Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Real-time flash flood forecasting approach for development of early warning systems: integrated hydrological and meteorological application

Abstract This study proposes an integrated hydrometeorological modelling framework approach and methodology for flash flood Early Warning Systems in the Chugoku region of Japan. Unprecedented rainfall-induced hydrometeorological disasters and flash floods are increasingly occurring worldwide. Comprehensive efforts are conducted to simultaneously combine multiple disciplines into integrated modelling framework approaches to reduce disaster resilience. This enables more accurate hindcasts, reanalyses, real-time forecasts or nowcasts for flash floods. This study integrates proposed hydrological calibration approach with meteorological input. Two real-time rainfall forecasts by the Weather Research and Forecasting model forced by the Atmospheric Reanalysis v5 (ERA5) and the Japanese 55-year Reanalysis (JRA55) were used as input data to the hydrological model ensemble parameterized previously. This approach was applied to seven major rivers to evaluate river discharges real-time forecasts accuracy during the Heavy Rainfall Event of July 2018. Long lead-times of up to 29 h with a satisfactory reproducible range of Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency were obtained using both meteorological forecast for all rivers cumulatively. This indicates that the proposed integrated hydrometeorological approach enables accurate flash flood real-time forecasting for this event. Similarly, the joint hydrometeorological approach enables framework for development of real-time flash food forecasting application in Japan and presumably worldwide. HIGHLIGHTS Development of integrated hydrometeorological river discharge forecasts in real time. This study integrates hydrological ensemble calibration and meteorological forecasts. Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) outputs with ensemble hydrological parameters. Long lead-times of 29 h with satisfactory accurate reproducibility were obtained. Our integrated hydrometeorological approach enables accurate river discharge nowcasts.
N-acetylcysteine prevents catheter occlusion and inflammation in catheter associated-urinary tract infections by suppressing urease activity

Introduction Proteus mirabilis is a key pathobiont in catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CA-UTIs), which is well known to form crystalline biofilms that occlude catheters. Urease activity alkylates urine through the release of ammonia, consequentially resulting in higher levels of Mg2+ and Ca2+ and formation of crystals. In this study, we showed that N-acetyl cysteine (NAC), a thiol antioxidant, is a potent urease inhibitor that prevents crystalline biofilm formation. Methods To quantify urease activity, Berthelot’s method was done on bacterial extracts treated with NAC. We also used an in vitro catheterised glass bladder model to study the effect of NAC treatment on catheter occlusion and biofilm encrustation in P. mirabilis infections. Inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was performed on catheter samples to decipher elemental profiles. Results NAC inhibits urease activity of clinical P. mirabilis isolates at concentrations as low as 1 mM, independent of bacterial killing. The study also showed that NAC is bacteriostatic on P. mirabilis, and inhibited biofilm formation and catheter occlusion in an in vitro. A significant 4-8log10 reduction in viable bacteria was observed in catheters infected in this model. Additionally, biofilms in NAC treated catheters displayed a depletion of calcium, magnesium, or phosphates (>10 fold reduction), thus confirming the absence of any urease activity in the presence of NAC. Interestingly, we also showed that not only is NAC anti-inflammatory in bladder epithelial cells (BECs), but that it mutes its inflammatory response to urease and P. mirabilis infection by reducing the production of IL-6, IL-8 and IL-1b. Discussion Using biochemical, microbiological and immunological techniques, this study displays the functionality of NAC in preventing catheter occlusion by inhibiting urease activity. The study also highlights NAC as a strong anti-inflammatory antibiofilm agent that can target both bacterial and host factors in the treatment of CA-UTIs.
Description of Alitta yarae sp. nov. (Annelida, Nereididae): a new oligo/mesohaline species from southern Brazil

Abstract A new species of annelid, Alitta yarae sp. nov., is described from material collected in southern Brazil. This species was collected mostly from fishing buoys but also in muddy substrates of the following estuaries: Paraná Estuary Complex, Guaratuba, and Babitonga Bay. Alitta yarae sp. nov. belongs to a group of species with pennant-shaped posterior dorsal ligules. The most similar species of this group is A. succinea, which shares glandular structures from posterior dorsal ligules on lower edge only and having yellow-amber mandibles. However, the two species differ in the extension of the bare space between areas VI and VII–VIII, which is reduced in A. yarae sp. nov. and wider in A. succinea (respectively shorter than or equal to the palpophore), and the paragnath arrangement. Molecular analysis recovered ~20% genetic distance from the closest species A. succinea and no pattern of segregation among the estuaries studied. Finally, both the morphological and the molecular analyses strongly support the designation of a new species. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:2575CF46-57C9-47AE-A4C1-235189F6C107
Application of single-cell sequencing to the research of tumor microenvironment

Single-cell sequencing is a technique for detecting and analyzing genomes, transcriptomes, and epigenomes at the single-cell level, which can detect cellular heterogeneity lost in conventional sequencing hybrid samples, and it has revolutionized our understanding of the genetic heterogeneity and complexity of tumor progression. Moreover, the tumor microenvironment (TME) plays a crucial role in the formation, development and response to treatment of tumors. The application of single-cell sequencing has ushered in a new age for the TME analysis, revealing not only the blueprint of the pan-cancer immune microenvironment, but also the heterogeneity and differentiation routes of immune cells, as well as predicting tumor prognosis. Thus, the combination of single-cell sequencing and the TME analysis provides a unique opportunity to unravel the molecular mechanisms underlying tumor development and progression. In this review, we summarize the recent advances in single-cell sequencing and the TME analysis, highlighting their potential applications in cancer research and clinical translation.
Heavy metal concentration in blood and selected tissues of cat fish from Kwalkwalawa River, Sokoto

Fish is a cheap source of omega- 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids for humans. However, the presence of toxic heavy metals in water can be detrimental to both fish and humans. The aim of this study was to investigate the levels of heavy metals in the liver, kidney and gills of cat fish obtained from Kwalkwalawa River, Sokoto. Water, sediments, blood and tissue samples of (10) cat fish (Clarias gariepinus) species caught from Kwalkwalawa river were analysed quantitatively for the presence of zinc, copper, lead, chromium and cadmium using atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Bioaccumulation of these heavy metals was estimated in these organs. Results showed that lead concentrations in the water was significantly higher (p < 0.05) compared to the sediment sample. Also, copper and lead accumulated most in the liver and kidney when compared with that observed for the gills. In conclusion, lead and cadmium levels in the samples were above WHO certified limits hence the concentration of metals in this water should be monitored periodically.
Study of Microstructural, Nutritional, and Biochemical Changes in Hulled and Hulless Barley during Storage Using X-ray and Infrared Techniques

Four varieties of barley (Esma, AC Metacalf, Tradition, and AB Cattlelac), representing four Canadian barley classes, were stored at 17% moisture content (mc) for 8 week. Stored barely was characterized using synchrotron X-ray phase contrast microcomputed tomography, synchrotron X-ray fluorescence imaging, and mid-infrared spectroscopy at the Canadian Light Source, Saskatoon. The deterioration was observed in all the selected varieties of barley at the end of 8 week of storage. Changes due to spoilage over time were observed in the grain microstructure and its nutrient distribution and composition. This study underscores the critical importance of the initial condition of barley grain microstructure in determining its storage life, particularly under unfavorable conditions. The hulled barley varieties showed more deterioration in microstructure than the hulless varieties of barley, where a direct correlation between microstructural changes and alterations in nutritional content was found. All selected barley classes showed changes in the distribution of nutrients (Ca, Fe, K, Mn, Cu, and Zn), but the two-row AC Metcalf variety exhibited more substantial variations in their nutrient distribution (Zn and Mn) than the other three varieties during storage. The two-row class barley varieties showed more changes in biochemical components (protein, lipids, and carbohydrates) than the six-row class varieties.
Communicating during a Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic that emerged in late 2019 resulted in many universities across the world switching to emergency remote teaching in order to complete the academic year. This article examines what senior management at one South African university felt was important to communicate to their student body regarding the COVID-19 crisis and emergency remote teaching, and the modalities utilised for this communication. The type of crisis responses enacted by this university are also investigated. Relevant communication events by the university’s senior management to their student body during the pivot were examined utilising a bottom-up (thematic analysis) and top-down (situational crisis communication theory) approach. Important themes that emerged included the need to empower and mobilise students, acknowledging unequal access to the devices and data required for online learning, and looking after student’s mental health. Crisis response strategies involved justification of the pivot to emergency remote teaching, praising staff for their efforts, expressions of sympathy for students, and provision of data and devices for students in need. The article concludes with recommendations on an approach to communicate with students in the event of a crisis.
Interpretable surrogate models to approximate the predictions of convolutional neural networks in glaucoma diagnosis

Deep learning systems, especially in critical fields like medicine, suffer from a significant drawback, their black box nature, which lacks mechanisms for explaining or interpreting their decisions. In this regard, our research aims to evaluate the use of surrogate models for interpreting convolutional neural network (CNN) decisions in glaucoma diagnosis. Our approach is novel in that we approximate the original model with an interpretable one and also change the input features, replacing pixels with tabular geometric features of the optic disc, cup, and neuroretinal rim. We trained CNNs with two types of images: original images of the optic nerve head and simplified images showing only the disc and cup contours on a uniform background. Decision trees were used as surrogate models due to their simplicity and visualization properties, while saliency maps were calculated for some images for comparison. The experiments carried out with 1271 images of healthy subjects and 721 images of glaucomatous eyes demonstrate that decision trees can closely approximate the predictions of neural networks trained on simplified contour images, with R-squared values near 0.9 for VGG19, Resnet50, InceptionV3 and Xception architectures. Saliency maps proved difficult to interpret and showed inconsistent results across architectures, in contrast to the decision trees. Additionally, some decision trees trained as surrogate models outperformed a decision tree trained on the actual outcomes without surrogation. Decision trees may be a more interpretable alternative to saliency methods. Moreover, the fact that we matched the performance of a decision tree without surrogation to that obtained by decision trees using knowledge distillation from neural networks is a great advantage since decision trees are inherently interpretable. Therefore, based on our findings, we think this approach would be the most recommendable choice for specialists as a diagnostic tool.
Performance of airborne laser scanning- and aerial photograph-based statistical and textural features in forest variable estimation

In the present study we tested the performance of different combinations of airborne laser scanning (ALS) and aerial photograph-based features in the estimation of forest variables. The combinations were subsets of a total of 172 features extracted from the remotely sensed material. The subsets were based on expert judgment or a genetic algorithm (GA). The non-parametric k-nearest neighbour (k-NN) algorithm was applied to derive the estimates. The best performing feature set was obtained after four consecutive steps of GA, each starting with the best features found in the previous step. The best set contained 11 features, 8 of them originating from the ALS data. This set was further weighted with a downhill simplex algorithm, and a relative mean volume RMSE of 27.1% was obtained. The results were slightly worse than in other Finnish ALS studies, most probably due to a larger amount of deciduous trees and greater variation of forests in the study area.
On routing algorithms in the internet of vehicles: a survey

Internet of Vehicles (IoV) provides an overview of the Internet of Things (IoT) and the Internet of Everything (IoE). Generally, it connects the different items, Vehicles, and Environments, which transfers data between the network. The various challenges associated with IoV are routing security and data transmission. It is a different form of the traditional intelligent transportation system, and thus, many researchers have studied routing protocols and their simulation tools. Finding all Such methodologies and their development are unavailable at a single source. Focusing on this objective, our research explores routing protocols within the Internet of Vehicles (IoV) context. Our study comprehensively reviews diverse routing algorithms and their associated assessment methodologies. To systematically categorise these protocols, we employ a multi-tiered taxonomy. Firstly, we classify them into three main groups based on their transmission strategies: unicast, geo-cast, and broadcast. Secondly, we categorise them into four classes: topology-based, position-based, map-based, and path-based. Thirdly, we organise them according to their dimensions, differentiating between 1-D, 2-D, and 3-D approaches. Finally, we classify these protocols based on their applicability to homogeneous or heterogeneous network environments. The combination of classical routing protocols with the emerging heterogeneous network paradigm is of particular interest in our research, representing a compelling area for future exploration. By presenting this extensive framework, we aim to inspire researchers in the IoV field to develop innovative and efficient routing protocols and technologies.
Modelling the Utilization of Digital Technology in Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic Through an Expert-Based Analytic Tool

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has threatened the capability of academic institutions to continuously deliver quality education despite the worldwide lockdown implemented to curb the transmission of the dreaded disease. As a result, institutions are forced to take advantage of supplementary digital technology to support online learning. Recognizing that an expert-based approach is deemed necessary to carefully execute the decision-making process of utilizing digital technology, this paper provides a new perspective of assessing the constructs of digital technology utilization with the use of fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL). Among the constructs considered, burnout (BO), technostress (TS), goal incongruence (GI), and reflexivity (RE) are found to be effects of other causal constructs. These findings offer crucial insights into the evolving literature of COVID-19 on education, particularly on informing the design of initiatives and measures to support the use of digital technologies as may be necessary.
Chitosan-Based Sustained Expression of Sterol Regulatory Element-Binding Protein 1a Stimulates Hepatic Glucose Oxidation and Growth in Sparus aurata

The administration of a single dose of chitosan nanoparticles driving the expression of sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1a (SREBP1a) was recently associated with the enhanced conversion of carbohydrates into lipids. To address the effects of the long-lasting expression of SREBP1a on the growth and liver intermediary metabolism of carnivorous fish, chitosan-tripolyphosphate (TPP) nanoparticles complexed with a plasmid expressing the N terminal active domain of hamster SREBP1a (pSG5-SREBP1a) were injected intraperitoneally every 4 weeks (three doses in total) to gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) fed high-protein–low-carbohydrate and low-protein–high-carbohydrate diets. Following 70 days of treatment, chitosan-TPP-pSG5-SREBP1a nanoparticles led to the sustained upregulation of SREBP1a in the liver of S. aurata. Independently of the diet, SREBP1a overexpression significantly increased their weight gain, specific growth rate, and protein efficiency ratio but decreased their feed conversion ratio. In agreement with an improved conversion of dietary carbohydrates into lipids, SREBP1a expression increased serum triglycerides and cholesterol as well as hepatic glucose oxidation via glycolysis and the pentose phosphate pathway, while not affecting gluconeogenesis and transamination. Our findings support that the periodical administration of chitosan-TPP-DNA nanoparticles to overexpress SREBP1a in the liver enhanced the growth performance of S. aurata through a mechanism that enabled protein sparing by enhancing dietary carbohydrate metabolisation.
The Upper Limb Orthosis in the Rehabilitation of Stroke Patients: The Role of 3D Printing

Stroke represents the third cause of long-term disability in the world. About 80% of stroke patients have an impairment of bio-motor functions and over half fail to regain arm functionality, resulting in motor movement control disorder with serious loss in terms of social independence. Therefore, rehabilitation plays a key role in the reduction of patient disabilities, and 3D printing (3DP) has showed interesting improvements in related fields, thanks to the possibility to produce customized, eco-sustainable and cost-effective orthoses. This study investigated the clinical use of 3DP orthosis in rehabilitation compared to the traditional ones, focusing on the correlation between 3DP technology, therapy and outcomes. We screened 138 articles from PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science, selecting the 10 articles fulfilling the inclusion criteria, which were subsequently examined for the systematic review. The results showed that 3DP provides substantial advantages in terms of upper limb orthosis designed on the patient’s needs. Moreover, seven research activities used biodegradable/recyclable materials, underlining the great potential of validated 3DP solutions in a clinical rehabilitation setting. The aim of this study was to highlight how 3DP could overcome the limitations of standard medical devices in order to support clinicians, bioengineers and innovation managers during the implementation of Healthcare 4.0.
Mitogenomic Phylogeny of Tonnoidea Suter, 1913 (1825) (Gastropoda: Caenogastropoda)

Simple Summary We sequenced the complete mitochondrial genomes of nine Tonnoidean species, and analyzed the genomic features including genome size, gene order, nucleotide composition and Ka/Ks ratio. The reconstructed phylogeny based on mitogenomic data supported the Tonnoidea classifications at family levels, but their internal relationships remained unclear. At the species level, the present study indicates that species diversity within Bursidae might be underestimated. Abstract The Tonnoidea Suter, 1913 (1825) is a moderately diverse group of large predatory gastropods, the systematics of which remain unclear. In the present study, the complete mitochondrial genomes of nine Tonnoidean species were sequenced. All newly sequenced mitogenomes contain 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 transfer RNA genes and two ribosomal RNA genes, showing similar patterns in genome size, gene order and nucleotide composition. The ratio of nonsynonymous to synonymous of PCGs indicated that NADH complex genes of Tonnoideans were experiencing a more relaxed purifying selection compared with the COX genes. The reconstructed phylogeny based on the combined amino acid sequences of 13 protein-coding genes and the nucleotide sequences of two rRNA genes supported that Ficidae Meek, 1864 (1840) is a sister to Tonnoidea. The monophylies of all Tonnoidean families were recovered and the internal phylogenetic relationships were consistent with the current classification. The phylogeny also revealed that Tutufa rebuta (Linnaeus, 1758) is composed of at least two different species, indicating that the species diversity within Bursidae Thiele, 1925 might be underestimated. The present study contributes to the understanding of the Tonnoidean systematics, and it could provide important information for the revision of Tonnoidean systematics in the future.
Investigation into the effect of epidermal growth factor and hyaluronic acid on fracture healing in a rat femoral fracture model

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the role of an exogenous Epidermal Growth Factor and a hyaluronic acid-based scaffold on fracture healing in a rat femoral fracture model Methods: Forty-eight male Wistar-Albino rats, each weighing a mean 392 grams (range= 350-450 grams) and aged 8.2 months (6-9 months), were used for this experimental study. All surgical procedures were performed on the left femur by a single surgeon. An open femoral fracture was created in all rats. The animals were randomly divided into one of the four groups: Control (12), EGF (12), HA (12) and Combined (12). In the 4th and sixth weeks, samples were processed and analyzed using biomechanical and histological methods. Results: Fracture healing was significantly improved in the Combined group compared to the control one, EGF and HA groups in all parameters at both experimental time points. At the fourth and sixth weeks after surgery, fracture healing in the EGF and HA groups was significantly increased at histological evaluation compared to controls. In addition, compared with EGF, HA and Control groups, a significant difference in callus tissue was detected in the Combined group at 4 and 6-week time points in biomechanical features. Conclusion: This study has shown that combining local EGF and HA scaffold accelerates bone healing and strengthens the bony callus histologically and biomechanically. Using EGF-HA combined scaffolds may represent a possible future strategy in trauma surgery. Level of Evidence: N/A.