Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Monitoring of the pharmacological treatment availability in patients with multiple sclerosis in the Greater Poland population

Introduction There is no clear explanation for the availability of multiple sclerosis (MS) pharmacological treatment for patients in Greater Poland and it can be assumed that the same reason is common in most of the developed countries in the United Europe. As an autoimmune disease MS can overlap with other diseases especially rheumatic disease (RD) as well as some feature of RD may mimic MS, such as MS-like syndrome in the course of primary Sjögren’s syndrome. Therefore proper diagnosis and sufficient treatment of MS is important not only for neurologists but also for other clinicians including rheumatologists. The study aims to provide insights that could help healthcare managers create more effective logistical guidelines to improve the timely initiation of pharmacological treatment for MS. Materials and methods The analysis of the treatment of MS patients has been conducted on a group of 500 patients who were under the management of one healthcare center in Greater Poland. Results The results point to the different factors influencing the delay in the undertaking the pharmacological treatment, among others the age of the patient, waiting time for clinical evaluation and the final diagnosis from first symptoms to diagnosis, and the patient’s waiting time from diagnosis to referral for qualification for treatment. Conclusions The outcomes of this study have the potential to serve as a valuable resource for healthcare managers. The study’s findings could be used as a foundation for developing logistical guidelines aimed at enhancing the pharmacological treatment of MS patients. Furthermore, the study suggests that the reasons behind treatment delays in MS patients might be prevalent in many countries across the United Europe region. However, it’s important to note that confirming this conclusion requires additional comparative studies.
PTCHD1 gene mutation/deletion: the cognitive-behavioral phenotyping of four case reports

Introduction X-linked PTCHD1 gene has recently been pointed as one of the most interesting candidates for involvement in neurodevelopmental disorders (NDs), such as intellectual disability (ID) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). PTCHD1 encodes the patched domain-containing protein 1 (PTCHD1), which is mainly expressed in the developing brain and adult brain tissues. To date, major studies have focused on the biological function of the PTCHD1 gene, while the mechanisms underlying neuronal alterations and the cognitive-behavioral phenotype associated with mutations still remain unclear. Methods With the aim of incorporating information on the clinical profile of affected individuals and enhancing the characterization of the genotype–phenotype correlation, in this study, we analyze the clinical features of four individuals (two children and two adults) in which array-CGH detected a PTCHD1 deletion or in which panel for screening non-syndromal XLID (X-linked ID) detected a PTCHD1 gene variant. We define the neuropsychological and psychopathological profiles, providing quantitative data from standardized evaluations. The assessment consisted of clinical observations, structured interviews, and parent/self-reported questionnaires. Results Our descriptive analysis align with previous findings on the involvement of the PTCHD1 gene in NDs. Specifically, our patients exhibited a clinical phenotype characterized by psychomotor developmental delay- ID of varying severity. Interestingly, while ID during early childhood was associated with autistic-like symptomatology, this interrelation was no longer observed in the adult subjects. Furthermore, our cohort did not display peculiar dysmorphic features, congenital abnormalities or comorbidity with epilepsy. Discussion Our analysis shows that the psychopathological and behavioral comorbidities along with cognitive impairment interfere with development, therefore contributing to the severity of disability associated with PTCHD1 gene mutation. Awareness of this profile by professionals and caregivers can promote prompt diagnosis as well as early cognitive and occupational enhancement interventions.
Automated Technology for Strawberry Size Measurement and Weight Prediction Using AI

In this study, we propose an automated system for measuring the size of strawberries and predicting their weight using AI technology. The system combines computer vision techniques with LiDAR sensor data to accurately estimate the dimensions of strawberries and infer their weight. By integrating deep learning models, such as HRNet for keypoint detection, and leveraging the capabilities of LiDAR sensors, we minimize human intervention and achieve precise size measurement. The relative errors for the width and height of the strawberries are 3.71% and 5.42%, respectively, with the width exhibiting a lower error rate. The standard deviation for the width and height of the strawberries are 0.19% and 0.24%, this indicates that the individual strawberries had very low error rates in terms of their measurements for the width and height. Weight prediction was performed through regression analysis with width and height estimation. Experimental results demonstrate that our approach enables accurate weight prediction with a relative error of 10.3%. This automated technology holds great potential for strawberry harvesting and classification tasks, facilitating the automation of these processes.
Multispectral Satellite Image Generation Using StyleGAN3

Satellite-based remote sensing images are essential for Earth surface analysis, serving diverse purposes in both civilian and military domains. Satellite images are used for analysis and decision making and are considered a reliable source of information. Recently, the field of image generation has developed increasingly sophisticated techniques, such as generative neural models, usually known as generative adversarial networks (GANs), to create synthetic images from scratch that appear almost real. Generative models have traditionally been applied to RGB or grayscale images and have been used for generating fake images of faces, animals, or objects. Currently, there are few studies regarding the application of GAN to multispectral satellite images. This work aims to test GAN models against the generation of multispectral satellite images, and in particular, the work explores the ability of the state-of-the-art StyleGAN3 model to produce high-quality synthetic Sentinel-2 images. The work delves into the configuration, training process, and evaluation of StyleGAN3 using custom Sentinel-2 datasets. StyleGAN3 results are compared with those provided by the proGAN model, the only GAN model tested so far on multispectral satellite data. Evaluation methods include visual inspection, spectral signature analysis, and a modified Fréchet inception distance for quantitative assessment. Results show that StyleGAN3 outperforms proGAN model exhibiting visually pleasing images. The quantitative comparison shows that StyleGAN3 provides the best results in terms of FID scores, in particular the improvement compared to proGAN increases as the spatial extent and spectral dimension of the generated images increases.
Image Registration for Virtual Drone Flight Simulation

In the past decade, drones have expanded their applications, such as surveying, search and rescue, and last-mile delivery. Drone autonomy is a growing focus in these areas, requiring test environments for both drone operators and autonomous algorithms. This work addresses the creation of a realistic test environment for accurate position perception, motion planning, and drone control. Our approach uses RGB-D sensors and image registration techniques to construct a 3D map of the real environment, enabling drone navigation simulation. We adapt the Iterative Closest Point (ICP) algorithm, incorporating feature point filtering and local optical flow to expedite 3D point processing, particularly in static scenes. A challenge in the standard ICP algorithm is selecting suitable initial points for effective matching between consecutive point clouds. Our modified approach tackles this issue, optimizing the algorithm for 3D map construction. Since our application involves RGB-D image sequences with minimal variation between successive key frames, we use a scale-space pyramid and FAST techniques to select a limited number of key points, reducing the computational load. Moreover, by employing a local optical flow-based point-matching approach, we eliminate resource-intensive operations in each ICP optimization iteration. We demonstrate the practical utility of our method through a virtual 3D drone flight simulator.
Addressing Program Sustainability: A Time Series Analysis of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in the US

Food stamps, or, more formally, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), form a crucial support system for many individuals in the United States. The welfare benefit has been associated with improved nutritional outcomes, making it an effective strategy to address hunger. Additionally, it has been found to enhance labour market outcomes for recipients and contribute to higher birth weights among children born to SNAP recipient mothers. Furthermore, it has been linked to improved height and overall health outcomes. Overall, this benefit is a crucial resource during times of need and helps mitigate the adverse effects of economic fluctuations. Even with the manifold advantages of the program, there exist notable apprehensions about the program’s long-term viability. SNAP has experienced significant expansion over more than 50 years. The recipients grew more than 14 times, from approximately 2.9 million individuals in 1969 to over 41 million in 2022. This study utilizes data from the United States Department of Agriculture to investigate the temporal characteristics of this massive expansion. Augmented Dickey-Fuller tests are performed with and without trend and optimally selected lag lengths. In all specifications, the presence of a unit root cannot be rejected. An overwhelming body of evidence suggests that the growth in SNAP beneficiaries may need to be revised. Results of the unit root tests provide credence to the argument that the historical growth rate in the number of SNAP beneficiaries is highly unpredictable and may pose significant challenges to policymakers. This study does not attempt to calculate fraud and abuse in the program. Neither does the study attempt to ascertain the number of beneficiaries that may not be worthy of receiving the benefits.
An FPGA-Based ADC Using Multichain Merged Method

A soft-core analog-to-digital converter (ADC) based on multichain merged time-to-digital converter (TDC) is proposed. In hardware design, it only requires one resistor and a field-programmable gate array (FPGA). The soft-core ADC is implemented in the FPGA. The FPGA-based ADC (FPGA-ADC) needs to be calibrated including TDC length calibration, TDC alignment calibration, and TDC-to-ADC code calibration. We implement the FPGA-ADCs with 1-, 2-, 4-, 6-, and 8-chain merged TDC. The resulting FPGA-ADC can achieve a best resolution of more than 10 bits and a best 6.7 bits effective number of bits (ENOB) over a 0.67–2.03 V input dynamic range at a 200 MS/s sampling rate. The advantages of the proposed soft-core ADC are its compact size, reconfigurability, and high resolution, which provide a feasible approach to achieve different readout electronics system on single hardware platform.
Navigating the roads of corporate strategy: An in-depth analysis of mobile taxi industry from the customers’ lens

This study aims to identify passenger preferences for mobile app based taxi services in Dehradun, India, to ensure sustainable business growth. The Indian taxi industry is expected to reach USD38.90 billion by 2028, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.55% from its projected value of USD20.61 billion in 2023 (Mordor Intelligence, 2023). A structured questionnaire with 28 attributes was employed in a cross-sectional survey of 384 purposively selected respondents who have used Uber and Ola at least three times. Importance–performance analysis (IPA) was utilized for data analysis. IPA identifies improvement opportunities, guides strategic planning, and assesses a firm’s competitive position in the market (Hawes & Rao, 1985; Martilla & James, 1977; Myers, 1999). The study found mobile app-based taxi services in Dehradun excelled in areas like app usability, availability of vehicles, precise locations, quick response time, multiple payment options, and the ability to call the driver through the app. The study also found that the drivers’ communication skills, map familiarity, smooth driving, and passengers’ security during the trip were satisfactory. However, the study recommends improvements in the availability and waiting time of the vehicles during odd hours, variation in taxi fares, drivers’ cancellation of rides, and availability of discounts.
Solart: A Structure-Based Method To Predict Protein Solubility And Aggregation

Motivation The solubility of a protein is often decisive for its proper functioning. Lack of solubility is a major bottleneck in high-throughput structural genomic studies and in high-concentration protein production, and the formation of protein aggregates causes a wide variety of diseases. Since solubility measurements are time-consuming and expensive, there is a strong need for solubility prediction tools. Results We have recently introduced solubility-dependent distance potentials that are able to unravel the role of residue-residue interactions in promoting or decreasing protein solubility. Here, we extended their construction by defining solubility-dependent potentials based on backbone torsion angles and solvent accessibility, and integrated them, together with other structure- and sequence-based features, into a random forest model trained on a set of E. coli proteins with experimental structures and solubility values. We thus obtained the SOLart protein solubility predictor, whose most informative features turned out to be folding free energy differences computed from our solubility-dependent statistical potentials. SOLart performances are very good, with a Pearson correlation coefficient between experimental and predicted solubility values of 0.7 both in the training dataset and on an independent set of S. Cerevisiae proteins. On test sets of modeled structures, only a limited drop in performance is observed. SOLart can thus be used with both high-resolution and low-resolution structures, and clearly outperforms state-of-art solubility predictors. It is available through a user-friendly webserver, which is easy to use by non-expert scientists. Availability The SOLart webserver is freely available at babylone.ulb. ac.be/SOLART/
The grapes in Italian wines: assessing their value

The goal of this work is to assess the impact of grape varieties on the prices of Italian wines. As an important share of this wine is exported worldwide, we look at international markets. We gauge this influence by estimating a hedonic price model based on a sample of 2315 Italian still wines reviewed in Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate. The work expands results offered in literature so far as it considers quite a large number of international national and autochthonous varieties used for producing both red and white wines. Moreover, we propose an original perspective by exploring the different impacts of ageing on wine prices according to the different grape varieties utilized. Results show that, besides the well-known Italian geographical divide, many grape varieties significantly associate with different price levels. Overall, this impact is larger in the case of red wines than for the white ones. Furthermore, for the formers there are few well known varieties associated with positive price premiums, while for white wines, less widespread autochthonous varieties gain higher prices. Last, we found that successful ageing process involve both native varieties of northern and southern Italy as well as international ones.
Analisis Ekspresi Gen MmCu/Zn-SOD dan Ketahanan Tanaman Kentang Kultivar IPB CP3 Transgenik Terhadap Cekaman Herbisida Parakuat

AbstrakPenggunaan herbisida parakuat untuk mengendalikan pertumbuhan gulma telah menjadi metode yang paling umum. Namun, penggunaan herbisida juga dapat menyebabkan kematian sel tanaman kentang yang sedang dibudidayakan, karena herbisida parakuat dapat menginduksi pembentukan senyawa Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) yang dapat merusak sel tanaman. Ekspresi berlebih dari gen MmCu/Zn-SOD diharapkan dapat memberikan ketahanan tanaman terhadap cekaman herbisida parakuat. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis ekspresi gen MmCu/Zn-SOD pada kentang transgenik IPB CP3 kultivar dan ketahanannya terhadap cekaman herbisida parakuat. Perlakuan herbisida parakuat dengan konsentrasi 75 µM pada tanaman transgenik (P3SOD6, P3SOD9, P3SOD17) dan non-transgenik (NT) secara in vitro menunjukkan bahwa semua tanaman transgenik lebih tahan terhadap cekaman parakuat dibandingkan tanaman non-transgenik. Klon P3SOD9 paling tahan terhadap herbisida parakuat, dengan perbandingan 10 tanaman hidup dari 12 tanaman yang diuji. Ekspresi gen MmCu/Zn-SOD pada galur transgenik lebih tinggi dibandingkan galur non-transgenik. Ekspresi relatif gen MmCu/Zn-SOD pada P3SOD9, P3SOD6, dan P3SOD17 secara berturut-turut lebih tinggi 233,22; 127,62; dan 3,18 kali dibandingkan ekspresi gen tersebut pada NT. Semakin tinggi ekspresi gen MmCu/ZnSOD, semakin tinggi ketahanan terhadap cekaman herbisida parakuat.AbstractThe use of paraquat herbicide to control weed growth has become the most common method. However, using the herbicide can also cause cell death in potato plants that are being cultivated because it can induce the formation of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) compounds that can damage plant cells. Overexpression of the MmCu/Zn-SOD gene is expected to provide resistance to paraquat herbicide stress. The study aimed to analyze the expression of the MmCu/Zn-SOD gene in transgenic potato cultivar IPB CP3 and its resistance to paraquat herbicide stress. In vitro treatment of transgenic (P3SOD6, P3SOD9, P3SOD17) and non-transgenic (NT) potato with 75 µM paraquat herbicide showed that all transgenic plants were more resistant to paraquat stress than that non-transgenic plants. The P3SOD9 clone was the most resistant to paraquat herbicide, with a ratio of 10 surviving plants of the 12 tested plants. The expression of MmCu/Zn-SOD in transgenic lines was higher than that in non-transgenic lines. The relative expressions of MmCu/Zn-SOD gene in P3SOD9, P3SOD6, and P3SOD17 were 233.22; 127.62; and 3.18 times higher than that of NT, respectively. The expression level of MmCu/ZnSOD correlates with the level of resistance to paraquat herbicide stress.
Processing code-blending beyond the lexical level: evidence for a double syntactic derivation?

Bimodal bilinguals master languages in two modalities, spoken and signed, and can use them simultaneously due to the independence of the articulators. This behavior, named code-blending, is one of the hallmarks of bimodal bilingualism. Lexical experiments on production and comprehension in American Sign Language/English showed that blending is not cognitively costly and facilitates lexical access. In this work, we replicated the blending advantage in lexical comprehension for hearing bimodal bilinguals with two other language pairs, French Sign Language (LSF)–French and Italian Sign Language (LIS)–Italian, and we explored whether the facilitation is also found at the sentential level. Results show that blended utterances for languages with incongruent word order like LIS–Italian were processed slower than monolingual utterances, while no difference was found when the word orders were congruent (LSF–French). We discuss these findings in light of linguistic theories of syntactic structure derivation in bimodal bilinguals.
Potential future impacts on visual air quality for Class I areas

: Visual air quality is most sensitive to degradation by air pollution in areas with good visibility. The protection of visual air quality in mandatory Class I Federal areas has been declared a national goal by Congress. Impacts on visual air quality are calculated for 154 Class I areas where visual air quality is consid- ered an important value. These impacts are potential future impacts in 1985 and 1990 due to DOE's "Mid-Mid" Energy Scenario.
Safety assessment of poly-ε-caprolactone in the treatment of primary spontaneous pneumothorax

Background/purpose Biomaterial-based implants are gaining traction as an option for pleurodesis treatment, yet the search for the best biomaterial or the most suitable shape to handle spontaneous pneumothorax continues. This forward-looking research assessed the use of a poly-ε-caprolactone membrane for its safety when applied as a sclerosant in pleurodesis procedures in human patients. Methods From July 2017 to February 2018, we conducted a Phase I trial in which 10 patients with primary spontaneous pneumothorax were treated using video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery with a poly-ε-caprolactone membrane. These procedures encompassed bleb resection and mechanical pleurodesis through parietal pleura scrubbing. After resection, a 150 × 150 mm poly-ε-caprolactone membrane was applied to the apex. The primary outcome measures were the adverse events and laboratory outcomes. Results After surgery, we observed no cardiopulmonary-related adverse events or indications of systemic inflammation. Furthermore, no episodes of hypothermia or hyperthermia occurred. Chest radiographs showed no evident pneumonitis or effusion associated with tissue reactions. The average follow-up duration was 31.7 ± 17.7 months, during which two patients exhibited recurrence. Conclusion This study is the first to show the biocompatibility of poly-ε-caprolactone in humans, suggesting its potential as a treatment option for patients with primary spontaneous pneumothorax. Despite the relatively small number of patients, we maintain confidence in the reliability and safety profile of the PCL membrane, bolstered by its previously established efficacy in applications involving other organs. Phase II and phase III clinical studies are needed to support these observations.