Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
CTC, ctDNA, and Exosome in Thyroid Cancers: A Review

Thyroid cancer has become more common in recent years all around the world. Many issues still need to be urgently addressed in the diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of thyroid cancer. Liquid biopsy (mainly circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), circulating tumor cells (CTCs), and circulating exosomes) may provide a novel and ideal approach to solve these issues, allows us to assess the features of diseases more comprehensively, and has a function in a variety of malignancies. Recently, liquid biopsy has been shown to be critical in thyroid cancer diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis in numerous previous studies. In this review, by testing CTCs, ctDNA, and exosomes, we focus on the possible clinical role of liquid biopsy in thyroid cancer, including diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers and response to therapy. We briefly review how liquid biopsy components have progressed in thyroid cancer by consulting the existing public information. We also discuss the clinical potential of liquid biopsy in thyroid cancer and provide a reference for liquid biopsy research. Liquid biopsy has the potential to be a useful tool in the early detection, monitoring, or prediction of response to therapies and prognosis in thyroid cancer, with promising clinical applications.
MITIGATION BETWEEN REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION NEEDS AND PRESERVATION OF EELGRASS BEDS (VOLUME I)

The objectives of this study are to understand effects of ferry terminals and ferry operations on eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) meadows in Puget Sound and to design appropriate measures to avoid, minimize, and compensate for associated impacts. Dramatic increases in population and ferry traffic in western Washington have resulted in the need to expand existing terminals. Our studies have shown that eelgrass meadows near ferry terminals are affected by light reduction and other initial and long-term disturbances associated with terminal construction and maintenance, propeller wash, and bioturbation by macroinvertebrates (i.e., sea stars and Dungeness crab). Experimental work on light showed that below about 3M m to the -2 power d to the -1 power photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) for one to two weeks resulted in death of the plants. Long-term growth and PAR monitoring, as well as short-term measurements in eelgrass meadows, corroborated this value. Technological measures to mitigate impacts showed that concrete blocks with clear plastic centers, reflective material placed under terminals, and artificial lighting could all enhance light under the terminals. Restoration of damaged meadows adjacent to the terminals is proposed as a viable alternative for mitigating impacts from terminal expansion.
FESSTVaL: the Field Experiment on Submesoscale Spatio-Temporal Variability in Lindenberg

Numerical weather prediction models operate on grid spacings of a few kilometers, where deep convection begins to become resolvable. Around this scale, the emergence of coherent structures in the planetary boundary layer, often hypothesized to be caused by cold pools, forces the transition from shallow to deep convection. Yet, the kilometer-scale range is typically not resolved by standard surface operational measurement networks. The measurement campaign FESSTVaL aimed at addressing this gap by observing atmospheric variability at the hectometer to kilometer scale, with a particular emphasis on cold pools, wind gusts and coherent patterns in the planetary boundary layer during summer. A unique feature was the distribution of 150 self-developed and low-cost instruments. More specifically, FESSTVaL included dense networks of 80 autonomous cold pool loggers, 19 weather stations and 83 soil sensor systems, all installed in a rural region of 15-km radius in eastern Germany, as well as self-developed weather stations handed out to citizens. Boundary layer and upper air observations were provided by 8 Doppler lidars and 4 microwave radiometers distributed at 3 supersites; water vapor and temperature were also measured by advanced lidar systems and an infrared spectrometer; and rain was observed by a X-band radar. An uncrewed aircraft, multicopters and a small radiometer network carried out additional measurements during a four-week period. In this paper, we present FESSTVaL’s measurement strategy and show first observational results including unprecedented highly-resolved spatio-temporal cold-pool structures, both in the horizontal as well as in the vertical dimension, associated with overpassing convective systems.
A Survey on Network Slicing Security: Attacks, Challenges, Solutions and Research Directions

The dawn of softwarized networks enables Network Slicing (NS) as an important technology towards allocating end-to-end logical networks to facilitate diverse requirements of emerging applications in fifth-generation (5G) mobile networks. However, the emergence of NS also exposes novel security and privacy challenges, primarily related to aspects such as NS life-cycle security, inter-slice security, intra-slice security, slice broker security, zero-touch network and management security, and blockchain security. Hence, enhancing NS security, privacy, and trust has become a key research area toward realizing the true capabilities of 5G. This paper presents a comprehensive and up-to-date survey on NS security. The paper articulates a taxonomy for NS security and privacy, laying the structure for the survey. Accordingly, the paper presents key attack scenarios specific to NS-enabled networks. Furthermore, the paper explores NS security threats, challenges, and issues while elaborating on NS security solutions available in the literature. In addition, NS trust and privacy aspects, along with possible solutions, are explained. The paper also highlights future research directions in NS security and privacy. It is envisaged that this survey will concentrate on existing research work, highlight research gaps and shed light on future research, development, and standardization work to realize secure NS in 5G and beyond mobile communication networks.
Simulation of precipitate hardening in ferroelectric material

Precipitate hardening is introduced as a mechanism to tune the reaction of ferroelectric materials to the application of an external electric field. For this purpose, a phase field model for polarization in ferroelectric material is presented in this paper. Different materials with and without precipitates are simulated and the respective hysteresis curves for charge and macroscopic strain are derived. The results show a reduction of the hysteresis curves if precipitates are present in the material, which confirms the experimental observation of recent material studies.
CAR Protects Females from Diet-Induced Steatosis and Associated Metabolic Disorders

Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) is the most common cause of chronic liver disease worldwide, affecting 70–90% of obese individuals. In humans, a lower NAFLD incidence is reported in pre-menopausal women, although the mechanisms affording this protection remain under-investigated. Here, we tested the hypothesis that the constitutive androstane nuclear receptor (CAR) plays a role in the pathogenesis of experimental NAFLD. Male and female wild-type (WT) and CAR knock-out (CAR−/−) mice were subjected to a high-fat diet (HFD) for 16 weeks. We examined the metabolic phenotype of mice through body weight follow-up, glucose tolerance tests, analysis of plasmatic metabolic markers, hepatic lipid accumulation, and hepatic transcriptome. Finally, we examined the potential impact of HFD and CAR deletion on specific brain regions, focusing on glial cells. HFD-induced weight gain and hepatic steatosis are more pronounced in WT males than females. CAR−/− females present a NASH-like hepatic transcriptomic signature suggesting a potential NAFLD to NASH transition. Transcriptomic correlation analysis highlighted a possible cross-talk between CAR and ERα receptors. The peripheral effects of CAR deletion in female mice were associated with astrogliosis in the hypothalamus. These findings prove that nuclear receptor CAR may be a potential mechanism entry-point and a therapeutic target for treating NAFLD/NASH.
Effects of laparoscopic and choledochoscopic gallbladder-preserving cholecystolithotomy on levels of operation indicators, gallbladder function, and cholecystokinin type-A receptor in patients with gallstones

Introduction Gallstones are a common digestive system disease. Aim To assess the effects of laparoscopic and choledochoscopic gallbladder-preserving cholecystolithotomy on the levels of operation indicators, gallbladder function, and cholecystokinin type-A receptor (CCKAR) in patients with gallstones. Material and methods The medical records of 100 patients with gallstones receiving operation from July 2019 to August 2022 were collected for retrospective analysis. They were divided into a laparoscopic group (n = 48) and a laparoscopic + choledochoscopic group (n = 52). The laparoscopic group received totally laparoscopic cholecystolithotomy, while the laparoscopic + choledochoscopic group underwent laparoscopic and choledochoscopic cholecystolithotomy. Their perioperative indicators, gallbladder function, stress indicators (cortisol (Cor), norepinephrine (NE), and C-reactive protein (CRP)), serum biochemical indicators (liver receptor homologue 1 (LRH-1), CCKAR, and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP)), and complications were compared. Results The fasting gallbladder volume and gallbladder contraction rate increased, and the minimum residual volume and gallbladder wall thickness decreased in the laparoscopic + choledochoscopic group in comparison with those of the laparoscopic group 6 months after operation (p < 0.05). The levels of serum Cor, NE, CRP, and CCKAR were elevated, whereas the levels of serum LRH-1 and VIP were lowered in both groups 3 d after operation compared with those before operation (p < 0.05). The levels of serum Cor, NE, CRP, LRH-1, and VIP were lower, and the level of serum CCKAR was higher in the laparoscopic + choledochoscopic group than those in the laparoscopic group 3 d after operation (p < 0.05). Conclusions Both laparoscopic gallbladder-preserving cholecystolithotomy and laparoscopic and choledochoscopic cholecystolithotomy are effective for treating gallstones. However, the latter combination method is superior in enhancing postoperative gallbladder function, decreasing the recurrence risk, regulating the expressions of LRH-1, CCKAR, and VIP, and promoting the postoperative recovery of gastrointestinal function.
Predicting Motor Imagery BCI Performance Based on EEG Microstate Analysis

Motor imagery (MI) electroencephalography (EEG) is natural and comfortable for controllers, and has become a research hotspot in the field of the brain–computer interface (BCI). Exploring the inter-subject MI-BCI performance variation is one of the fundamental problems in MI-BCI application. EEG microstates with high spatiotemporal resolution and multichannel information can represent brain cognitive function. In this paper, four EEG microstates (MS1, MS2, MS3, MS4) were used in the analysis of the differences in the subjects’ MI-BCI performance, and the four microstate feature parameters (the mean duration, the occurrences per second, the time coverage ratio, and the transition probability) were calculated. The correlation between the resting-state EEG microstate feature parameters and the subjects’ MI-BCI performance was measured. Based on the negative correlation of the occurrence of MS1 and the positive correlation of the mean duration of MS3, a resting-state microstate predictor was proposed. Twenty-eight subjects were recruited to participate in our MI experiments to assess the performance of our resting-state microstate predictor. The experimental results show that the average area under curve (AUC) value of our resting-state microstate predictor was 0.83, and increased by 17.9% compared with the spectral entropy predictor, representing that the microstate feature parameters can better fit the subjects’ MI-BCI performance than spectral entropy predictor. Moreover, the AUC of microstate predictor is higher than that of spectral entropy predictor at both the single-session level and average level. Overall, our resting-state microstate predictor can help MI-BCI researchers better select subjects, save time, and promote MI-BCI development.
Geomicrobiological processes in extreme environments: A review

The last decade has seen an extraordinary growth of Geomicrobiology. Microorganisms have been studied in numerous extreme environments on Earth, ranging from crystalline rocks from the deep subsurface, ancient sedimentary rocks and hypersaline lakes, to dry deserts and deep-ocean hydrothermal vent systems. In light of this recent progress, we review several currently active research frontiers: deep continental subsurface microbiology, microbial ecology in saline lakes, microbial formation of dolomite, geomicrobiology in dry deserts, fossil DNA and its use in recovery of paleoenvironmental conditions, and geomicrobiology of oceans. Throughout this article we emphasize geomicrobiological processes in these extreme environments.
Measuring and modeling investigation of the net photochemical ozone production rate via an improved dual-channel reaction chamber technique

Abstract. Current process-based research mainly uses box models to evaluate photochemical ozone production and destruction rates, and it is unclear to what extent the photochemical reaction mechanisms are elucidated. Here, we modified and improved a net photochemical ozone production rate (NPOPR, P(O3)net) detection system based on the current dual-channel reaction chamber technique, which makes the instrument applicable to different ambient environments, and its various operating indicators were characterized, i.e., “airtightness”, light transmittance, wall losses of the reaction and reference chambers, conversion rate of O3 to NO2, air residence time, and performance of the reaction and reference chambers. The limits of detection of the NPOPR detection system were determined to be 0.07, 1.4, and 2.3 ppbv h−1 at sampling flow rates of 1.3, 3, and 5 L min−1, respectively. We further applied the NPOPR detection system to field observations at an urban site in the Pearl River Delta (China). During the observation period, the maximum value of P(O3)net was 34.1 ppbv h−1, which was ∼ 0 ppbv h−1 at night within the system detection error and peaked at approximately noon local time. The daytime (from 06:00–18:00 LT) average value of P(O3)net was 12.8 (± 5.5) ppbv h−1. We investigated the detailed photochemical O3 formation mechanism in the reaction and reference chambers of the NPOPR detection system using a zero-dimensional box model. We found that the photochemical reactions in the reaction chamber were very close to those in ambient air, but there was not zero chemistry in the reference chamber because the reaction related to the production and destruction of RO2 (= HO2 + RO2) continued in the reference chamber, which led to a small amount of P(O3)net. Therefore, the P(O3)net measured here can be regarded as the lower limit of the real P(O3)net in the atmosphere; however, the measured P(O3)net was still ∼ 7.5 to 9.3 ppbv h−1 higher than the modeled P(O3)net value depending on different modeling methods, which may be due to the inaccurate estimation of HO2 / RO2 radicals in the modeling study. Short-lived intermediate measurements coupled with direct P(O3)net measurements are needed in the future to better understand O3 photochemistry. Our results show that the NPOPR detection system can achieve high temporal resolution and continuous field observations, which helps us to better understand photochemical O3 formation and provides a key scientific basis for continuous improvement of air quality in China.
Learning Cognitive State Representations from Neuronal and Behavioural Data

Explaining how neuronal activity gives rise to behaviour and cognition is a central goal of cognitive neuroscience. With the proliferation of larger neuronal datasets, there have been various attempts to abstract representations of the neuronal data. Some methods consider behavioural decoding to be important while other unsupervised meth-ods like PCA and autoencoder disregard behaviour alto-gether. Here, we propose an architecture to learn cognitive state representations which preserve information of both the dynamics and behaviour. We present a neural network implementation (BunDLe Net) and apply it on calcium imaging neuronal data of the roundworm C. elegans . Our method reveals clear orbit-like trajectories which are recurrent and structured. It also outperforms conventional methods in the field such as PCA, autoen-coders and autoregressors with regards to the dynamical predictability and behavioural decoding accuracy.
Perspective and Experience of Patients with Aplastic Anemia on Medication Adherence

Background Drug treatment is critical for patients with aplastic anemia, and medication adherence directly impacts the therapeutic effect. Poor medication adherence is common among patients with chronic diseases. However, knowledge of the perceptions and experiences of patients with aplastic anemia regarding taking prescribed medicines is limited. Objective To gain insights into the perceptions and experiences of patients with aplastic anemia regarding taking prescribed medicines. Methods A descriptive qualitative design was used. Fifteen patients with aplastic anemia were recruited from the hematology department. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted. The data were analyzed using the thematic analysis method and conceptualized using the Health Belief Model. Results Five themes emerged: the perceived threat of aplastic anemia, perceived benefits and barriers of taking prescribed medicines, cues to action, self-efficacy, and modifying factors. While patients’ knowledge was limited, they acknowledged the threat of aplastic anemia and the necessity of drug treatments, but they also encountered some barriers in practice. The desire for health and healthcare providers’ opinions were the main clues to medication adherence. The expectation of the future and the sense of self-competency made participants adopt good behavior. Discussions This study provided new perspectives on the medication adherence of patients with aplastic anemia, which may be valuable in clinical work and research. Further interventions should be developed for intentional and unintentional non-compliance. Future research can start with developing professional assessment tools addressing the influence of cognition and emotion on compliance.
Teachers' Perceptions of Digital Language Learning Strategies: The Case of a Private Egyptian University

The last four decades witnessed a plethora of research on language learning strategies (LLS) in the English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom. However, there is a paucity of research on the newly developed digital language learning strategies (DLLS), particularly with reference to teachers' perceptions. For this study, the authors examined the perceptions of university teachers of the importance of DLLS for EFL learners. To this end, they collected data using Kim and Bae's 60-item survey from 52 teachers at a private Egyptian university. Using exploratory factor analysis (EFA), they removed 10 items from the survey because they revealed unsatisfactory loading numbers toward other variables. The EFA outcomes extracted six factors that described 54.13% of the total variance. In this context, the teachers perceived several cognitive, metacognitive, memory, compensation, affective, and social strategies as extremely important for students. This study calls for the systematic incorporation of the DLLS in the EFL classroom, particularly through explicit intervention. Additionally, it calls for further research on the DLLS for their great significance in our new digital world.
Slow-Time Ambiguity Function Shaping With Spectral Coexistence for Cognitive Radar

In the spectrum-congested environment, weak target obscuration can be addressed by simultaneously shaping the ambiguity function and waveform spectrum based on cognitive radar a priori information. In this article, we investigate joint waveform design to suppress slow-time ambiguity function (STAF) disturbance power and overlapping frequency band energy. Thus, a novel design criterion involving minimizing the interested range-Doppler blocks of STAF and energy spectrum density stopband is constructed, which is subject to the waveform energy and peak-to-average ratio constraints. To cope with the resulting complex quartic optimization problem, a waveform design approach is proposed which utilizes the iterative sequential quartic optimization algorithm framework to obtain a closed-form solution at each iteration. Finally, the designed waveforms can suppress the interested range-Doppler block level while satisfying the spectral coexistence requirements. Numerical simulation results verify that the proposed method has higher STAF disturbance suppression performance than state-of-the-art methods. Meanwhile, this method also possesses the ability to reject narrow-band spectrum interference.
Elimination of Anomalous Resonances in Coaxial-Fed LPDA and its Array With Integrated Φ-Shaped Balun

In this communication, the concept of common-mode (CM) resonance is introduced to analyze radiation anomalies caused by unbalanced coaxial feeding. To address this issue, a novel <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\Phi $ </tex-math></inline-formula>-shaped balun is proposed, and the equivalent circuit is provided for achieving the optimal balanced performance. The proposed log-periodic dipole antenna (LPDA), incorporating the <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\Phi $ </tex-math></inline-formula>-shaped balun, is fabricated and tested, exhibiting stable radiation performance over a broad bandwidth spanning from 0.9 to 2 GHz. Furthermore, a dual-polarized triangular-lattice LPDA array is proposed and tested to validate the effectiveness of the <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\Phi $ </tex-math></inline-formula>-shaped balun in an array environment. Results demonstrate that the proposed array is capable of accurately scanning up to 450 in the E-plane, producing stable and symmetric patterns. The <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\Phi $ </tex-math></inline-formula>-shaped balun is found to be effective and practical in mitigating anomalous radiation in both unit design and array environments. Moreover, the planar configuration of the <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\Phi $ </tex-math></inline-formula>-shaped balun enables direct integration with the antenna, making it valuable in space-limited scenarios.
A Systematic Review of Interventions Promoting Parental Involvement in the Education of School-Aged Children With Disabilities

Abstract The purpose of this study was to systematically map and synthesise literature on interventions that promote the involvement of parents of school-aged children with disabilities in education. The study focused on peer-reviewed, primary intervention studies published in English between 2000 and 2021. Nine databases were searched, and 21 articles were identified and included in the review. The Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool was used to assess the quality of the included studies, and narrative analysis was used to synthesise the data. The duration of the interventions varied from 7 to 36 months. Most studies were conducted within the context of high-income countries and focused on parents of children with intellectual disabilities. Most studies reported positive effects on one or more groups: parents, children, schools, and communities. However, there was heterogeneity in the outcome measures used, which limits comparability across interventions. The quality assessment revealed high-/medium-bias risks in most articles. Future research should include higher quality studies driven by theoretical models. The results support the need for more research on parental involvement in the education of children with disabilities, especially intervention studies within the context of low- and medium-income countries.