Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The case of subcutaneous emphysema in a Eurasian reed warbler nestling

Abstract Reports of physical abnormalities in wild bird populations are rare and often anecdotal, whereas reliable estimates of their frequency are important to understand the strength of selection against them. In 2005–2022, we studied various aspects of breeding biology of Eurasian reed warblers and monitored a total of 1194 nests. In July 2022, we observed a deformed nestling of this species in a brood of three young. The nestling displayed a soft distended lump around the cervical area. After further inspection, we concluded that the nestling suffered from subcutaneous emphysema, which resulted in its death on the following day. The nestling body was collected and examined for the presence of injuries, parasitic nematodes and bacteria. We discuss possible factors that might have caused the nestling’s emphysema and conclude that Clostridium bacteria found in the nestling tissues were the most likely cause of its symptoms and death. This was the only case of subcutaneous emphysema recorded in our population among 1995 nestlings of the same age (8th day after hatching), making up 0.05% of all.
Sensitivity of climate models: Comparison of simulated and observed patterns for past climates. Progress report, February 1, 1994--January 31, 1995

General circulation models of the atmosphere and oceans are key to the predicition of the potential climate changes that may be induced by increased concentrations of greenhouse gases. Confidence in the predictions of these models can be gained by testing of these models in their ability to simulate past climates. Estimates of global mean temperature change show that the magnitude of warming since the last glacial maximum 21,000 calendar years ago match the magnitude of warming currently being predicted for the doubling of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Simulations of the climatic changes for the past 21,000 years as well as for warmer-than-present climates at 6000 and 125,000 years ago provide an excellent opportunity to test the models that are being used in global climate change research. Recognition of this opportunity has been central to our DOE research for the past decade and is now central to PMIP (Paleoclimate Modeling Intercomparison Project) to which our research is contributing.
DINA Model with Entropy Penalization

The cognitive diagnosis model (CDM) is an effective statistical tool for extracting the discrete attributes of individuals based on their responses to diagnostic tests. When dealing with cases that involve small sample sizes or highly correlated attributes, not all attribute profiles may be present. The standard method, which accounts for all attribute profiles, not only increases the complexity of the model but also complicates the calculation. Thus, it is important to identify the empty attribute profiles. This paper proposes an entropy-penalized likelihood method to eliminate the empty attribute profiles. In addition, the relation between attribute profiles and the parameter space of item parameters is discussed, and two modified expectation–maximization (EM) algorithms are designed to estimate the model parameters. Simulations are conducted to demonstrate the performance of the proposed method, and a real data application based on the fraction–subtraction data is presented to showcase the practical implications of the proposed method.
Exploration of Students' Epistemological Obstacles in Understanding the Concept of Variables and Expressions

Variables and expressions serve as bridges where students cross from arithmetic to algebra. Although variables and expressions are important concepts in middle school and high school mathematics, they are topics that many students find challenging, and many, in fact, do not develop a thorough understanding of these topics. This study aims to explore the epistemological obstacles students face in understanding and interpreting the concepts of variables and expressions. Based on these objectives, a qualitative research design with a phenomenological approach was chosen to achieve this research objective. The subjects in this study were 8th grade middle school students in the city of Medan, Indonesia. Tests and interviews were used to collect data. The data obtained were analyzed using an inductive approach. The data obtained are presented in narrative and graphical forms. Based on the research results obtained, six types of student errors in solving problems related to the concept of variables and expressions were identified. Overall, students' limitations in understanding and interpreting variables as something unknown is one of the triggers for epistemological obstacles. Teachers should give chances for pupils to debate and explain variables and expressions in the classroom to assist students gain a comprehensive knowledge of these mathematical tools.
Exploring atherosclerosis imaging with contrast-enhanced MRI using PEGylated ultrasmall iron oxide nanoparticles

Plaque rupture is a critical concern due to its potential for severe outcomes such as cerebral infarction and myocardial infarction, underscoring the urgency of noninvasive early diagnosis. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has gained prominence in plaque imaging, leveraging its noninvasiveness, high spatial resolution, and lack of ionizing radiation. Ultrasmall iron oxides, when modified with polyethylene glycol, exhibit prolonged blood circulation and passive targeting toward plaque sites, rendering them conducive for MRI. In this study, we synthesized ultrasmall iron oxide nanoparticles of approximately 3 nm via high-temperature thermal decomposition. Subsequent surface modification facilitated the creation of a dual-modality magnetic resonance/fluorescence probe. Upon intravenous administration of the probes, MRI assessment of atherosclerotic plaques and diagnostic evaluation were conducted. The application of Flash-3D sequence imaging revealed vascular constriction at lesion sites, accompanied by a gradual signal amplification postprobe injection. T1-weighted imaging of the carotid artery unveiled a progressive signal ratio increase between plaques and controls within 72 h post-administration. Fluorescence imaging of isolated carotid arteries exhibited incremental lesion-to-control signal ratios. Additionally, T1 imaging of the aorta demonstrated an evolving signal enhancement over 48 h. Therefore, the ultrasmall iron oxide nanoparticles hold immense promise for early and noninvasive diagnosis of plaques, providing an avenue for dynamic evaluation over an extended time frame.
Acoustic perception and emotion evocation by rock art soundscapes of Altai (Russia)

The major goal of psychoarchaeoacoustics is to understand the psychology behind motivations and emotions of past communities when selecting certain acoustic environments to set activities involving the production of paintings and carvings. Within this framework, the present study seeks to explore whether a group of archaeological rock art sites in Altai (Siberia, Russia) are distinguished by particular acoustic imprints that elicit distinct reactions on listeners, in perceptual and emotional terms. Sixty participants were presented with a series of natural sounds convolved with six impulse responses from Altai, three of them recorded in locations in front of rock art panels and three of them in front of similar locations but without any trace of rock art. Participants were interrogated about their subjective perception of the sounds presented, using 10 psychoacoustic and emotional scales. The mixed ANOVA analyses carried out revealed that feelings of “presence,” “closeness,” and “tension” evoked by all sounds were significantly influenced by the location. These effects were attributed to the differences in reverberation between the locations with and without rock art. Despite results are not consistent across all the studied rock art sites, and acknowledging the presence of several limitations, this study highlights the significance of its methodology. It stresses the crucial aspect of incorporating the limitations encountered in shaping future research endeavors.
Intuitive thinking predicts false memory formation due to a decrease in inhibitory efficiency

False memory formation is usually studied using the Deese-Roediger-McDermott paradigm (DRM), in which individuals incorrectly remember words that were not originally presented. In this paper, we systematically investigated how two modes of thinking (analytical vs. intuitive) can influence the tendency to create false memories. The increased propensity of intuitive thinkers to generate more false memories can be explained by one or both of the following hypotheses: a decrease in the inhibition of the lure words that come to mind, or an increased reliance on the familiarity heuristic to determine if the word has been previously studied. In two studies, we conducted tests of both recognition and recall using the DRM paradigm. Our observations indicate that a decrease in inhibitory efficiency plays a larger role in false memory formation compared to the use of the familiarity heuristic.
Retrofitting of an Air Handling Unit by a Two-Stage Electrostatic Precipitator

A two-stage electrostatic precipitator (ESP) was developed using carbon brush ionizers and lightweight plastic electrodes to be used in an air handling unit (AHU). In a pilot study, the developed ESP emitted near-zero ozone (<10 ppbv) and achieved a PM2.5 collection efficiency higher than 90%. Theoretical analysis revealed that diffusion charging was as important as field charging in the particle charging mechanism. Based on the results of the pilot study, a real AHU of Yuseong Oncheon subway station, South Korea, was retrofitted with the developed ESP. In the field study, a flow distributor was required to achieve uniform flow and minimize the spatial standard deviation of the air flow velocity. Compared to a filter with a minimum efficiency reporting value (MERV) = 14, typically used for particle removal, the pressure drop decreased from 157.1 to 15.2 Pa, and the PM2.5 collection efficiency increased from 72.7% to 75.0% by the retrofitting of the AHU. The modified quality factor improved more than three-fold, and the required power consumption to operate the device and the fan decreased from 2.49 to 0.85 kW. During ESP operation, the indoor ozone concentration increased by only 1.1 ppbv, whereas the outdoor ozone concentration increased by 30 ppbv. Thus, ESP operation in this study barely increased the indoor ozone concentration.
Telehealth nursing interventions for phenotypes of older adults with COPD: an exploratory study

Introduction Inconclusive results exist around the effectiveness of telemonitoring for patients with COPD, and studies recommended conducting subgroup analyses to identify patient phenotypes that could benefit from these services. This exploratory study investigated what type of COPD patients were receiving which type of telenursing interventions more frequently using the telemonitoring platform. Methods A sample of 36 older adults with COPD were receiving telenursing services for 12 months and were asked to answer five COPD-symptom related questions and submit their vital signs daily. Results Findings revealed two phenotypes of older adults for whom the frequency of telenursing calls and related interventions differed. Although no statistically significant differences were observed in participants' GOLD grades and hospitalizations, cluster one participants used their COPD action plan significantly more frequently, and were in frequent contact with the telenurse. Discussion It is paramount that further research is needed on the development of patient phenotypes who may benefit from telemonitoring.
Privacy-Preserving Smart Parking System Using Blockchain and Private Information Retrieval

Searching for available parking spaces is a major problem for drivers in crowded cities, causing traffic congestion, air pollution, and wasting drivers' time. Smart parking systems enable drivers to solicit real-time parking information and book parking slots. However, current smart parking systems require drivers to disclose their sensitive information, such as their desired destinations. Moreover, existing schemes are centralized, which makes them vulnerable to bottlenecks and single point of failure problems and privacy breaches by service providers. In this paper, we propose a privacy-preserving smart parking system using blockchain and private information retrieval. First, a consortium blockchain is created by different parking lot owners to ensure security, transparency, and availability of the parking offers. Then, to preserve the drivers' location privacy, we adopt private information retrieval technique to privately retrieve parking offers from blockchain nodes. In addition, a short randomizable signature is used to allow drivers to authenticate for reserving available parking slots from parking owners anonymously. Our evaluations demonstrate that our proposed scheme preserves drivers' privacy with low communication and computation overheads.
The environmental effects of the intensive application of nitrogen fertilizers in Western Europe : past problems and future prospects

Agriculture, along with energy and materials use, is one of the three key sectors of human economic activity that is currently causing many environmental problems in Europe. The focus of this study is on the effects resulting from the excessive use of synthetic nitrogen fertilizers, and the inefficient use of animal manure as a source of fertilizer. Numerous studies have identified the leaching of nitrogen into aquatic systems as the cause of dangerously high levels of nitrates in drinking waters, eutrophication and anoxia in surface waters, and disruption of the food web in coastal marine waters. This study not only cites the current problems, but also provides an evolutionary perspective, based on an analysis of past problems, the processes which shape the kind of changes that have occurred, and a scenario of problems that might emerge in the future. Current agricultural problems exist because farmers, and agricultural planners in government and the agro-industry focused too much attention on the benefits of intensive application of nitrogen fertilizers (i.e., spectacular increases in yields of agricultural crops), and did not foresee the environmental problems caused by intensification. The authors of this paper project the effects of fertilizer use to the year 2010, based on the assumption that current trends will continue. They clearly demonstrate that such a trend is not ecologically sustainable, and analyze how future problems can be mitigated by the use of new technologies, and strategies for the more efficient use of animal manure. This paper is a valuable contribution to IIASA's study, "The Future Environments for Europe: Some Implications for Alternative Development Paths. "
Turbulence Parameterizations for Convective Boundary Layers in High-Resolution Mesoscale Models

Abstract : Several issues associated with grid resolution and the sub-grid scale (SGS) parameterizations in a mesoscale model are addressed in this study. Of particular concern is related to increasingly high-resolution mesoscale atmospheric numerical models, in that sub-grid scale parameterization of atmospheric processes becomes unclear when the grid resolution becomes comparable to the length scale of the phenomenon. These issues are studied through the careful analysis of in situ observations and mesoscale model testing. In this study, we perform observational analysis to better understand the scales of turbulence in various environmental conditions. We then explore the capability of the U.S. Navy's current Coupled Ocean-atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System (COAMPS(trademark)), using a case study of boundary layer roll vortices in cold air outbreak conditions over the Japan/East Sea. We analyze the model's ability to perform accurately within the resolvable scales and to accurately represent the boundary layer turbulence mixing when the resolution is high. Based on results from the above analysis, we modify the existing parameterizations towards more realistic representations of the turbulent processes over a relatively wide range of grid resolution, and test this modification within COAMPS(trademark).
Streamflow Composition and Water “Imbalance” in the Northern Himalayas

The Yarlung Zangbo River (YZR) is the largest river in the northern Himalayas, providing crucial water resources for downstream. A full understanding of the streamflow dynamics and regional water budget is critical to secure water security of the Himalayan water tower. Here we establish a comprehensive hydrological model to simulate the precipitation‐runoff‐evapotranspiration‐groundwater‐streamflow complex in the YZR basin. We decipher contributions of different water sources (e.g., precipitation, meltwater, groundwater) to YZR's streamflow and estimate that groundwater sustains ∼36% of annual streamflow in the YZR, while precipitation and melt surface runoff contribute 40% and 24%, respectively. Combining modeling, observation and reanalysis data, our results reveal a water “imbalance” that ∼31% of annual precipitation and meltwater (∼333 mm yr−1 or ∼85 km3 yr−1) is unaccounted for in the YZR basin. We propose that the “excess water” discharges to deep fractured bedrock aquifers, which is promoted by widespread permeable active structures (e.g., faults, fractures). This hypothesis is supported by groundwater storage (GWS) estimates where inclusion of the deep groundwater bridges the discrepancy between baseflow‐derived (shallow) GWS and those derived from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment satellite data. The deep groundwater most likely flows across basins, bypasses streams, and finally discharges to downstream aquifers in the Indo‐Gangetic Plain as mountain block recharge. This study not only provides a comprehensive analysis of the streamflow composition in the YZR, but also contributes to shaping a more complete picture of the functionality of the Himalayan water tower, highlighting the importance of groundwater in regional water transfers.
A TLR4 Agonist Induces Osteosarcoma Regression by Inducing an Antitumor Immune Response and Reprogramming M2 Macrophages to M1 Macrophages

Simple Summary Due to the lack of progress in OsA’s treatment and survival, there is a need to develop new therapeutic approaches for this tumor. OsA is a complex tumor for which the immune microenvironment appears as a potential therapeutic option. This study explores the antitumor effect of a chemically detoxified TLR4 agonist MP-LPS, under liposomal formulation called Lipo-MP-LPS. The agent induces a significant antitumor response and inhibition of tumor growth in an immunocompetent OsA model. Lipo-MP-LPS acts by favoring the switch of M2 macrophages to M1, and promotes T-cell recruitment. The study suggests that Lipo-MP-LPS could be used alone or in combination with other therapies for refractory tumors like OsA. Abstract Osteosarcoma (OsA) has limited treatment options and stagnant 5-year survival rates. Its immune microenvironment is characterized by a predominance of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs), whose role in OsA progression remain unclear. Nevertheless, immunotherapies aiming to modulate macrophages activation and polarization could be of interest for OsA treatment. In this study, the antitumor effect of a liposome-encapsulated chemically detoxified lipopolysaccharide (Lipo-MP-LPS) was evaluated as a therapeutic approach for OsA. Lipo-MP-LPS is a toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) agonist sufficiently safe and soluble to be IV administered at effective doses. Lipo-MP-LPS exhibited a significant antitumor response, with tumor regression in 50% of treated animals and delayed tumor progression in the remaining 50%. The agent inhibited tumor growth by 75%, surpassing the efficacy of other immunotherapies tested in OsA. Lipo-MP-LPS modulated OsA’s immune microenvironment by favoring the transition of M2 macrophages to M1 phenotype, creating a proinflammatory milieu and facilitating T-cell recruitment and antitumor immune response. Overall, the study demonstrates the potent antitumor effect of Lipo-MP-LPS as monotherapy in an OsA immunocompetent model. Reprogramming macrophages and altering the immune microenvironment likely contribute to the observed tumor control. These findings support the concept of immunomodulatory approaches for the treatment of highly resistant tumors like OsA.
A mini-review on functional magnetic resonance imaging on brain structure of vascular cognitive impairment

Vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) is the initial stage of vascular dementia (VaD). Early diagnosis and treatment of VCI are crucial to prevent the progression of VaD. In order to gain a better understanding of VCI, this study aimed to investigate the use of advanced imaging techniques such as structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). These techniques allow researchers to observe the structural and functional changes in the brain that are associated with VCI. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and sMRI techniques have been widely used in studies focusing on gray matter, brain networks, and functional abnormalities during rest. By searching and summarizing recent literature, this study has provided valuable evidence on the use of advanced imaging techniques in understanding and treating VCI. The findings from this study can aid in the development of early intervention strategies for patients with VCI, potentially slowing down or even halting the progression of VCI to full-blown VaD.
Effect of Obturation Technique on Stresses Induced in Telescopic Retained Partial Denture (In vitro Study)

AIM: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of obturation techniques on the stresses induced on the abutment teeth and the supported prosthesis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A unilateral bounded edentulous space case design was chosen for this study, with telescopic retained partial dentures (TRPDs) selected as the treatment of choice. Two TRPDs were fabricated, the first pre-molar and second molar were used as abutments for the partial dentures. In the first group, the pre-molar was treated with the lateral compaction obturation technique. In the second group, the first pre-molar was treated with a vertical compaction obturation technique. The second molar was a common abutment in both groups and was left untreated. 50 Newtons were applied on the prostheses, with a strain gauge attached, and data were collected. RESULTS: t-test showed the mean values of microstrain (με) induced in pre-molars treated with lateral compaction was 159.64 ± 10.46 με, whereas with vertical compaction was 12.14 ± 2.57 με, with statistical significance of p < 0.05. CONCLUSION: Vertical obturation of endodontically treated teeth propagates less stress to the abutment teeth and to the supporting prostheses.