Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Developing a smart system for infant incubators using the internet of things and artificial intelligence

This research is developing an incubator system that integrates the internet of things and artificial intelligence to improve care for premature babies. The system workflow starts with sensors that collect data from the incubator. Then, the data is sent in real-time to the internet of things (IoT) broker eclipse mosquito using the message queue telemetry transport (MQTT) protocol version 5.0. After that, the data is stored in a database for analysis using the long short-term memory network (LSTM) method and displayed in a web application using an application programming interface (API) service. Furthermore, the experimental results produce as many as 2,880 rows of data stored in the database. The correlation coefficient between the target attribute and other attributes ranges from 0.23 to 0.48. Next, several experiments were conducted to evaluate the model-predicted value on the test data. The best results are obtained using a two-layer LSTM configuration model, each with 60 neurons and a lookback setting 6. This model produces an R2 value of 0.934, with a root mean square error (RMSE) value of 0.015 and a mean absolute error (MAE) of 0.008. In addition, the R2 value was also evaluated for each attribute used as input, with a result of values between 0.590 and 0.845.
The Citizen Phage Library: Rapid Isolation of Phages for the Treatment of Antibiotic Resistant Infections in the UK

Antimicrobial resistance poses one of the greatest threats to global health and there is an urgent need for new therapeutic options. Phages are viruses that infect and kill bacteria and phage therapy could provide a valuable tool for the treatment of multidrug-resistant infections. In this study, water samples collected by citizen scientists as part of the Citizen Phage Library (CPL) project, and wastewater samples from the Environment Agency yielded phages with activity against clinical strains Klebsiella pneumoniae BPRG1484 and Enterobacter cloacae BPRG1482. A total of 169 and 163 phages were found for K. pneumoniae and E. cloacae, respectively, within four days of receiving the strains. A third strain (Escherichia coli BPRG1486) demonstrated cross-reactivity with 42 E. coli phages already held in the CPL collection. Seed lots were prepared for four K. pneumoniae phages and a cocktail combining these phages was found to reduce melanisation in a Galleria mellonella infection model. The resources and protocols utilised by the Citizen Phage Library enabled the rapid isolation and characterisation of phages targeted against multiple strains. In the future, within a clearly defined regulatory framework, phage therapy could be made available on a named-patient basis within the UK.
EGCG, a Green Tea Compound, Increases NO Production and Has Antioxidant Action in a Static and Shear Stress In Vitro Model of Preeclampsia

Preeclampsia (PE) is a gestational hypertensive disease characterized by endothelial dysfunction. Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), the main compound in green tea, is a promising therapeutic target for the disease. By activating eNOS, EGCG increased NO production and exerted an important antioxidant action, but its specific impact in the context of PE remains understudied. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of EGCG on endothelial function in static and shear stress in in vitro models of PE. Endothelial cells were incubated with healthy (HP) and preeclamptic (PE) pregnant women’s plasma, and the latter group was treated with EGCG. Additionally, NOS (L-NAME) and PI3K protein (LY249002) inhibitors were also used. The levels of NO, ROS, and O2•− were evaluated, as well as the antioxidant potential. These investigations were also carried out in a shear stress model. We found that EGCG increases the NO levels, which were reduced in the PE group. This effect was attenuated with the use of L-NAME and LY249002. Furthermore, EGCG increased the antioxidant capacity of PE, but its action decreased with LY294002. In cells subjected to shear stress, EGCG increased nitrite levels in the PE group and maintained its action on the antioxidant capacity. This is the first study of the effects of EGCG in this experimental model, as well as the investigation of its effects along with shear stress. Our findings suggest that EGCG improves parameters of endothelial dysfunction in vitro, making it a promising target in the search for treatments for the disease.
Implementability of BIM Technology in Light of Literature Studies and Analyses of the Construction Market

In 2014, the European Union Directive 2014/24/EU was issued, which has provisions including information about the use of electronic technology for modelling buildings, referred to as BIM. According to various sources in the literature, with the help of BIM technology building designs can be prepared more quickly, while avoiding errors; it is also possible to generate and control any amendments in a building blueprint, promptly estimate costs of the building works planned, and implement a variety of activities connected with the maintenance of a new building once it is erected. In some EU states, initiatives have been launched leading to the introduction of BIM technology in public procurement, and the technology itself is now gaining popularity. However, the adaptation of this new technology is not always met with enthusiasm, and its implementation is hindered by many obstacles. The aim of this article is to conduct a broader analysis of the possibilities of BIM development in the construction industry based on data obtained from companies operating in the construction industry. The research used analysis of source materials, surveys, and targeted interviews. The study has demonstrated several barriers, of which the most important ones proved to be of financial nature, formal and legal considerations, and mentality, namely the unwillingness to learn, adopt novel solutions, and switch to a new way of working. The research was supported by a SWOT analysis.
Using Community Values and Governance Preferences to Facilitate Transitions Toward Sustainable Energies

This study explores the use of community values and governance preferences by citizens for the diffusion of sustainable energy technologies. Three Texas communities are investigated to identify community values and governance preferences with regard to energy use. The results show that five underlying values influence the perception of energy use in communities: growth, independence, sustainability, affordable living, and mobility. Regarding preferences for governance, three forms of involvement in community processes were identified: information, communication, and participation in decision-making. The results indicate that values can be used to align expectations towards sustainable energies and shape related narratives. To make the often ‘invisible’ energy technologies tangible as well as experienceable and discussable for the citizens, demonstrator projects (such as energy-innovation hubs) should be considered as tools to anchor sustainable energies in a community.
Aberrant MET Receptor Tyrosine Kinase Signaling in Glioblastoma: Targeted Therapy and Future Directions

Brain tumors represent a heterogeneous group of neoplasms characterized by a high degree of aggressiveness and a poor prognosis. Despite recent therapeutic advances, the treatment of brain tumors, including glioblastoma (GBM), an aggressive primary brain tumor associated with poor prognosis and resistance to therapy, remains a significant challenge. Receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) are critical during development and in adulthood. Dysregulation of RTKs through activating mutations and gene amplification contributes to many human cancers and provides attractive therapeutic targets for treatment. Under physiological conditions, the Met RTK, the hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor (HGF/SF) receptor, promotes fundamental signaling cascades that modulate epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) involved in tissue repair and embryogenesis. In cancer, increased Met activity promotes tumor growth and metastasis by providing signals for proliferation, survival, and migration/invasion. Recent clinical genomic studies have unveiled multiple mechanisms by which MET is genetically altered in GBM, including focal amplification, chromosomal rearrangements generating gene fusions, and a splicing variant mutation (exon 14 skipping, METex14del). Notably, MET overexpression contributes to chemotherapy resistance in GBM by promoting the survival of cancer stem-like cells. This is linked to distinctive Met-induced pathways, such as the upregulation of DNA repair mechanisms, which can protect tumor cells from the cytotoxic effects of chemotherapy. The development of MET-targeted therapies represents a major step forward in the treatment of brain tumours. Preclinical studies have shown that MET-targeted therapies (monoclonal antibodies or small molecule inhibitors) can suppress growth and invasion, enhancing the efficacy of conventional therapies. Early-phase clinical trials have demonstrated promising results with MET-targeted therapies in improving overall survival for patients with recurrent GBM. However, challenges remain, including the need for patient stratification, the optimization of treatment regimens, and the identification of mechanisms of resistance. This review aims to highlight the current understanding of mechanisms underlying MET dysregulation in GBM. In addition, it will focus on the ongoing preclinical and clinical assessment of therapies targeting MET dysregulation in GBM.
The Effect of Prepayment Contract Frames and Feedback on Budgetary Slack: An Experimental Investigation

Introduction/Main Objectives: This research investigates the effect of prepayment contract frames and feedback incentives in mitigating budgetary slack. Background Problems: Clawback is an incentive scheme based on the endowment concept that has recently drawn researchers’ concerns. The literature suggests emphasizing the endowment and loss aversion concepts. This research examines these two concepts with one test model. Novelty: This research presents the preliminary manipulation role of hybrid clawback as one of the prepayment contract frames that are smoother and without penalty provisions. This study also examines the interaction between the concept of endowment and loss aversion in one test model. Research Methods: This research applied a field experiment with a 3 × 2 between-subject design. Finding/Results: This research found that prepayment contract frames require motivation from an adequate formal control system through frequent feedback to mitigate the slack. The findings prove that the capability of prepayment contract frames to minimize slack would be more effective after the frequency of the feedback has been moderated. Conclusion: The hybrid clawback could be a smoother alternative compensation scheme that is just as effective as a simple clawback, but without any penalty provisions. The effectiveness of a low feedback frequency could be increased to equal the efficacy of a high feedback frequency when assisted by prepayment contract frames.
Sialyllactose Enhances the Short-Chain Fatty Acid Production and Barrier Function of Gut Epithelial Cells via Nonbifidogenic Modification of the Fecal Microbiome in Human Adults

Although various benefits of human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) have been reported, such as promoting Bifidobacterium growth in the infant gut, their effects on adults have not been fully studied. This study investigated the effects of two types of sialyllactose, 3′-sialyllactose (3′-SL) and 6′-sialyllactose (6′-SL), on the adult intestinal microbiome using the simulator of human intestinal microbial ecosystem (SHIME®), which can simulate human gastrointestinal conditions. HPLC metabolite analysis showed that sialyllactose (SL) supplementation increased the short-chain fatty acid content of SHIME culture broth. Moreover, 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis revealed that SL promoted the growth of Phascolarctobacterium and Lachnospiraceae, short-chain fatty acid-producing bacteria, but not the growth of Bifidobacterium. Altogether, both types of SL stimulated an increase in short-chain fatty acids, including propionate and butyrate. Additionally, SHIME culture supernatant supplemented with SL improved the intestinal barrier function in Caco-2 cell monolayers. These results suggest that SL could act as a unique prebiotic among other HMOs with a nonbifidogenic effect, resulting in intestinal barrier protection.
Genome Identification and Expression Profiling of the PIN-Formed Gene Family in Phoebe bournei under Abiotic Stresses

PIN-formed (PIN) proteins—specific transcription factors that are widely distributed in plants—play a pivotal role in regulating polar auxin transport, thus influencing plant growth, development, and abiotic stress responses. Although the identification and functional validation of PIN genes have been extensively explored in various plant species, their understanding in woody plants—particularly the endangered species Phoebe bournei (Hemsl.) Yang—remains limited. P. bournei is an economically significant tree species that is endemic to southern China. For this study, we employed bioinformatics approaches to screen and identify 13 members of the PIN gene family in P. bournei. Through a phylogenetic analysis, we classified these genes into five sub-families: A, B, C, D, and E. Furthermore, we conducted a comprehensive analysis of the physicochemical properties, three-dimensional structures, conserved motifs, and gene structures of the PbPIN proteins. Our results demonstrate that all PbPIN genes consist of exons and introns, albeit with variations in their number and length, highlighting the conservation and evolutionary changes in PbPIN genes. The results of our collinearity analysis indicate that the expansion of the PbPIN gene family primarily occurred through segmental duplication. Additionally, by predicting cis-acting elements in their promoters, we inferred the potential involvement of PbPIN genes in plant hormone and abiotic stress responses. To investigate their expression patterns, we conducted a comprehensive expression profiling of PbPIN genes in different tissues. Notably, we observed differential expression levels of PbPINs across the various tissues. Moreover, we examined the expression profiles of five representative PbPIN genes under abiotic stress conditions, including heat, cold, salt, and drought stress. These experiments preliminarily verified their responsiveness and functional roles in mediating responses to abiotic stress. In summary, this study systematically analyzes the expression patterns of PIN genes and their response to abiotic stresses in P. bournei using whole-genome data. Our findings provide novel insights and valuable information for stress tolerance regulation in P. bournei. Moreover, the study offers significant contributions towards unraveling the functional characteristics of the PIN gene family.
Wave forecasts associated with hurricane landfalls in the vicinity of Cape Lookout, North Carolina

Hurricanes can cause extensive damage to the coastline and coastal communities due to wind-generated waves and storm surge. While extensive modeling efforts have been conducted regarding storm surge, there is far less information about the effects of waves on these communities and ecosystems as storms make landfall. This report describes a preliminary use of NCCOS’ WEMo (Wave Exposure Model; Fonseca and Malhotra 2010) to compute the wind wave exposure within an area of approximately 25 miles radius from Beaufort, North Carolina for estuarine waters encompassing Bogue Sound, Back Sound and Core Sound during three hurricane landfall scenarios. The wind wave heights and energy of a site was a computation based on wind speed, direction, fetch and local bathymetry. We used our local area (Beaufort, North Carolina) as a test bed for this product because it is frequently impacted by hurricanes and we had confidence in the bathymetry data. Our test bed conditions were based on two recent Hurricanes that strongly affected this area. First, we used hurricane Isabel which made landfall near Beaufort in September 2003. Two hurricane simulations were run first by passing hurricane Isabel along its actual path (east of Beaufort) and second by passing the same storm to the west of Beaufort to show the potential effect of the reversed wind field. We then simulated impacts by a hurricane (Ophelia) with a different landfall track, which occurred in September of 2005. The simulations produced a geographic description of wave heights revealing the changing wind and wave exposure of the region as a consequence of landfall location and storm intensity. This highly conservative simulation (water levels were that of low tide) revealed that many inhabited and developed shorelines would receive wind waves for prolonged periods of time at heights far above that found during even the top few percent of non-hurricane events. The simulations also provided a sense for how rapidly conditions could transition from moderate to highly threatening; wave heights were shown to far exceed normal conditions often long before the main body of the storm arrived and importantly, at many locations that could impede and endanger late-fleeing vessels seeking safe harbor. When joined with other factors, such as storm surge and event duration, we anticipate that the WEMo forecasting tool will have significant use by local emergency agencies and the public to anticipate the relative exposure of their property arising as a function of storm location and may also be used by resource managers to examine the effects of storms in a quantitative fashion on local living marine resources.
Gas-Discharge He-Xe Fiber Laser

A helium-xenon gas-discharge fiber laser based on hollow-core fiber is demonstrated for the first time. Being pumped by a pulsed microwave radiation at 2.45 GHz in a slot antenna configuration, the laser operates at 2.03 μm in a quasi-continuous-wave mode with output power of ∼2 mW. The laser performance depends strongly on the pressure of the gas mixture and on the mole fraction of the Xe atoms. The results obtained open up new opportunities in developing a new type of lasers that can potentially generate in a wide spectral range from ultraviolet to mid-infrared and combine advantages of both gas-discharge and fiber lasers.
Tunisian agriculture: Are small farms doomed to disappear? [Agriculture Tunisienne: les petites exploitations sont elles condamnées a disparaître ?]

In Tunisia, small and medium-sized family farms dominate agriculture. From the early 80s, with the introduction of the Structural Adjustment Program (SAP), the conditions of production and reproduction of small farms have radically changed. In addition to the unfavorable trend of the prices, these farms are increasingly excluded from credit, land and support services. The ultimate consequence is a tendency in real incomes to decline, particularly sharp for small farms in the arid regions of the country. Faced with this degradation, small farms have developed mechanisms of adaptation or regulation allowing them to survive and, even in certain cases, to ensure more than a simple reproduction. But, it seems that the limits of these mechanisms of resistance have already reached or almost. All the indications suggest that the changes observed will lead the majority of these farmers to abandon their land and to undertake the path of proletarianization. However, other factors must be taken into account. The absence of any alternative of employment and stable income, in other activities, condemns small farms to remain in poverty and insecurity.
Current barriers and recommendations on the diagnosis of transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy: a Delphi study

Objectives This study has been conducted to investigate the non-invasive diagnostic journey of patients with a transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (aTTR-CM) in Turkey, identify the challenges and uncertainties encountered on the path to diagnosis from the perspectives of expert physicians, and develop recommendations that can be applied in such cases. Methods This study employed a three-round modified Delphi method and included 10 cardiologists and five nuclear medicine specialists. Two hematologists also shared their expert opinions on the survey results related to hematological tests during a final face-to-face discussion. A consensus was reached when 80% or more of the panel members marked the “agree/strongly agree” or “disagree/strongly disagree” option. Results The panelists unanimously agreed that the aTTR-CM diagnosis could be established through scintigraphy (using either 99mTc-PYP, 99mTc-DPD, or 99mTc-HMPD) in a patient with suspected cardiac amyloidosis (CA) without a further investigation if AL amyloidosis is ruled out (by sFLC, SPIE and UPIE). In addition, scintigraphy imaging performed by SPECT or SPECT-CT should reveal a myocardial uptake of Grade ≥2 with a heart-to-contralateral (H/CL) ratio of ≥1.5. The cardiology panelists recommended using cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) and a detailed echocardiographic scoring as a last resort before considering an endomyocardial biopsy in patients with suspected CA whose scintigraphy results were discordant/inconclusive or negative but still carried a high clinical suspicion of aTTR-CM. Conclusion The diagnostic approach for aTTR-CM should be customized based on the availability of diagnostic tools/methods in each expert clinic to achieve a timely and definitive diagnosis.
In vitro development of salt tolerant Malaysian indica rice ‘MARDI Siraj 297’ and enhancement of salinity tolerance using salicylic acid

Among cereal crops, rice ( Oryza sativa L.) is the most susceptible to salinity. Due to emerging salinity impacts on food security, different strategies have been implemented including developing salt tolerant varieties. Therefore, this study was conducted to produce salt tolerant lines of ‘MARDI Siraj 297’ through in vitro callus selection, enhancement of salinity tolerance through supplementation of salicylic acid (SA) (0, 0.5 and 1.0 mM) and regeneration of the selected salt tolerant callus. Embryogenic calli were induced and then treated in selection medium containing 0, 25, 50, 75, 100, 125 and 150 mM NaCl for 5 mo, followed by screening and selection of salt tolerant variants using morphology and biochemical parameters associated with salt tolerance. The salt tolerant calli showed reduced tissue necrosis and maintain their viability. Biochemical profile of these salt tolerant calli showed significantly (p < 0.05) higher content of proline (0.28 to 0.38 mg g -1 ), total soluble sugar (6.4 to 12.9 mg g -1 ), catalase activity (0.9 to 8.0 μmol min -1 mg -1 protein), ascorbate peroxidase activity (5.4 to 20.3 μmol min -1 mg -1 protein), malondialdehyde (6 to 17 μg g -1 protein) and K + /Na + ratio (1.0 to 3.0) while reduced in protein content as compared to the non-tolerant control. These characteristics are typically associated with tolerance against salinity, therefore lines potentially tolerant to this stress have been regenerated. The selected salt tolerant calli were transferred into medium with SA to enhance their tolerance. Supplementation of 1.0 mM SA results in reduced morphological injury, higher regeneration frequency and shoot number (56% and 6 shoots, respectively) as compared to the non-SA-treated. Hence, this study demonstrates the protective effect of SA against salinity and provides a reliable protocol for establishment of salt tolerant rice lines through in vitro selection.