Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Left atrial function index predicts poor outcomes in acute myocardial infarction patients treated with percutaneous coronary intervention

Background and aims The left atrial function index (LAFI) is an index that combines the left atrial emptying fraction, adjusted left atrial volume and stroke volume. The prognostic value of LAFI in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients treated with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is unknown. This study aims to determine whether LAFI predicts prognosis in AMI patients treated with PCI. Methods Patients with newly diagnosed AMI who were treated with PCI at Hunan Provincial People's Hospital from March 2020 to October 2021 were prospectively enrolled. All patients underwent transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) at baseline and follow-up. The endpoint events included rehospitalization due to unstable angina, nonfatal myocardial infarction, rehospitalization due to heart failure and cardiovascular death. Results A total of 368 patients with AMI (92 women; mean age, 61.45 ± 11.91 years) were studied with a median follow-up of 14 ± 6.58 months. Sixty-nine patients had endpoint events. Patients who presented with events had a significantly lower LAFI than patients without events (34.25 ± 12.86 vs. 48.38 ± 19.42, P < 0.0001). Multivariate Cox analysis demonstrated that LAFI (HR = 0.97 [95% CI: 0.95; 0.99]; P = 0.012) and the Killip classification (HR = 1.51 [95% CI: 1.03; 2.22]; P = 0.034) were independently predictive of endpoint events. Kaplan–Meier survival curves showed that patients with LAFI ≤ 40.17 cm/ml/m2 had higher events than patients with LAFI > 40.17 cm/ml/m2 (HR = 8.53 [95% CI: 4.74; 15.35]; P < 0.0001). Conclusion LAFI is a strong and independent predictor of adverse events and can be used for risk stratification in patients with AMI treated with PCI.
A 30% reduction in switchgrass rhizome reserves did not decrease biomass yield

A long‐standing question in perennial grass breeding and physiology is whether yield improvement strategies could compromise winter survival. Since perennial grasses rely on stored carbohydrates for winter maintenance and spring regrowth, yield improvement strategies could reduce winter survival if they increase biomass and grain yields at the expense of carbon allocation to storage. Therefore, it is crucial to comprehend the dependence of regrowth on storage reserves. We experimentally depleted switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) rhizome reserves by storing rhizomes for 2 weeks at 5°C (control treatment) and 25°C (reserve‐depleted treatment). During the storage period rhizome respiration was 5.3× higher at 25°C (0.010 μmol CO2 g−1 min−1 at 5°C vs. 0.054 μmol CO2 g−1 min−1 at 25°C; p < 0.0001) and the starch content was depleted by 30% by the end of storage. Surprisingly, reserve‐depleted switchgrass had 60% larger leaf area (LA; LAcontrol = 149 cm2 pot−1 vs. LAdepleted = 239 cm2 pot−1; p = 0.013) and produced ~40% more aboveground biomass than control plants (9.46 g pot−1 vs. 6.63 g pot−1; p = 0.112). In addition, reserve‐depleted switchgrass restored its rhizome starch reserves to pre‐storage levels. Switchgrass showed a large plasticity among its source‐sink components to buffer the imposed reserve depletion. It increased plant photosynthesis by increasing the photosynthetic leaf area while keeping photosynthesis constant on a leaf area basis and readjusted the timing and activity of sink organs. These results suggest that switchgrass, and potentially other perennial grasses, largely over‐invest in storage reserves. Therefore, current breeding strategies in perennial grasses aimed to extend the aboveground growing season should not compromise crop persistence. Our study also has implications on long‐term yield dynamics as it highlights sink limitations as potential driver of the yield decline commonly observed in perennial grasses 5+ years after cultivation.
CHARACTERIZATION OF SOIL PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL ATTRIBUTES IN DIFFERENT AGROECOSYSTEMS AND PEDOFORMS IN AREIA, PARAÍBA, BRAZIL

Knowledge of soil attributes is a basic premise when defining land use systems, as well as in the monitoring of the properties and/or quality indicators of the cropping systems implemented. The objective of this study was to characterize the physical and chemical attributes of Argissolo and Gleissolo in areas under different uses and landforms in the municipality of Areia, PB, Brazil. Areas with different uses were selected, such as banana (Musa parasidiaca), pasture (Brachiaria brizantha), reforestation with ‘sabiá’ (Mimosa caesalpiniaefolia), and open tropical forest, as well as two relief positions (foothill and mid-slope). Samples were taken from the 0.00-0.20 and 0.20-0.40 m layers. The samples were then air-dried, crumbled, and passed through a sieve with a 2 mm mesh to obtain fine air-dried soil. Physical, chemical, and fertility analyses were carried out and cation exchange capacity, sum of bases, and base saturation were calculated. According to the results, in general, the soil physical and chemical attributes were altered by land use and landforms. Soil organic matter levels in the surface layer were higher in the deposition foothills, while in the mid-slope the forest environments (natural or forested) showed higher levels of organic matter.
Abuse of Cloud-Based and Public Legitimate Services as Command-and-Control (C&C) Infrastructure: A Systematic Literature Review

The widespread adoption of cloud-based and public legitimate services (CPLS) has inadvertently opened up new avenues for cyber attackers to establish covert and resilient command-and-control (C&C) communication channels. This abuse poses a significant cybersecurity threat, as it allows malicious traffic to blend seamlessly with legitimate network activities. Traditional detection systems are proving inadequate in accurately identifying such abuses, emphasizing the urgent need for more advanced detection techniques. In our study, we conducted an extensive systematic literature review (SLR) encompassing the academic and industrial literature from 2008 to July 2023. Our review provides a comprehensive categorization of the attack techniques employed in CPLS abuses and offers a detailed overview of the currently developed detection strategies. Our findings indicate a substantial increase in cloud-based abuses, facilitated by various attack techniques. Despite this alarming trend, the focus on developing detection strategies remains limited, with only 7 out of 91 studies addressing this concern. Our research serves as a comprehensive review of CPLS abuse for the C&C infrastructure. By examining the emerging techniques used in these attacks, we aim to make a significant contribution to the development of effective botnet defense strategies.
Analysis of Brand Experience, Brand Love and; Brand Loyalty to Willingness to Pay Premium Price to Starbucks Indonesia Consumers in Jakarta

This study was conducted with the aim to analyze the factors that influence brand loyalty and willingness to pay premium price in Starbucks Indonesia consumers in Jakarta. The development of consumer relationships with brands has become a focus for every business. Through brand-related communication, the brand acts as a system that engages buyers and sellers. Not only limited to the relationship between consumers and brands, but also related to greater sales, price vulnerabilities, better loyalty, and higher margins. SEM (Structural Equation Modeling) analysis was used as a data analysis method in this study. The research model used in this study is second order. The use of SEM with PLS (Partial Least Square) approach was chosen because it can be used effectively with small sample sizes and complex models The sample of this study amounted to 114 Indonesian Starbuks consumers in Jakarta. The results showed that brand experience has a positive and significant effect on brand love, brand experience has a positive and significant effect on brand loyalty, brand love does not have a significant effect on willingness to pay premium price, love for brand has a positive and significant effect on brand loyalty, brand experience does not have a significant effect on brand loyalty.Willingness to pay premium price, as well as brand loyalty have a positive and significant effect on willingness to pay premium price.
Integrated land-change science and tropical deforestation in the southern Yucatán : final frontiers

1. Introduction:Three Frontiers of the Southern Yucatan Peninsular Region and SYPR Project I:HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT RELATIONSHIPS, 1000 BC - AD 1900 2. The Long View: Human-Environment Relationships 1000 BC - AD 1900 3. Forest Extraction to Theme Parks: The Modern History of Land Change II:LAND-COVER CHARACTERISTICS AND CHANGE 4. Forest Types and their Implications 5. Recovery of Nutrient Cycling and Ecosystem Properties following Swidden Cultivation: Regional and Stand-Level Constraints 6. Land Cover and Land Use: Classification and Change Analysis III: AGENTS AND INSTITUTIONS OF LAND CHANGE: HOUSEHOLD ECONOMY AND CULTIVATION 7. Institutions, Organizations, and Policy Affecting Land Change: Complexity Within and Beyond the Ejido 8. The Ejido Household: The Current Agent of Change 9. Subsistence Sustained: Swidden or Milpa Cultivation 10. Jalapeno Pepper Cultivation: Emergent Commercial Land Use 11. The Semi-Market and Semi-Subsistence Household: The Evidence and Test of Smallholder Behavior IV: SPATIAL MODELING OF LAND CHANGE: EMPIRICAL APPROACHES IN DATA-SPARSE ENVIRONMENTS 12. Spatially Explicit, Statistical Land-Change Models in Data-Sparse Conditions 13. The SYPR Integrative Assessment Model: Complexity in Development RETROSPECTIVE: THE THREE FRONTIERS REVISITED GLOSSARY AND ACRONYMS INDEX
Biosynthesis of Functional Silver Nanoparticles Using Callus and Hairy Root Cultures of Aristolochia manshuriensis

This study delves into the novel utilization of Aristolochia manshuriensis cultured cells for extracellular silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) synthesis without the need for additional substances. The presence of elemental silver has been verified using energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, while distinct surface plasmon resonance peaks were revealed by UV-Vis spectra. Transmission and scanning electron microscopy indicated that the AgNPs, ranging in size from 10 to 40 nm, exhibited a spherical morphology. Fourier-transform infrared analysis validated the abilty of A. manshuriensis extract components to serve as both reducing and capping agents for metal ions. In the context of cytotoxicity on embryonic fibroblast (NIH 3T3) and mouse neuroblastoma (N2A) cells, AgNPs demonstrated varying effects. Specifically, nanoparticles derived from callus cultures exhibited an IC50 of 2.8 µg/mL, effectively inhibiting N2A growth, whereas AgNPs sourced from hairy roots only achieved this only at concentrations of 50 µg/mL and above. Notably, all studied AgNPs’ treatment-induced cytotoxicity in fibroblast cells, yielding IC50 values ranging from 7.2 to 36.3 µg/mL. Furthermore, the findings unveiled the efficacy of the synthesized AgNPs against pathogenic microorganisms impacting both plants and animals, including Agrobacterium rhizogenes, A. tumefaciens, Bacillus subtilis, and Escherichia coli. These findings underscore the effectiveness of biotechnological methodologies in offering advanced and enhanced green nanotechnology alternatives for generating nanoparticles with applications in combating cancer and infectious disorders.
Investigation of electrical resistance on coir fiber reinforced P-polyvinyl chloride composites

Abstract Current power electronics instruments like switches, cables, transformers and good electrical insulating materials are gaining consideration for their compact and environmental design. A plasticized polyvinyl chloride/coir fiber-based polymer composite, displaying good electrical resistance, is suggested to meet these objectives. Coir fiber is chosen as it gives powered strength and has fewer lumens than other fillers. Plasticized polyvinyl chloride is strengthened using coir fiber to create a insulating polymer composites. The design of experiments (DOE) method is used to create various samples with 2/4/6 wt. % of fiber content, 75/150/225 μm of fiber size and triethoxy (ethyl) silane (1)/sodium hydroxide (2)/potassium hydroxide (3) of chemical treatments using the response surface methodology through Box–Behnken design. Further, analysis of variance (ANOVA) is carried out using MINITAB statistical software to achieve optimum parameter levels through the regression equation. Additionally, the comparison of experimental and optimized findings leads to error analysis. A combination of 2 wt. % of coir fiber, 208.33 μm of coir fiber size and Triethoxy(ethyl) silane Treatment produces a composite with high resistance of 274.47 Giga-ohms, which is significant for good insulating purpose.
The Diagnostic Accuracy of Artificial Intelligence in Radiological Markers of Normal-Pressure Hydrocephalus (NPH) on Non-Contrast CT Scans of the Brain

Diagnosing normal-pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) via non-contrast computed tomography (CT) brain scans is presently a formidable task due to the lack of universally agreed-upon standards for radiographic parameter measurement. A variety of radiological parameters, such as Evans’ index, narrow sulci at high parietal convexity, Sylvian fissures’ dilation, focally enlarged sulci, and more, are currently measured by radiologists. This study aimed to enhance NPH diagnosis by comparing the accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values of radiological parameters, as evaluated by radiologists and AI methods, utilizing cerebrospinal fluid volumetry. Results revealed a sensitivity of 77.14% for radiologists and 99.05% for AI, with specificities of 98.21% and 57.14%, respectively, in diagnosing NPH. Radiologists demonstrated NPV, PPV, and an accuracy of 82.09%, 97.59%, and 88.02%, while AI reported 98.46%, 68.42%, and 77.42%, respectively. ROC curves exhibited an area under the curve of 0.954 for radiologists and 0.784 for AI, signifying the diagnostic index for NPH. In conclusion, although radiologists exhibited superior sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy in diagnosing NPH, AI served as an effective initial screening mechanism for potential NPH cases, potentially easing the radiologists’ burden. Given the ongoing AI advancements, it is plausible that AI could eventually match or exceed radiologists’ diagnostic prowess in identifying hydrocephalus.
Brain Atrophy as an Outcome of Disease-Modifying Therapy for Remitting-Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis

Introduction Currently, clinical trials of DMTs strive to determine their effect on neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration. We aimed to determine the impact of currently used DMTs on brain atrophy and disability in RRMS. The main goal of this review is to evaluate the neuroprotective potential of MS therapy and assess its impact on disability. Methods We performed a systematic analysis of clinical trials that used brain atrophy as an outcome or performed post hoc analysis of volumetric MRI parameters to assess the neuroprotective potential of applied therapies. Trials between 2008 and 2019 that included published results of brain parenchymal fraction (BPF) change and brain volume loss (BVL) in the period from baseline to week 96 or longer were considered. Results Twelve from 146 clinical trials met the inclusion criteria and were incorporated into the analysis. DMTs that presented a large reduction in BVL also exhibited robust effects on clinical disability worsening, e.g., alemtuzumab with a 42% risk reduction in 6-month confirmed disability accumulation (p = 0.0084), ocrelizumab with a 40% risk reduction in 6-month confirmed disability progression (p = 0.003), and other DMTs (cladribine and teriflunomide) with moderate influence on brain atrophy were also associated with a marked impact on disability worsening. Dimethyl fumarate (DEFINE) and fingolimod (FREEDOMS I) initially exhibited significant effect on BVL; however, this effect was not confirmed in further clinical trials: CONFIRM and FREEDOMS II, respectively. Peg-IFN-β1a shows a modest effect on BVL and disability worsening. Conclusion Our results show that BVL in one of the components of clinical disability worsening, together with other variables (lesion volume and annualized relapse rate). Standardization of atrophy measurement technique as well as harmonization of disability worsening and progression criteria in further clinical trials are of utmost importance as they enable a reliable comparison of neuroprotective potential of DMTs.
Design Procedure for Compact Dual-Circularly Polarized Slotted Substrate Integrated Waveguide Antenna Arrays

In this paper, a complete design procedure of low-profile dual-circularly polarized slotted substrate integrated waveguide antennas is developed at the <italic>Ku</italic>-band frequencies. The design method includes a recipe for controlling the beam squint angle, determining the optimum slot aperture distribution, and tapering slots coupling and excitation to increase the gain/efficiency and reduce the array sidelobe levels. The structure is designed in such a way to provide dual circular polarization and improve the radiation characteristics including reduced sidelobe levels using optimized symmetric nonuniform coupling factors and tapering the lengths of the slots. The radiation performance of the fabricated <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$64 \times 12$ </tex-math></inline-formula> slot antenna array has been tested using a planar near-field range measurement. The beam tilt angles in elevation, peak gain, cross polarization component, and sidelobe levels have been measured and compared to previously designed <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$32 \times 13$ </tex-math></inline-formula> and <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$16 \times 12$ </tex-math></inline-formula> slot arrays.
Artificial neural network modelling to predict the efficiency of aluminium sacrificial anode

ABSTRACT Study explores the potential of a deep learning-based approach for predicting the current efficiency of aluminium sacrificial anodes in marine environments. The model takes into account various input variables, including the chemical composition of the sacrificial anode, pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), temperature, pressure, cathode electrode, current density, and the ratio of the surface area of the cathode to anode, with the anode current efficiency serving as the output variable. Utilising artificial neural networks in this study shows a mean absolute percentage error of 6.4% and 7.8% for the training and validation for predicting the current efficiency. The proposed model shows promising potential to predict the current efficiency of aluminium sacrificial anodes and improve the design of cathodic protection systems based on aluminium sacrificial anodes.
Evaluation of performance of an active terahertz imaging system for concealed face recognition

One of the most important problems encountered by face recognition systems is occlusions. Especially with the COVID-19 pandemic, recognition of masked faces has been attracting interest. There are proposed visible spectrum recognition algorithms, which perform the recognition task from the uncovered part of the face. However, reliability and accuracy of these algorithms does not reach the level of traditional face recognition algorithms, even though they outperform human observers. Furthermore, these approaches do not provide a solution when almost all the face area is covered. In the past, use of millimeter/submillimeter (SMMW/MMW) and terahertz (THz) imaging has been considered as an alternative to visible spectrum systems as an answer to the limitations of visible spectrum systems, such as changing lighting conditions and occlusions. In this study, several performance characteristics of an active THz imaging system operating at 340 GHz are presented for a face recognition approach based on a similarity comparison of THz face images. Here we examine the dynamic range, contrast resolution, spatial resolution, pixel resolution and noise level of the imaging system. Furthermore, analysis results performed on a set of THz images of head areas of 20 individuals are presented. Results indicate that THz imaging is sensitive to facial characteristics through clothing material which can be exploited for a biometric approach based on THz imaging for recognition of concealed faces.
Regional adaptive affinitive patterns (RADAP) with logical operators for facial expression recognition

Automated facial expression recognition plays a significant role in the study of human behaviour analysis. In this study, the authors propose a robust feature descriptor named regional adaptive affinitive patterns (RADAP) for facial expression recognition. The RADAP computes positional adaptive thresholds in the local neighbourhood and encodes multi-distance magnitude features which are robust to intra-class variations and irregular illumination variation in an image. Furthermore, they established cross-distance co-occurrence relations in RADAP by using logical operators. They proposed XRADAP, ARADAP, and DRADAP using xor, adder and decoder, respectively. The XRADAP engrains the quality of robustness to intra-class variations in RADAP features using pairwise co-occurrence. Similarly, ARADAP and DRADAP extract more stable and illumination invariant features and capture the minute expression features which are usually missed by regular descriptors. The performance of the proposed methods is evaluated by conducting experiments on nine benchmark datasets Cohn-Kanade+ (CK+), Japanese female facial expression (JAFFE), Multimedia Understanding Group (MUG), MMI, OULU-CASIA, Indian spontaneous expression database, DISFA, AFEW and Combined (CK+, JAFFE, MUG, MMI & GEMEP-FERA) database in both person dependent and person independent setup. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method over state-of-the-art approaches.