Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dissecting the Impact of Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell ABCA1 versus ABCG1 Expression on Cholesterol Efflux and Macrophage-like Cell Transdifferentiation: The Role of SR-BI

Cholesterol-laden macrophages are recognized as a major contributor to atherosclerosis. However, recent evidence indicates that vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) that accumulate cholesterol and transdifferentiate into a macrophage-like cell (MLC) phenotype also play a role in atherosclerosis. Therefore, removing cholesterol from MLC may be a potential atheroprotective strategy. The two transporters which remove cholesterol from cells are ABCA1 and ABCG1, as they efflux cholesterol to apoAI and HDL, respectively. In this study, the well-characterized immortalized VSMC line MOVAS cells were edited to generate ABCA1- and ABCG1-knockout (KO) MOVAS cell lines. We cholesterol-loaded ABCA1-KO MOVAS cells, ABCG1-KO MOVAS cells, and wild-type MOVAS cells to convert cells into a MLC phenotype. When we measured apoAI- and HDL-mediated cholesterol efflux in these cells, we observed a drastic decrease in apoAI-mediated cholesterol efflux within ABCA1-KO MOVAS MLC, but HDL-mediated cholesterol efflux was only partially reduced in ABCG1-KO MOVAS cells. Since SR-BI also participates in HDL-mediated cholesterol efflux, we assessed SR-BI protein expression in ABCG1-KO MOVAS MLC and observed SR-BI upregulation, which offered a possible mechanism explaining why HDL-mediated cholesterol efflux remains maintained in ABCG1-KO MOVAS MLC. When we used lentivirus for shRNA-mediated knockdown of SR-BI in ABCG1-KO MOVAS MLC, this decreased HDL-mediated cholesterol efflux when compared to ABCG1-KO MOVAS MLC with unmanipulated SR-BI expression. Taken together, these major findings suggest that SR-BI expression in MLC of a VSMC origin plays a compensatory role in HDL-mediated cholesterol efflux when ABCG1 expression becomes impaired and provides insight on SR-BI demonstrating anti-atherogenic properties within VSMC/MLC.
Modeling Base Flow Soil Water Residence Times From Deuterium Concentrations

Three approaches to determining mean soil water residence times in a steep headwater catchment were investigated. The deuterium concentrations of soil water collected from 11 suction cup samplers at the Maimai M8 catchment were determined weekly for 14 weeks and the results compared with those of rainfall in the same period. Deuterium variations in the suction samples were considerably delayed and diminished compared with the rainfall, indicating significant storage times and mixing with soil water. Soil matrix water at shallow levels (∼200 mm depth) in unsaturated soils was relatively responsive to fresh input, but deeper water and water near the stream subject to occasional water table rises showed much less variation. Steady state and non-steady state exponential models gave similar mean residence times, ranging from 12 to more than 100 days for different locations. Three groups of soil water response were defined, comprising shallow, medium and deep (near-stream) soil locations based on the mean residence times. The nonsteady models revealed considerable week-to-week and longer variations in mean residence time for shallow soil (SL4), but indicated that steady state models could adequately represent the system in the overall period investigated. In the third approach, model types and parameters that gave the best fits to the soil water deuterium concentrations were determined. Exponential and especially dispersion models were the most satisfactory. Weighting the input (rainfall δD) partially or fully with the amount of rainfall gave much worse fits than with the unweighted input, showing that much of the rainfall bypasses the soil matrix. The best fitting dispersion model (designated DM2) yielded the most accurate mean residence times: 13 days for shallow soil (SL4), 42 days for soil at 400 mm depth (SL5), both at midslope locations, and 63 days for soil at 800 mm depth near the stream (SL2). Capillary flow was important for the unsaturated shallow soil (SL4), while advection and hydrodynamic dispersion (mixing) were more dominant for the periodically saturated (SL5) and the generally saturated (SL2) soils.
The morpho-physiological and gene expression of East Timor’s local rice plant (Oryza sativa) response to drought and salinity stress

Abstract. Quintao G, Ubaidillah M, Hartatik S, Khofifa RAN, Siswoyo TA. 2023. The morpho-physiological and gene expression of East Timor’s local rice plant (Oryza sativa) response to drought and salinity stress. Biodiversitas 24: 4548-4556. East Timor is rich in local rice varieties, such as Silaun, Ime Buci, Me Klan, Me Likan, Me Meak, Me Taek, and Umak Klete. These varieties are tolerant to drought and salinity stress. These superior characteristics emerge as the coping strategy of the rice plants toward environmental conditions such as mountainous, upland planting areas without irrigation networks and coastal regions with high salinity levels. This study determined the tolerance response of East Timor's local rice to drought and salinity stresses. This study was designed in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with two factors. The first factor, i.e., rice varieties, consisted of 8 varieties, i.e., Silaun (V1), Ime Buci (V2), Me Klan (V3), Me Likan (V4), Me Meak (V5), Me Taek (V6), Umak Klete (V7), and IR-64 (V8) and the second factor was the abiotic stress treatments, namely no treatment or control (P0), 10% PEG treatment (P1), and 150 mM NaCl treatment (P2). The parameters observed were morpho-physiology and biochemical characteristics of the plants. The results showed that the Silaun local rice variety from East Timor was tolerant to drought and salinity, supported by the gene expressions for tolerance to drought and salinity stress.
Geology of the zoned gold skarn system at Junction Reefs, New South Wales

The Sheahan-Grants, Frenchmans, and Cornishmens orebodies at Junction Reefs are typical gold skarns. Gold ore is restricted to a pyrrhotite-pyrite-arsenopyrite-bearing distal skarn zone in which prograde pyroxene has been altered to a retrograde chlorite-quartz-carbonate assemblage. The skarns are associated with a Late Ordovician (440 Ma) shoshonitic intrusive complex which comprises a large, central monzodiorite stock and numerous small, peripheral stocks. The skarn orebodies are located within a mineralogically zoned metasomatic alteration halo centered on one of the satellite stocks, the Junction Reefs Monzodiorite. The ore is within skarn formed from a 39-m-thick sequence of Early Ordovician limestone, siltstone, and chert, known locally, as the ore bed sequence. The ore beds were deposited between thick accumulations of massive and graded tuffaceous sandstone and siltstone in the hanging wall, and laminated chert, shale, siltstone, and sandstone in the footwall. The ore beds are thought to have been tilted, faulted, and intruded by at least one suite of Early to Middle Ordovician (465-480 Ma) latite dikes and sills prior to gold mineralization in the Late Ordovician. The orebodies are variously bounded by sharp skarn or marble fronts, preore dikes, and gradational mining cutoffs. Gold occurs mainly as 2- to 10-mu m particles on sulfide, calcite, and chlorite grain boundaries. The skarn is sequentially zoned from a grandite garnet-rich inner assemblage, near the Junction Reefs Monzodiorite stock, through clinopyroxene-dominated and amphibole-bearing assemblages, to an outer calcite-chlorite-quartz retrograde assemblage that includes the orebodies. Proximity to the skarn front has provided a major control on ore localization and gold grades reach a peak in a zone about 20 m behind the front. Preore dikes also appear to have controlled the distribution of ore in places by acting as barriers to.
Directional Resonant MEMS Acoustic Sensor and Associated Acoustic Vector Sensor

This paper reports on the design, modeling, analysis, and evaluation of a micro-electromechanical systems acoustic sensor and the novel design of an acoustic vector sensor array (AVS) which utilized this acoustic sensor. This research builds upon previous work conducted to develop a small, lightweight, portable system for the detection and location of quiet or distant acoustic sources of interest. This study also reports on the underwater operation of this sensor and AVS. Studies were conducted in the lab and in the field utilizing multiple acoustic sources (e.g., generated tones, gun shots, drones). The sensor operates at resonance, providing for high acoustic sensitivity and a high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The sensor demonstrated a maximum SNR of 88 dB with an associated sensitivity of −84.6 dB re 1 V/μPa (59 V/Pa). The sensor design can be adjusted to set a specified resonant frequency to align with a known acoustic signature of interest. The AVS demonstrated an unambiguous, 360-degree, in-plane, azimuthal coverage and was able to provide an acoustic direction of arrival to an average error of within 3.5° during field experiments. The results of this research demonstrate the potential usefulness of this sensor and AVS design for specific applications.
Dynamics of the India-Eurasia collision zone

We present simple new dynamic calculations of a vertically averaged deviatoric stress field (over a depth average of 100 km) for Asia from geodetic, geologic, topographic, and seismic data. A first estimate of the minimum absolute magnitudes and directions of vertically averaged deviatoric stress is obtained by solving force balance equations for deviatoric stresses associated with gravitational potential energy differences within the lithosphere plus a first-order contribution of deviatoric stresses associated with stress boundary conditions. This initial estimate of the vertically averaged deviatoric stress field is obtained independent of assumptions about the rheology of the lithosphere. Absolute magnitudes of vertically averaged deviatoric stresses vary between 5 and 40 MPa. Assuming bulk viscous behavior for the lithosphere, the magnitudes of deviatoric stresses, together with the magnitudes of strain rates inferred from Quaternary fault slip rate and GPS data, yield vertically averaged effective viscosities for Tibet of 0.5–5×1022 Pa s, compared with 1–2.5×1023 Pa s in more rigid areas elsewhere in the region. A forward modeling method that solves force balance equations using velocity boundary conditions allows us to refine our estimates of the vertically averaged effective viscosity distribution and deviatoric stress field. The total vertically averaged deviatoric stress and effective viscosity field are consistent with a weak lower crust in Tibet; they are consistent with some eastward motion of Tibet and south China lithosphere relative to Eurasia; and they confirm that gravitational potential energy differences have a profound effect on the spatially varying style and magnitude of strain rate around the Tibetan Plateau. Our results for the vertically averaged deviatoric stress argue for a large portion of the strength of the lithosphere to reside within the seismogenic upper crust to get deviatoric stress magnitudes there to be as high as 100–300 MPa (in accord with laboratory and theoretical friction experiments indicating that stress drops in earthquakes are small fractions of the total deviatoric stress).
A rainfall-runoff model for two small ungauged catchment using the water balance of a reservoir for calibration

In semi‐arid regions, small artificial surface reservoirs are important to meet the domestic and agricultural water requirements of smallholder farmers. The research objective of the study was to determine the rainfall‐runoff relation of two ungauged rivers using the measured water levels of the downstream reservoir. The study areas are the catchments of the upper Mnyabezi River (22 km2) and upper Bengu River (8 km2), which are tributaries of the Thuli River in southern Zimbabwe. The rainfallrunoff relationship is established with the SCS‐Method. The catchments were each divided into subareas by Thiessen‐polygons. For each polygon the amount of discharge was calculated based on the precipitation, land use, land treatment, antecedent moisture conditions and hydrological soil group. The summation of the calculated runoff per polygon formed the inflow variable for the reservoir models. The collected daily water level data from the period March ‐May 2007 were used to calibrate the rainfallrunoff model. The calibration process of the rainfall‐runoff model resulted in an initial abstraction of 7.6 % of the actual retention. It is concluded that the SCS‐method is a useful tool to simulate the rainfallrunoff relation of small ungauged catchments
Local versus regional processes: can soil characteristics overcome climate and fire regimes by modifying vegetation trajectories?

We analysed charcoal and pollen from sediments obtained from two lakes in the northwestern mixed‐wood Canadian boreal forest in order to reconstruct fire‐return intervals and vegetation dynamics over the last 8000 years. Sites were selected with contrasting soil properties (mesic versus dry‐sandy soils), allowing an estimation of the potential influence of soils on long‐term vegetation and fire dynamics. The sites likely experienced fewer fires during the period extending from 8000 to 4000 cal. a BP than over the last 4000 years. At both sites, eastern white pine (Pinus strobus) populations were most extensive shortly after deglaciation, with vegetation later shifting towards mixed woodlands with less P. strobus and more extensive Picea and Pinus banksiana populations. This gradual vegetation shift was probably induced by the establishment of colder and moister conditions along with a fire‐regime change. In spite of the parallel long‐term vegetation trajectories, vegetation composition differed between the two sites in both the past and present. Whereas Picea was more abundant at the mesic site, the fire‐adapted P. banksiana populations were more extensive at the sandy‐soil site. These differences in vegetation composition indicate that, in addition to climate changes and fire occurrence, soil properties also influenced vegetation dynamics. A likely increase in fire frequency in the Canadian boreal forest during the 21st century might therefore favour the expansion of these two disturbance‐adapted trees with spatial heterogeneity in the populations due to varying soil types. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Determination of Nursing Care Perceptions of Hemodialysis Patients

Purpose: In this study, it is aimed to determine theperceptions of the patients receiving hemodialysistreatment about the nursing care they receive and toinvestigate the factors affecting this perception.Materials and Methods: This research was plannedas a descriptive study by using quantitative researchmethods. The sample of the study consisted of 50patients who were diagnosed with chronic renalfailure and received hemodialysis treatment in ahospital operating in the province of Kayseri.Results: It was determined that the mean age of thehemodialysis patients included in the study was60.2313. 60 years and the gender of 54 % was male(n=27). The total mean score of hemodialysispatients from the "Patient's Perception of NursingCare" scale is 68.317. 38.Conclusions: As a result of our study, it wasdetermined that the patients' perception of care andthus their care satisfaction were at a high level.
Faunal dynamics of bivalves and scaphopods in the Bathonian (Middle Jurassic) ore-bearing clays at Gnaszyn, Kraków-Silesia Homocline, Poland

The environment at the Gnaszyn section – as deduced from bivalve and scaphopod dynamics – was controlled by the substrate consistency and possibly oxygen deficiency near the sediment-water interface and/or oxygen content fluctuations. The middle part of the section dominated by nuculoid and corbulid bivalves and Laevidentalium -type scaphopods probably reflects a soupy substrate and possibly oxygen deficiency in the sediment. Slightly coarser and better-oxygenated silts in the upper and lower parts of the section offered a less soupy substrate consistency, allowing the development of communities dominated by astartids, byssate bivalves, and Dentalium - and Plagioglypta -type scaphopods.
Histopathological Assessment of Microvascular Invasion in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Resection Specimens and its Correlation with Tumor Size and Grade

OBJECTIVES To determine the histopathological assessment of microvascular invasion in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Resection Specimens and its correlation with tumour size and grade. METHODOLOGY This retrospective cross-sectional study included the biopsy-proven Hepatocellular (HCC) case with microvascular invasion (MVI) noted in the resected specimens evaluated by two independent consultants Histopathologists. The exclusion criteria were; all patients below 18 years, unfixed autolyzed samples, and incomplete requisition-filled forms. Numerical data, i.e., patient age and tumour size, are presented as mean with standard deviation. Categorical variables, i.e., tumour size, grade, and presence or absence of MVI, were submitted as numbers with percentages. Continuous variables, i.e., tumour size and differentiation grade, were assessed using the Chi-square test. A p-value of ≤ 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTSMost patients, 34.4%, fall into the age group of 47-70. Most patients were males, 63.6%, and microvascular invasion was noted in 49.09% of cases. Most cases were of moderate to poorly differentiated tumours, 80.0%. MVI was statistically significant with the grade of the tumour. CONCLUSION Microvascular invasion is an important prognostic marker noted in a surgical resection specimen. Although the exact definition and risk stratification is unclear, survival studies have proven that MVI is associated with poor outcomes.
Psychometric evaluation of the heart failure somatic perception scale in Iranian heart failure patients: a cross-sectional study

Background: This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric evaluation of heart failure somatic perception scale (HFSPS) in Iranian heart failure patients. Materials and methods: A total of 220 heart failure (HF) patients were enroled in the study. Data gathering was conducted via consecutive sampling from August 2022 to April 2023. Face validity, content validity, construct validity, and internal consistency were used to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Persian version of the HFSPS. Construct validity was done through confirmatory factor analysis and convergent validity. Convergent validity between HFSPS and symptom status questionnaire-heart failure was measured using Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Cronbach’s alpha and Macdonald’s omega coefficient were used to evaluate the reliability of instruments. Results: A total of 220 HF patients participated in this study. Their mean age was 66.46 (SD=11.40). Among the participants, 70% were men. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis evaluation showed the goodness of fit indices of the final HFSPS model after modification was within an acceptable range (χ2=306.18 P<0.001, Minimum Discrepancy Function Divided by Degrees of Freedom=2.47, Comparative of Fit Index=0.91, Tucker-Lewis index=0.90, Adjusted goodness of fit index=0.81, Parsimonious norm fit index=0.70, root mean square error of approximation=0.082). Convergent validity between HFSPS and symptom status questionnaire-heart failure indicated a positive and significant correlation. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient in the HFSPS was 0.868, and McDonald’s omega coefficient in the HFSPS was 0.832. Conclusion: Overall, the Persian version of the HFSPS was determined to be a reliable and valid scale among Iranians with HF.
Prognostic significance of the pretreatment pan-immune-inflammation value in cancer patients: an updated meta-analysis of 30 studies

Background The pan-immune-inflammation value (PIV) has been reported as a promising prognostic biomarker in multiple cancers but still remains inconclusive. The objective of this study is to systematically investigate the association of the pretreatment PIV with survival outcomes in cancer patients, based on available literature. Methods Online databases including PubMed, Embase and the Web of Science were thoroughly searched for studies evaluating the prognostic role of the pretreatment PIV in cancers from the inception to June 2023. Hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were always assessed using a random-effects model. Statistical analyses were performed using Stata 12.0. Results Thirty studies were finally included after comprehensively study searching. In total, 8,799 cancer patients were enrolled in this meta-analysis. The pooled results demonstrated that patients in the high PIV group had a significantly poorer overall survival (HR = 2.07; 95%CI: 1.77–2.41; I2 = 73.0%) and progression-free survival (HR = 1.83; 95%CI: 1.37–2.45; I2 = 98.2%) than patients in the low PIV group. The prognostic significance of the PIV score on overall survival and progression-free survival was observed across various geographical regions, tumor stages and treatment strategies. Sensitivity analyses supported the stability of the above combined results. Conclusion This meta-analysis demonstrated that the pretreatment PIV could be a non-invasive and efficacious prognostic biomarker for cancer patients.
Validation of MODIS, MISR, OMI, and CALIPSO aerosol optical thickness using ground-based sunphotometers in Hong Kong

Aerosol observations are essential for understanding the Earth's radiation budget and the complexities of climate change, as they are involved in the backscattering of solar radiation and the formation of cloud condensation nuclei. In Hong Kong, the most direct effect is on air quality. Atmospheric haze caused by the emission of aerosols from industrial and vehicular sources creates visibility lower than 8 km for approximately 20% of the time, having risen at 6% per decade since 1980, but regional emissions are at least as influential as local ones. The 179,000 km2 covered by Hong Kong and neighbouring Guangdong Province cannot be adequately covered by the 76 monitoring stations set up by the two governments, and satellite images offer the only potential source of regional air quality data. However, the current satellite-based aerosol optical thickness (AOT) products are intended for global air quality monitoring, and may contain errors over a humid coastal city such as Hong Kong and its surrounding industrialized regions. This research compares the AOT retrieved from several AOT operational products, namely the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) MOD04 product, the MODIS 500 m product, the Multiangle Imaging Spectroradiometer (MISR) product, the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) multiwavelength aerosol product, and the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) product, with ground-based AOT from sunphotometers in Hong Kong. These sunphotometers include two AERONET stations, and are deployed in Hong Kong over urban, suburban, and coastal areas. The rigorous correlations, root mean square errors, and mean absolute differences available from the multilocational field data within one city region provide a strong base for validating the AOT products from different sensors and at different spatial scales over different land surface types. The results suggest that the AOT products, especially those from MODIS 10 km, provide reliable and accurate observations for daily air quality monitoring over a variety of land-cover types, as well as for identifying emission sources for coordinated actions by the governments of Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland.