020-31.12. 2022. It is the analysis of emergency medical services calls justified by threat to health, life, or injury of the victim due to the action of insects, birds, reptiles, mammals as a result of direct contact with them (stinging, biting, scratching, hitting, kicking). Applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 72 emergency medical services trips representing 0.34% of the total interventions in local area. The population was divided according to the cause of the threat: insects n = 45, dogs n = 12, cattle (bull, cow) n = 15Men statistically more often suffered injuries than women 61% vs 39% (p=0.048). A statistically significant influence of the type of threat on the time of intervention was demonstrated; for dog hazards 39±25 min, insects 40±17 min; cattle 56±15 min; P = 0.015. There was a statistically significant difference in the use of pharmacology compared to the procedures described by ICD 10 codes (P<0.001). The impact of the type of threat on the need to transport the patient to the Emergency Department was not demonstrated. Hymenopterous insects are the most common type of zoonotic hazard on an annual basis, with an increase for the spring-summer months. There was a statistically significant difference in age for each type of hazard, the youngest of those injured were harmed by dogs, while the eldest were by insects. There was no statistically significant effect of place of residence (urban-rural) on the type of zoonotic injury.
Can a kiss conquer all? The predictive utility of idealized first kiss beliefs on reports of romantic love among U.S. adults

Research indicates that idealized romantic expectations and the extent to which they are met, are important predictors of relationship outcomes (e.g., love). However, no studies have investigated the impact of idealized beliefs associated with specific behaviors (e.g., kissing) on reports of romantic love. Thus, the two studies comprising this research assessed the association between idealized beliefs related to one’s first romantic kiss with their current partner, unmet first kiss expectations, and reports of romantic love. Romantic attachment was also examined as a moderator. In Study One, the First Kiss Beliefs Scale was created and the results from 208 adults revealed that increased endorsement of idealized first kiss beliefs was associated with greater romantic love (r = 0.25). Romantic attachment also moderated this relationship, such that idealized first kiss beliefs significantly predicted love for those high in attachment anxiety and low in avoidance (β = 0.68 and β = 0.18, respectively). In Study Two, the First Kiss Beliefs Scale was modified to assess outcomes and expectations to capture unmet expectations. The results from 234 adults indicated that idealized first kiss beliefs predicted a greater proportion of the variance in romantic love (sr2 = 0.10) than did unmet expectations (sr2 = 0.07). A three-way interaction was also detected such that, among those low in attachment anxiety, the relationship between kissing beliefs and love was positive for those high in attachment avoidance and negative for those low. These results indicate that idealized first kiss expectations with one’s current romantic partner are important predictors of love (beyond whether these expectations were met), particularly for those high in attachment insecurity. Implications are discussed for practitioners and those in the primary stages of romantic relationships.
A HOOI-Based Fast Parameter Estimation Algorithm in UCA-UCFO Framework

In this paper, we introduce a Reduced-Dimension Multiple-Signal Classification (RD-MUSIC) technique via Higher-Order Orthogonal Iteration (HOOI), which facilitates the estimation of the target range and angle for Frequency-Diverse Array Multiple-Input–Multiple-Output (FDA-MIMO) radars in the unfolded coprime array with unfolded coprime frequency offsets (UCA-UCFO) structure. The received signal undergoes tensor decomposition by the HOOI algorithm to get the core and factor matrices, then the 2D spectral function is built. The Lagrange multiplier method is used to obtain a one-dimensional spectral function, reducing complexity for estimating the direction of arrival (DOA). The vector of the transmitter is obtained by the partial derivatives of the Lagrangian function, and its rotational invariance facilitates target range estimation. The method demonstrates improved operation speed and decreased computational complexity with respect to the classic Higher-Order Singular-Value Decomposition (HOSVD) technique, and its effectiveness and superiority are confirmed by numerical simulations.
Comparative phosphoproteome analysis of primary and metastatic uveal melanoma cell lines

Uveal melanoma (UM) is an ocular tumor that often develops asymptomatically. Statistically, every second patient eventually develops metastases that drastically worsen the prognosis by several months of overall survival. While isolated liver perfusion with melphalan and more recently immunotherapy (Tebentafusp) are the few treatment options available for metastatic UM patients, their application is complex or expensive. There is an urgent need to understand drug response and identify potential avenues for therapy. Hence, we focused on uncovering altered phosphorylation signaling events in metastatic UM using proteomics as an approach to identify potential drug targets. We analyzed the phosphoproteomes of the primary UM cell line Mel270 and two cell lines OMM2.3 and OMM2.5, derived from metastatic lesions of the same patient. We found 177 phosphosites to be altered significantly between primary and metastatic cell lines. Pathway analysis of up-regulated phosphosites in metastatic lines suggests that Rho signaling and mitotic cell cycle to be significantly altered uncovering potential routes of signaling for metastasis. Clinical data from LUMC and TCGA datasets uncovered MARK3 expression (which links to Rho signaling) correlation with chromosome 3 status, a prognostic marker in UM, suggesting that MARK3 kinase might be involved in metastatic UM signaling.
Static Behaviour of Laminated Composite Shells Containing Piezoelectric Actuators and Sensors

The behavior of laminated composite shells with piezoelectric actuators and sensors subjected to external load and electric potential is investigated. The analysis is carried out using the finite element method based on first-order shear deformation theory. An eight nodded degenerated isoparametric shell element with five degrees of freedom at each node is considered. Results are presented for the variation of deflection and stresses in the simply supported laminated composite cylindrical shell panel subjected uniform normal pressure and electric potential.
UvA-DARE (Digital Academic Repository) Why people would (not) change their media use in response to perceived corporate surveillance

Companies collect and process media users ’ personal data for automated decision-making or personalized communication. When individuals perceive corporate surveillance, it could contribute to their self-censorship practices, such as using less media or using media differently. This study aims to understand why people decide to self-regulate their media use, which is important from the perspective of control that individuals have over data collection. Therefore, we studied what would motivate individuals to change their media-related behavior in response to perceived corporate surveillance, focusing on cross-country and generational differences. This study employed a combination of a thought-listing exercise conducted in the Netherlands ( N = 300) and a cross-sectional survey in the United States ( N = 148) and the Netherlands ( N = 156) in which respondents were presented with a scenario regarding corporate surveillance and asked about their motivations (not) to change their media use. The studies showed that privacy was a more important motivation for the intent to change media use in the United States, while in the Netherlands people were less motivated to change due to seeing less potential harm of corporate surveillance. The results could be explained by cultural differences or differences in legal protection. Finally, older people saw less threats and were less able to protect themselves, while younger individuals were not motivated to make changes to their media use because of mobile device dependency. This indicates that while more is needed to help people make informed decisions, empowerment measures should be adjusted to different generations and locations
Coronary artery disease in atrial fibrillation ablation: impact on arrhythmic outcomes

Abstract Aims Catheter ablation (CA) is an established treatment for atrial fibrillation (AF). A computed tomography (CT) may be performed before ablation to evaluate the anatomy of pulmonary veins. The aim of this study is to investigate the prevalence of patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) detected by cardiac CT scan pre-ablation and to evaluate the impact of CAD and revascularization on outcomes after AF ablation. Methods and results All consecutive patients with AF diagnosis, hospitalized at Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel, Belgium, between 2015 and 2019, were prospectively screened for enrolment in the study. Inclusion criteria were (i) AF diagnosis, (ii) first procedure of AF ablation with cryoballoon CA, and (iii) contrast CT scan performed pre-ablation. A total of 576 consecutive patients were prospectively included and analysed in this study. At CT scan, 122 patients (21.2%) were diagnosed with CAD, of whom 41 patients (7.1%) with critical CAD. At survival analysis, critical CAD at CT scan was a predictor of atrial tachyarrhythmia (AT) recurrence during the follow-up, only in Cox univariate analysis [hazard ratio (HR) = 1.79] but was not an independent predictor in Cox multivariate analysis. At Cox multivariate analysis, independent predictors of AT recurrence were as follows: persistent AF (HR = 2.93) and left atrium volume index (HR = 1.04). Conclusion In patients undergoing CT scan before AF ablation, critical CAD was diagnosed in 7.1% of patients. Coronary artery disease and revascularization were not independent predictors of recurrence; thus, in this patient population, AF ablation should not be denied and can be performed together with CAD treatment.
First report of Strongylidae nematode from pilot whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus) by molecular analysis reveals the cosmopolitan distribution of the taxon

This study investigates the identification, genetic composition, and placement in the evolutionary tree of a particular nematode species found in a short-finned pilot whale in the Gulf of Thailand. To accomplish this, we utilized various methods, including microscopic observations, molecular techniques, and comparative analyses to better understand the characteristics of this parasite. Initially, we concentrated on studying the 18s rDNA sequence through nested PCR, resulting in a 774-bp product. After conducting a BLASTn analysis, we discovered that there were only a few sequences in the GeneBank that shared similarities with our nematode, particularly with Cyathostomum catinatum, although the percent identity was relatively low. To confirm the uniqueness of our sequence, we constructed a phylogenetic tree that demonstrated a distinct branch for our nematode, suggesting significant genetic differentiation from C. catinatum. Additionally, we sequenced a 399-bp section of the ITS2 gene using PCR, and the resulting data showed a close association with the Strongylidae family, specifically with Cylicocyclus insigne. This was further confirmed by BLASTn and CD-HIT-est results, which indicated a 99 and ~94% sequence homology with C. insigne, respectively. The ITS2 phylogenetic tree also supported the position of our isolated sequence within the Strongylidae family, clustering closely with C.insigne. Our findings shed light on the genetic connections, taxonomy, and evolutionary trends within the Strongylidae family, with a particular focus on the widespread nature of the Cylicocyclus genus. This study emphasizes the importance of utilizing molecular techniques and interdisciplinary approaches to gain insight into nematode diversity, evolution, and ecological dynamics in marine environments.
Attention 3D-CU-Net: Enhancing Kidney Tumor Segmentation Accuracy Through Selective Feature Emphasis

Kidney tumor segmentation from MR images became a pivotal research area in kidney cancer diagnosis and treatment planning. Accurate and efficient segmentation enables precise tumor localization, treatment planning, and monitoring of disease progression. Former studies have demonstrated the remarkable capability of the U-Net architecture in semantic segmentation of kidney tumors. A recent variant of the U-Net architecture, known as 3D-CU-Net, has been specifically designed with fully-connected dense skip connections to tackle the kidney tumor segmentation challenges related to network depth invariance, segmentation errors, and enforced feature fusion. While the 3D-CU-Net model demonstrated improved effectiveness in kidney tumor segmentation, it still exhibits significant limitations, including challenges in precise localization, fixed feature selection, image diversity, limited contextual information, and computational complexity. To address the limitations of the 3D-CU-Net model, this paper introduces the Attention 3D-CU-Net as a novel variant. The attention-based mechanism is seamlessly integrated with the 3D-CU-Net, prioritizing informative features to enhance segmentation accuracy by concentrating on selective regions. This innovative approach serves to significantly improve the model’s performance, particularly in challenging cases. The proposed model is evaluated on the TCGA-KIRC dataset, a widely used benchmark for kidney tumor segmentation. In comparative experiments, we evaluated the results using metrics like IoU, DSC and accuracy. Our Attention 3D-CU-Net model outperforms the baseline 3D-CU-Net and U-Net with notably higher scores: IoU (0.92), DSC (0.94), and accuracy (0.96).
Biomembrane-Derived Nanoparticles in Alzheimer’s Disease Therapy: A Comprehensive Review of Synthetic Lipid Nanoparticles and Natural Cell-Derived Vesicles

Abstract Current therapies for Alzheimer’s disease used in the clinic predominantly focus on reducing symptoms with limited capability to control disease progression; thus, novel drugs are urgently needed. While nanoparticles (liposomes, high-density lipoprotein-based nanoparticles) constructed with synthetic biomembranes have shown great potential in AD therapy due to their excellent biocompatibility, multifunctionality and ability to penetrate the BBB, nanoparticles derived from natural biomembranes (extracellular vesicles, cell membrane-based nanoparticles) display inherent biocompatibility, stability, homing ability and ability to penetrate the BBB, which may present a safer and more effective treatment for AD. In this paper, we reviewed the synthetic and natural biomembrane-derived nanoparticles that are used in AD therapy. The challenges associated with the clinical translation of biomembrane-derived nanoparticles and future perspectives are also discussed.
Biogeochemistry of wetlands in watersheds affected by aerial deposition of metals, and linkages to aquatic ecosystem recovery.

Wetlands are prevalent in the Sudbury, Ontario region and often operate at the interface between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, modifying water chemistry and potentially affecting the recovery of impacted lakes. The deposition of metals and sulphur in Sudbury in 2010 to 2012 was far below that reported in the 1970’s, but still higher than regional background values. Wetlands in the area have accumulated large quantities of metals, and high concentrations of these metals were discharged in streams primarily in response to SO4-related acidification events or associated with high dissolved organic carbon (DOC) production in early summer. Concentrations of most metals in streams exceeded provincial guidelines and fluxes of some metals from catchments exceeded deposition inputs to lakes by as much as 12 times. The release of metals long after emissions reductions have been achieved must be considered in ecosystem recovery studies, particularly as dry conditions may become more prevalent in boreal regions affected by smelting. 1 Szkokan-Emilson, E.J., Watmough, S. , Gunn, J.M. , 2014. Environmental Pollution 192, 91-103.
Simultaneous Localization and Actuation Using Electromagnetic Navigation Systems

Remote magnetic navigation provides a promising approach for improving the maneuverability and safety of surgical tools, such as catheters and endoscopes, in complex anatomies. The lack of existing localization systems compatible with this modality, beyond fluoroscopy and its harmful ionizing radiation, impedes its translation to clinical practice. To address this challenge, we propose a localization method that achieves full pose estimation by superimposing oscillating magnetic fields for localization onto actuation fields generated by an electromagnetic navigation system. The resulting magnetic field is measured using a three-axis magnetic field sensor embedded in the magnetic device to be localized. The method is evaluated on a three-coil system, and simultaneous actuation and localization is demonstrated with a magnetic catheter prototype with a Hall effect sensor embedded at its tip. We demonstrate position estimation with mean accuracy and precision below 1 mm, and orientation estimation with mean errors below 2$^\circ$ at 10 Hz in a workspace of 80 × 80 × 60 mm. This contribution aims to advance the clinical adoption of remote magnetic navigation in minimally invasive surgery.
Integrated Analysis of the Intestinal Microbiota and Transcriptome of Fenneropenaeus chinensis Response to Low-Salinity Stress

Simple Summary This study aimed to investigate the influencing mechanisms of the intestinal microbiota and gene expression of Fenneropenaeus chinensis under low-salinity stress. The 16S rDNA results suggest that the relative abundances of Photobacterium and Vibrio decreased significantly, whereas some bacteria, Shewanella, Pseudomonas, and Lactobacillus, became the predominant communities. Transcriptome sequencing identified numerous differentially expressed genes (DEGs) through various types of N-glycan biosynthesis, amino acid sugar and nucleotide sugar metabolism, and lysosomes to adapt to stress. Correlation analysis between microbiota and DEGs showed that significant changes in Pseudomonas, Ralstonia, Colwellia, and Cohaesibacter were positively correlated with immune-related genes such as peritrophin-1-like and mucin-2-like, and negatively correlated with caspase-1-like. Abstract Salinity is an important environmental stress factor in mariculture. Shrimp intestines harbor dense and diverse microbial communities that maintain host health and anti-pathogen capabilities under salinity stress. In this study, 16s amplicon and transcriptome sequencing were used to analyze the intestine of Fenneropenaeus chinensis under low-salinity stress (15 ppt). This study aimed to investigate the response mechanisms of the intestinal microbiota and gene expression to acute low-salinity stress. The intestinal tissues of F. chinensis were analyzed using 16S microbiota and transcriptome sequencing. The microbiota analysis demonstrated that the relative abundances of Photobacterium and Vibrio decreased significantly, whereas Shewanella, Pseudomonas, Lactobacillus, Ralstonia, Colwellia, Cohaesibacter, Fusibacter, and Lachnospiraceae_NK4A136_group became the predominant communities. Transcriptome sequencing identified numerous differentially expressed genes (DEGs). The DEGs were clustered into many Gene Ontology terms and further enriched in some immunity- or metabolism-related Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathways, including various types of N-glycan biosynthesis, amino acid sugar and nucleotide sugar metabolism, and lysosome and fatty acid metabolism. Correlation analysis between microbiota and DEGs showed that changes in Pseudomonas, Ralstonia, Colwellia, and Cohaesibacter were positively correlated with immune-related genes such as peritrophin-1-like and mucin-2-like, and negatively correlated with caspase-1-like genes. Low-salinity stress caused changes in intestinal microorganisms and their gene expression, with a close correlation between them.
Can MODIS cloud fraction fully represent the diurnal and seasonal variations at DOE ARM SGP and Manus sites?

Though cloud fraction (CF) from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) has been widely used, it remains unclear whether it can fully represent the diurnal variations. This study evaluates the time representation (i.e., satellite passes' mean value per day to represent daily average value) error in MODIS CF by using daytime‐only total sky cover and continuous day‐and‐night radar/lidar CF (Active Remote Sensing of Clouds product, ARSCL) from 2000 to 2010 for two Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) program climate regime sites of Southern Great Plains (SGP) and Manus. By comparing the daily averaged CFs from ARSCL between using all hourly and using the MODIS‐passing‐time observations, it shows a correlation coefficient of 0.93 (0.88) and root mean square deviation (RMSD) of 12.68% (13.27%) over SGP (Manus) site for daily averaged CFs. Differently, it shows a better correlation coefficient of 0.97 (0.97) and smaller RMSD of 2.98% (3.97%) over SGP (Manus) site for monthly averaged CFs. These suggest that considerable errors could be introduced while using the MODIS CF observed at several fixed time points a day to represent average CF at different time scales. Monthly time representation errors have also been evaluated for daytime only and nighttime only, which show even larger values. A further analysis shows that uncertainties caused by the time representation account for about 23% (21%) of the total differences between surface and MODIS CFs over SGP (Manus) site at monthly time scale.
Evaluating the use of smart sensors in ground-based monitoring of landslide movement with laboratory experiments

Boulders and cobbles embedded on the body of landslides are carried downstream under the action of gravity, and the study of their transport can give important insight on their dynamics and hence the related hazard. The study examines the reliability of smart sensors to track movements of a cobble and discern between intensity and mode of movement in laboratory experiments. A tag equipped with accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer sensors was installed inside a 15 cobble. The experiments consisted of letting the cobble fall on an inclined plane. By tilting the inclined plane at different angles, different modes of movement such as rolling, bouncing, or sliding were generated. Sliding was generated by embedding the cobble within a thin layer of sand. The position of the cobble travelling down the slope was derived from camera videos. Raw sensor data allowed detection of movement and separation of two modes of movement, namely rolling, and sliding. Additionally, reliable values for the position, velocity, and acceleration were determined by feeding a Kalman 20 filter with smart sensor measurements and camera-based positions. Furthermore, by testing LoRaWAN wireless transmission through sand, the study showed that the signal strength tended to decrease for thicker sand layers. These findings confirm the potential to use these sensors to improve early warning systems and further studies are in progress to assess practicalities of their use in field settings.