Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Chemically crosslinked hyaluronic acid-chitosan hydrogel for application on cartilage regeneration

Articular cartilage is an avascular tissue that lines the ends of bones in diarthrodial joints, serves as support, acts as a shock absorber, and facilitates joint’s motion. It is formed by chondrocytes immersed in a dense extracellular matrix (principally composed of aggrecan linked to hyaluronic acid long chains). Damage to this tissue is usually associated with traumatic injuries or age-associated processes that often lead to discomfort, pain and disability in our aging society. Currently, there are few surgical alternatives to treat cartilage damage: the most commonly used is the microfracture procedure, but others include limited grafting or alternative chondrocyte implantation techniques, however, none of them completely restore a fully functional cartilage. Here we present the development of hydrogels based on hyaluronic acid and chitosan loaded with chondroitin sulfate by a new strategy of synthesis using biodegradable di-isocyanates to obtain an interpenetrated network of chitosan and hyaluronic acid for cartilage repair. These scaffolds act as delivery systems for the chondroitin sulfate and present mucoadhesive properties, which stabilizes the clot of microfracture procedures and promotes superficial chondrocyte differentiation favoring a true articular cellular colonization of the cartilage. This double feature potentially improves the microfracture technique and it will allow the development of next-generation therapies against articular cartilage damage.
Time-course gait pattern analysis in a rat model of foot drop induced by ventral root avulsion injury

Foot drop is a common clinical gait impairment characterized by the inability to raise the foot or toes during walking due to the weakness of the dorsiflexors of the foot. Lumbar spine disorders are common neurogenic causes of foot drop. The accurate prognosis and treatment protocols of foot drop are not well delineated in the scientific literature due to the heterogeneity of the underlying lumbar spine disorders, different severities, and distinct definitions of the disease. For translational purposes, the use of animal disease models could be the best way to investigate the pathogenesis of foot drop and help develop effective therapeutic strategies for foot drops. However, no relevant and reproducible foot drop animal models with a suitable gait analysis method were developed for the observation of foot drop symptoms. Therefore, the present study aimed to develop a ventral root avulsion (VRA)-induced foot drop rat model and record detailed time-course changes of gait pattern following L5, L6, or L5 + L6 VRA surgery. Our results suggested that L5 + L6 VRA rats exhibited changes in gait patterns, as compared to sham lesion rats, including a significant reduction of walking speed, step length, toe spread, and swing phase time, as well as an increased duration of the stance phase time. The ankle kinematic data exhibited that the ankle joint angle increased during the mid-swing stage, indicating a significant foot drop pattern during locomotion. Time-course observations displayed that these gait impairments occurred as early as the first-day post-lesion and gradually recovered 7–14 days post-injury. We conclude that the proposed foot drop rat model with a video-based gait analysis approach can precisely detect the foot drop pattern induced by VRA in rats, which can provide insight into the compensatory changes and recovery in gait patterns and might be useful for serving as a translational platform bridging human and animal studies for developing novel therapeutic strategies for foot drop.
The root signals in rhizospheric inter-organismal communications

Root exudates play a key role in mediating plant–plant and plant–rhizomicrobiome interactions, including regulating biochemical/physiological aspects of plant-associated microorganisms, to enhance host plant growth and resilience. Root exudates can act as signals to reduce the competition from neighboring plants and recruiting/choreographing a wide range of diverse rhizomicrobiome members to make the host plant a good fit with its immediate environment. Root exudate production is a dynamic and key process, but there is a limited understanding of the metabolites or metabolic pathways involved in the inter-organismal communications facilitated by them. Given the well-known symbiotic relationships between plants and associated rhizomicrobiome members, adding root exudates to microbial isolation media may allow some of the large segments of rhizomicrobiome members that are not currently culturable to be grown in vitro. This will provide new insights into how root signals orchestrate associated microbes, will benefit agricultural production in the face of challenges posed by climate change, and will help to sustainably provide food for a growing global human population.
Microbial diversity gradients in the geothermal mud volcano underlying the hypersaline Urania Basin

Mud volcanoes transport deep fluidized sediment and their microbial communities and thus provide a window into the deep biosphere. However, mud volcanoes are commonly sampled at the surface and not probed at greater depths, with the consequence that their internal geochemistry and microbiology remain hidden from view. Urania Basin, a hypersaline seafloor basin in the Mediterranean, harbors a mud volcano that erupts fluidized mud into the brine. The vertical mud pipe was amenable to shipboard Niskin bottle and multicorer sampling and provided an opportunity to investigate the downward sequence of bacterial and archaeal communities of the Urania Basin brine, fluid mud layers and consolidated subsurface sediments using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. These microbial communities show characteristic, habitat-related trends as they change throughout the sample series, from extremely halophilic bacteria (KB1) and archaea (Halodesulfoarchaeum spp.) in the brine, toward moderately halophilic and thermophilic endospore-forming bacteria and uncultured archaeal lineages in the mud fluid, and finally ending in aromatics-oxidizing bacteria, uncultured spore formers, and heterotrophic subsurface archaea (Thermoplasmatales, Bathyarchaeota, and Lokiarcheota) in the deep subsurface sediment at the bottom of the mud volcano. Since these bacterial and archaeal lineages are mostly anaerobic heterotrophic fermenters, the microbial ecosystem in the brine and fluidized mud functions as a layered fermenter for the degradation of sedimentary biomass and hydrocarbons. By spreading spore-forming, thermophilic Firmicutes during eruptions, the Urania Basin mud volcano likely functions as a source of endospores that occur widely in cold seafloor sediments.
Microsecond-long simulation reveals the molecular mechanism for the dual inhibition of falcipain-2 and falcipain-3 by antimalarial lead compounds

The latest world malaria report revealed that human deaths caused by malaria are currently on the rise and presently stood at over 627,000 per year. In addition, more than 240 million people have the infection at any given time. These figures make malaria the topmost infectious disease and reiterate the need for continuous efforts for the development of novel chemotherapies. Malaria is an infectious disease caused majorly by the protozoan intracellular parasite Plasmodium falciparum and transmitted by mosquitoes. Reports abound on the central role of falcipains (cysteine protease enzymes) in the catabolism of hemoglobin for furnishing the plasmodium cells with amino acids that they require for development and survival in the hosts. Even though falcipains (FPs) have been validated as drug target molecules for the development of new antimalarial drugs, none of its inhibitory compounds have advanced beyond the early discovery stage. Therefore, there are renewed efforts to expand the collection of falcipain inhibitors. As a result, an interesting finding reported the discovery of a quinolinyl oxamide derivative (QOD) and an indole carboxamide derivative (ICD), with each compound demonstrating good potencies against the two essential FP subtypes 2 (FP-2) and 3 (FP-3). In this study, we utilized microsecond-scale molecular dynamics simulation computational method to investigate the interactions between FP-2 and FP-3 with the quinolinyl oxamide derivative and indole carboxamide derivative. The results revealed that quinolinyl oxamide derivative and indole carboxamide derivative bound tightly at the active site of both enzymes. Interestingly, despite belonging to different chemical scaffolds, they are coordinated by almost identical amino acid residues via extensive hydrogen bond interactions in both FP-2 and FP-3. Our report provided molecular insights into the interactions between FP-2 and FP-3 with quinolinyl oxamide derivative and indole carboxamide derivative, which we hope will pave the way towards the design of more potent and druglike inhibitors of these enzymes and will pave the way for their development to new antimalarial drugs.
Superconvergence and Asymptotic Expansions for Bilinear Finite Volume Element Approximations

Aiming at the isoparametric bilinear finite volume element scheme, we initially derive an asymptotic expansion and a high accuracy combination formula of the derivatives in the sense of pointwise by employing the energy-embedded method on uniform grids. Furthermore, we prove that the approximate derivatives are convergent of order two. Finally, numerical examples verify the theoretical results. AMS subject classifications: 65M10, 65M08, 41A60
The study of mindfulness as an intervening factor for enhanced psychological well-being in building the level of resilience

Background By using a practice like mindfulness, people may become more adaptable and flexible in difficult situations, which lowers the levels of unfavorable experiences. Only a small number of research have examined the connection between mindfulness and resilience, with mindfulness as a source of PWB influencing millennials’ resilience when faced with adversity. This study sought to close this gap by exploring the role that mindfulness practice plays in millennials’ PWB and subsequent increases in resilience to adversity. Methods In this study, key components linked to mindfulness, PWB, and resilience are combined with a thorough literature assessment. Millennials who are active members of the Ti-Ratana Youth in Malaysia and the Buddhist Missionary Society of Malaysia (BMSM) Youth Section make up the study’s sample population. Before completing the online survey form, each participant was instructed to engage in 4 weeks of supervised mindfulness practice. To assure the validity of the data gathered, it was crucial to secure the youth’s commitment. Only 231 of the 300 respondents who received the link to the online survey had replies that could be used for further research. To analyze the collected data and conduct hypothesis testing, Smart-PLS was used. Results Academic research has shown that factors, such as a heavy workload, time constraints, lengthy workdays, work-related home conflicts, and an unstable and uncertain environment all lead to a drop in PWB. According to the findings, the two most significant variables promoting resilience are mindfulness and positive PWB. The outcomes of this experimental study confirmed earlier findings that millennials’ PWB and resilience are enhanced by mindfulness training. Conclusion The study’s findings suggest that, in times of high uncertainty, mindfulness-based intervention programs should be expanded to include all young people. This study offers empirical support for the effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions in raising PWB and resilience.
Comparison of McKeown Minimally Invasive Esophagectomy vs sweet esophagectomy for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: A retrospective study

There are two most widely used transthoracic esophagectomy methods: the McKeown Minimally Invasive esophagectomy (McKeown MIE) and the Sweet Esophagectomy. We evaluated and compared the therapeutic effects of these two methods to determine the appropriate method for the treatment of middle and lower third esophageal cancer patients who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy combined with immunotherapy (NACI). We retrospectively analyzed 43 sweet esophagectomy cases received NACI and 167 cases with McKeown MIE in the fourth hospital of Hebei Medical University from December 2019 to May 2022. This retrospective observational study showed that Sweet esophagectomy and McKeown MIE after NACI therapy for resectable ESCC patients appeared to be safe with low operative mortality and morbidity rate in the current population. In addition, sweet esophagectomy was associated with a lower incidence of severe complications and shorter hospital stay for patients over 70 years of age compared with McKeown MIE. There were no differences were found in length of stay, mortality and complication incidence rate between the two groups. The Sweet approach has advantage in hospital stay for the treatment of the elderly NACI patients with middle or lower third esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. In conclusion, Sweet esophagectomy and McKeown MIE are both safe, effective, and worthwhile approaches for ESCC patients in immunotherapy age.
Photometric study of W UMa type binaries in the intermediate open cluster NGC 7789

The light curve solutions of two W UMa binary systems in the intermediate open cluster NGC 7789 are presented in this paper. These variables were observed using the 2m telescope of the IUCAA-Girawali Observatory. The V passband photo- metric solutions of the two W UMa binaries were obtained using the latest version of the W-D program.The result shows that both systems are H-subtype W UMa binaries with high mass ratios.
Design of Gain-Scheduled Strictly Positive Real Controllers Using Numerical Optimization for Flexible Robotic Systems

The design of gain-scheduled strictly positive real (SPR) controllers using numerical optimization is considered. Our motivation is robust, yet accurate motion control of flexible roboric systems via the passivity theorem. It is proven that a family of very strictly passive compensators scheduled via time- or state-dependent scheduling signals is also very strictly passive. Two optimization problems are posed; we first present a simple method to optimize the linear SPR controllers, which compose the gain-scheduled controller. Second, we formulate the optimization problem associated with the gain-scheduled controller itself. Restricting our investigation to time-dependent scheduling signals, the signals are parameterized, and the optimization objective function seeks to find the form of the scheduling signals, which minimizes a combination of the manipulator tip tracking error and the control effort. A numerical example employing a two-link flexible manipulator is used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the optimal gain-scheduling algorithm. The closed-loop system performance is improved, and it is shown that the optimal scheduling signals are not necessarily linear.
Ageing Influences Mechanisms Which Perturb Insulin Function with Increased Risk in Morbidity and Mortality

Certain modifications or alterations concomitant with ageing include diminished glucose tolerance due to increased insulin resistance from receptor and/or post-receptor perturbations and decrement in pancreatic islet B-cell sensitivity to glucose. Insulin has effects on ageing and lifespan, and provides a mechanism for gene manipulations for people to have prolonged and healthier lives, and as preserved insulin sensitivity is associated with longevity. The insulin function is dependent on mechanisms which are determinants of its circulating abundance, secretion, clearance and sensitivity in its target tissues. Ageing enhances deranging impacts on these processes which debilitate insulin functionality, resulting in augmented risk for morbidity, untoward sequelae and mortality. Certain models of impaired insulin signaling are associated with prolonged longevity or resistance to life-threatening factors, such as oxidative stress. Insulin and insulin signaling is associated with successful ageing and longevity. This entry enunciates the importance of insulin sensitivity versus secretibility as being critical to the clinical strategy in the treatment, lifestyle changes, early interventions and control of type 2 diabetes. Calorie restriction enhances lifespan in numerous species. Diet manipulation that affects the glucose-insulin system ostensibly benefits lifespan and diminishes the incidence of ageing-related chronic diseases. During ageing, augmented circulating abundance of glucose and other reducing sugars secondary to age-triggered insulin resistance nonenzymatically reacts with proteins and nucleic acids to debilitate tissue elasticity. Adequate control of factors associated with risks for obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and other insulin and ageing sequelae can be retarded in the elderly with optimum sustenance of their lifestyles.
Cleaned 3 Year Wilkinson Microwave Anistropy Probe Cosmic Microwave Background Map: Magnitude of the Quadrupole and Alignment of Large-Scale Modes

We have produced a cleaned CMB temperature fluctuation map of the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) 3 year data using an improved internal linear combination (ILC) method as a Galactic foreground subtraction technique. We divide the whole sky into hundreds of pixel groups with similar foreground spectral indices over a range of WMAP frequencies, apply the ILC for each group, and obtain a CMB map with foreground emission effectively reduced. With the resulting ILC map, we have investigated the known anomalies in CMB maps at large scales, namely, the low quadrupole (l = 2) power, and the strong alignment and planarity of the quadrupole and the octopole (l = 3). Our estimates are consistent with the previous measurements. The quadrupole and the octopole powers measured from our ILC map are δT = 276 μK2 and δT = 952 μK2, respectively. The 68% confidence limits are estimated from the ILC simulations and include the cosmic variance. The measured quadrupole power is lower than the value expected in the concordance ΛCDM model (1250 μK2), in which the probability of finding a quadrupole power lower than the measured value is p = 5.7%. We have confirmed that the quadrupole and the octopole are strongly aligned with angle θ23 = 11.8° and are planar with high planarity parameters t = 0.98 ± 0.02 for l = 2 and t = 0.91 for l = 3. The observed angular separation θ23 is marginally significant with p = 4.3%. However, the observed planarity is not statistically significant. The probability of observing such a planarity as high as the measured t-values is over 18%. The ILC simulations show that the residual foreground emission in the ILC map does not affect the estimated values significantly.
Analysis of some partitioned algorithms for fluid‐structure interaction

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse algorithms for fluid‐structure interaction (FSI) from a purely algorithmic point of view.Design/methodology/approach – First of all a 1D model problem is selected, for which both the fluid and structural behavior are represented through a minimum number of parameters. Different coupling algorithm and time integration schemes are then applied to the simplified model problem and their properties are discussed depending on the values assumed by the parameters. Both exact and approximate time integration schemes are considered in the same framework so to allow an assessment of the different sources of error.Findings – The properties of staggered coupling schemes are confirmed. An insight on the convergence behavior of iterative coupling schemes is provided. A technique to improve such convergence is then discussed.Research limitations/implications – All the results are proved for a given family of time integration schemes. The technique proposed can be applied.
Smooth multiwavelets based on two scaling functions

In this paper new multiwavelets based on several scaling functions are designed. The resulting wavelets exhibit the following properties: compact support, symmetry and orthogonality, arbitrary approximation order as well as good frequency resolution. The new bases are quite similar to the well known splines and also have close relationships to multirate filterbanks (multiwavelets based on one scaling function). The good performance of the new wavelets with respect to the smoothness and the frequency resolution is documented. A filterbank implementation is discussed.
A distance-independent calibration of the luminosity of type Ia Supernovae and the Hubble constant

We present a calibration of the absolute magnitude of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) at maximum by means of radioactive decay models for the light curve. Comparison of the calculated late time thermalized radiation with a bolometric light curve constructed from observations circumvents problems of modeling the complex physics that govern the peak phase and avoids the conversion of theoretical luminosities into filter magnitudes. The parameter space for the absolute magnitude is explored with several explosion models and a range of rise times
Partitioned formulation and stability analysis of a fluid interacting with a saturated porous medium by localised Lagrange multipliers

In this work, a partitioned scheme for the numerical simulation of the surface‐coupled problem of a fluid interacting with a saturated porous medium (fluid‐porous‐media interaction) is proposed by adopting the method of localised Lagrange multipliers, which facilitates an automatic spatial partitioning of the problem and a parallel treatment of the interacting components, and allows for using tailored solvers optimised for each subproblem. Moreover, proceeding from the interaction between an incompressible bulk fluid with a saturated biphasic porous medium with intrinsically incompressible and inert constituents, the characteristics of the governing equations are scrutinised, and the various constraints within the subsystems are identified. Following this, the method of perturbed Lagrange multipliers is used to replace the constrained equation systems within each subdomain by unconstrained ones. Furthermore, considering the one‐dimensional (1D) version of the equations, a stability analysis of the proposed solution method is performed, and the unconditional stability of the partitioned solution scheme is shown. Solving 1D and 2D numerical benchmark examples, the applicability of the proposed scheme is demonstrated. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Mandallaz' Model-Assisted Small Area Estimators

Model-based small area estimators (for example [1], chapters 5ff.) depend on model assumptions to hold. This dependency doesn’t make them very attractive for official statistics. Model-assisted small area estimators do not depend on the model assumptions to hold, albeit their variances will be higher if the model is inappropiate (see [2], chapter 6.7). The synthetic-regression estimator (SRE) (for example [1], chapter 4.2.2) is biased, and the variance of its biased-corrected version, the generalized regression estimator (for example [1], chapter 2.5), “depends crucially on the [. ] residuals in the small area” ([3], p. 444), which basically means that its variance will be unacceptably high in many applications. Daniel Mandallaz and others ( [4], [3], [5], [6], [7] and [8] ) propose an unbiased extension of the SRE for twoand three-phase sampling designs with or without clustering. The variance of the extended SRE is, like the that of the SRE, based on all residuals in the second (or third) phase and asymtotically equivalent to the SRE’s variance (see [3], p. 444).