Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Automated and Human Interaction in Written Discourse: A Contrastive Parallel Corpus-based Investigation of Metadiscourse Features in Machine-Human Translations

The rise of the internet has generated a need for fast online translations, which human translators cannot meet. Statistical tools such as Google and Baidu Translate provide automatic translation from one written language to another. This study reports the descriptive comparison of the machine-translation (MT) with human translation (HT), considering the metadiscoursal interactional features. The study uses a parallel corpus consisting of 79 texts translated from Chinese to English by professional human translators and machine translations (Baidu translate & Google translate) and a comparable reference corpus of non-translated English text. The statistical analysis revealed no statistically significant difference between Baidu and Google translate regarding all types of metadiscoursal indicators. However, the findings of this study demonstrate significant disparities in the interactional characteristics of various HT and MT groups. Compared to the metadiscourse features in non-translated English political texts, human translators were found to outperform machine translations in the use of attitude markers. In contrast, the distribution of directives in machine-translated texts is more native-like. In addition, MT and HT have utilized a significantly smaller number of hedges, self-mention, and readers than non-translated texts. Our results indicate that the MT systems, though still calling for further improvement, have shown tremendous growth potential and may complement human translators.
Neural evidence for functional roles of tactile and visual feedback in the application of myoelectric prosthesis

Objective. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the electrophysiological mechanism underlying different modalities of sensory feedback and multi-sensory integration in typical prosthesis control tasks. Approach. We recruited 15 subjects and developed a closed-loop setup for three prosthesis control tasks which covered typical activities in the practical prosthesis application, i.e. prosthesis finger position control (PFPC), equivalent grasping force control (GFC) and box and block control (BABC). All the three tasks were conducted under tactile feedback (TF), visual feedback (VF) and tactile-visual feedback (TVF), respectively, with a simultaneous electroencephalography (EEG) recording to assess the electroencephalogram (EEG) response underlying different types of feedback. Behavioral and psychophysical assessments were also administered in each feedback condition. Results. EEG results showed that VF played a predominant role in GFC and BABC tasks. It was reflected by a significantly lower somatosensory alpha event-related desynchronization (ERD) in TVF than in TF and no significant difference in visual alpha ERD between TVF and VF. In PFPC task, there was no significant difference in somatosensory alpha ERD between TF and TVF, while a significantly lower visual alpha ERD was found in TVF than in VF, indicating that TF was essential in situations related to proprioceptive position perception. Tactile-visual integration was found when TF and VF were congruently implemented, showing an obvious activation over the premotor cortex in the three tasks. Behavioral and psychophysical results were consistent with EEG evaluations. Significance. Our findings could provide neural evidence for multi-sensory integration and functional roles of tactile and VF in a practical setting of prosthesis control, shedding a multi-dimensional insight into the functional mechanisms of sensory feedback.
Antibacterial and Antibiofilm Activity of Carvacrol against Oral Pathogenic Bacteria

Faced with the current situation of high rates of microbial resistance, together with the scarcity of new antibiotics, it is necessary to search for and identify new antimicrobials, preferably natural, to alleviate this situation. The aim of this work was to evaluate the antibacterial activity of carvacrol (CAR), a phenolic compound of essential oils, against pathogenic microorganisms causing oral infections, such as Streptococcus mutans and S. sanguinis, never evaluated before. The minimum inhibitory and the minimum bactericidal concentration were 93.4 μg/mL and 373.6 μg/mL, respectively, for the two strains. The growth kinetics under different concentrations of CAR, as well as the bactericidal power were determined. The subinhibitory concentrations delayed and decreased bacterial growth. Its efficacy on mature biofilms was also tested. Finally, the possible hemolytic effect of CAR, not observable at the bactericidal concentrations under study, was evaluated. Findings obtained point to CAR as an excellent alternative agent to safely prevent periodontal diseases. In addition, it is important to highlight the use of an experimental methodology that includes dual-species biofilm and subinhibitory concentration models to determine optimal CAR treatment concentrations. Thus, CAR could be used preventively in mouthwashes or biomaterials, or in treatments to avoid existing antibiotic resistance.
Development and Validation of the Forbearance Scale

Abstract The character strength of forbearance contributes to peace in broader society, as well as familial harmony. Although forbearance is essential to healthy interpersonal relationships, no psychometrically sound measure has been developed to assess the multi-dimensional nature of forbearance. The present set of studies describes the development and initial validation of the Forbearance Scale (FS). In Study 1, items were generated from focus group interviews with college students (n = 43) to establish the content validity of the scale. In Study 2, the factor structure of the FS was determined using exploratory factor analysis of data from college students (n = 466). In Study 3, the factor structure of the FS was cross-validated with a community sample (n = 579) by means of confirmatory factor analysis. The final scale, the FS-16, consists of 16 items with four factors: (1) emotional calmness, (2) overlook others’ misdeeds, (3) tolerance and acceptance, and (4) self-restraint. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses provided evidence of convergent and concurrent validity. The FS-16 demonstrates potential as a new personality assessment tool for measuring forbearance.
Selective inhibition of integrin αvβ6 leads to rapid induction of urinary bladder tumors in cynomolgus macaques

Abstract Administration of a novel and selective small molecule integrin αvβ6 inhibitor, MORF-627, to young cynomolgus monkeys for 28 days resulted in the rapid induction of epithelial proliferative changes in the urinary bladder of 2 animals, in the absence of test agent genotoxicity. Microscopic findings included suburothelial infiltration by irregular nests and/or trabeculae of epithelial cells, variable cytologic atypia, and high mitotic rate, without invasion into the tunica muscularis. Morphologic features and patterns of tumor growth were consistent with a diagnosis of early-stage invasive urothelial carcinoma. Ki67 immunohistochemistry demonstrated diffusely increased epithelial proliferation in the urinary bladder of several monkeys, including those with tumors, and αvβ6 was expressed in some epithelial tissues, including urinary bladder, in monkeys and humans. Spontaneous urothelial carcinomas are extremely unusual in young healthy monkeys, suggesting a direct link of the finding to the test agent. Inhibition of integrin αvβ6 is intended to locally and selectively block transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) signaling, which is implicated in epithelial proliferative disorders. Subsequent in vitro studies using a panel of integrin αvβ6 inhibitors in human bladder epithelial cells replicated the increased urothelial proliferation observed in monkeys and was reversed through exogenous application of TGF-β. Moreover, analysis of in vivo models of liver and lung fibrosis revealed evidence of epithelial hyperplasia and cell cycle dysregulation in mice treated with integrin αvβ6 or TGF-β receptor I inhibitors. The cumulative evidence suggests a direct link between integrin αvβ6 inhibition and decreased TGF-β signaling in the local bladder environment, with implications for epithelial proliferation and carcinogenesis.
Effect of electric field and atmosphere on the processing of nanocrystalline ZnO

The retention of nanocrystallinity in dense ceramics is still a challenge, even with the application of stress-assisted methods like Spark Plasma Sintering. Starting powder and sintering process strongly affect the evolution of the microstructure and thus, the final properties of ZnO. Control of the microstructure was carried out through the combined effect of high heating rates and the presence of bound water, which seems to significantly promote densification of zinc oxide nanoparticles. Hence, dense nano-grained ZnO could be synthesized at a temperature of only 400 °C. In addition, sintering behavior can be also modified by the use of external electric fields, which can generate a drastic mass diffusion process that is called flash sintering. The current flow through the specimen entails an increment of the temperature produced by Joule heating, enhancing the sintering process. Control of both parameters, heating rates/water content and electric field, leads to dense ZnO compacts with grain size between 150 nm to almost 5 μm.
Mitoquinone mesylate attenuates pathologic features of lean and obese allergic asthma in mice.

Obesity is associated with severe, difficult to control asthma, and increased airway oxidative stress. Mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (mROS) are an important source of oxidative stress in asthma, leading us to hypothesize that targeting mROS in obese allergic asthma might be an effective treatment. Using a mouse model of house dust mite (HDM) induced allergic airway disease in mice fed a low- (LFD) or high-fat diet (HFD), and the mitochondrial antioxidant MitoQuinone (MitoQ), we investigated the effects of obesity and ROS on HDM induced airway inflammation, remodelling, and airway reactivity (AHR). Obese allergic mice showed increased lung tissue eotaxin, airway tissue eosinophilia, and AHR compared to lean allergic mice. MitoQ reduced airway inflammation, remodelling and hyperreactivity in both lean and obese allergic mice, and tissue eosinophilia in obese-allergic mice. Similar effects were observed with decyl triphosphonium (dTPP+), the hydrophobic cationic moiety of MitoQ lacking ubiquinone. HDM induced oxidative sulfenylation of proteins was increased particularly in HFD mice. While only MitoQ reduced sulfenylation of proteins involved in protein folding in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), ER stress was attenuated by both MitoQ and dTPP+ suggesting the anti-allergic effects of MitoQ are mediated in part by effects if its hydrophobic dTPP+ moiety reducing ER stress. In summary, oxidative signalling is an important mediator of allergic airway disease. MitoQ, likely through reducing protein oxidation and affecting the UPR pathway, might be effective for the treatment of asthma, and specific features of obese asthma.
Satellite Observations for CMIP5: The Genesis of Obs4MIPs

The objective of the Observations for Model Intercomparison Projects (Obs4MIPs) is to provide observational data to the climate science community, which is analogous (in terms of variables, temporal and spatial frequency, and periods) to output from the 5th phase of the World Climate Research Programme's (WCRP) Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) climate model simulations. The essential aspect of the Obs4MIPs methodology is that it strictly follows the CMIP5 protocol document when selecting the observational datasets. Obs4MIPs also provides documentation that describes aspects of the observational data (e.g., data origin, instrument overview, uncertainty estimates) that are of particular relevance to scientists involved in climate model evaluation and analysis. In this paper, we focus on the activities related to the initial set of satellite observations, which are being carried out in close coordination with CMIP5 and directly engage NASA's observational (e.g., mission and instrument) science t.
Hubble Space Telescope Faint Object Spectrograph Observations of a Unique Grouping of Five QSOs: The Sizes and Shapes of Low-z Lyα Forest Absorbers

Observations of QSO pairs suggest that the structures responsible for Lyα forest absorption lines must have radii of hundreds of kiloparsecs if they are spherical or disklike in shape. However, only observations of groups of three or more QSOs closely spaced on the sky provide a way to measure their transverse sizes/characteristic clustering lengths and shapes. Such observations are needed to test the predictions of cosmological simulations of large-scale structure formation. To further this goal, we have obtained Hubble Space Telescope Faint Object Spectrograph G190H spectra of a grouping of five QSOs to investigate the sizes and shapes of absorbers at a redshift of z ≈ 0.7. The angular separations of the pairs in this unique configuration range from 1'-8', for which the corresponding lines of sight probe proper separations as small as 200 h-1 kpc and up to 2 h-1 Mpc. The redshifts of the four quasars with detected flux in the observed region of 1700-2300 Å are z = 0.86, 1.01, 1.01, and 1.10. In the pair with the smallest separation (0.′98), six greater than 4.5 σ Lyα line pairs are found in common (within 150 km s-1) between the two lines of sight, significant above the random background at the 99.2% level. In the QSO pairs with larger separations, the number of lines in common is consistent with the chance expectation determined from Monte Carlo simulations. The results imply that an upper limit to the absorber sizes is crossed in the interval between the two smallest separation pairs. In addition, we find evidence that the exclusion of weaker lines results in smaller absorber sizes. Using results from a 4.5 σ sample of lines in the QSO pair with the smallest separation, we estimate the sizes of simple spherical and thin-disk absorbers using a Bayesian analysis and find a most likely radius of 159 h-1 kpc and a 95% confidence interval of 135 < R < 218 h-1 kpc for spheres, and a most likely radius of 196 h-1 kpc and a 95% confidence interval of 157 < R < 289 h-1 kpc for disks. We also model filamentary structures as cylinders and compare the simulated behavior of these cylinders with the observed occurrence of pairs in the three smallest separation pairs. We find that cylinders of R ≈ 130-200 h-1 kpc and few Mpc long could be expected to produce the observed behavior of the Lyα lines in these QSO pairs and note that these dimensions are in good agreement with the sizes of filamentary structures (or segments thereof) predicted by numerical simulations of large-scale structure at low redshifts. The overall results demonstrate that observations of QSO groups can be used to derive information on the sizes and shapes of absorbing material in the intergalactic medium, providing insight into the evolution of gas and galaxies in the universe.
Gene Expression Profiling of Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells in Type 2 Diabetes: An Exploratory Study

Background and Objectives: Visceral obesity is associated with chronic low-grade inflammation that predisposes to metabolic syndrome. Indeed, infiltration of adipose tissue with immune–inflammatory cells, including ‘classical’ inflammatory M1 and anti-inflammatory ‘alternative’ M2 macrophages, causes the release of a variety of bioactive molecules, resulting in the metabolic complications of obesity. This study examined the relative expression of macrophage phenotypic surface markers, cholesterol efflux proteins, scavenger receptors, and adenosine receptors in human circulating peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), isolated from patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), with the aim to phenotypically characterize and identify biomarkers for these ill-defined cells. Materials and Methodology: PBMCs were isolated from four groups of adults: Normal-weight non-diabetic, obese non-diabetic, newly diagnosed with T2DM, and T2DM on metformin. The mRNA expression levels of macrophage phenotypic surface markers (interleukin-12 (IL-12), C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 10 (CXCL10), C-C motif chemokine ligand 17 (CCL17), and C-C motif receptor 7 (CCR7)), cholesterol efflux proteins (ATP-binding cassette transporter-1 (ABCA1), ATP binding cassette subfamily G member 1 (ABCG1), and sterol 27-hydroxylase (CYP27A)), scavenger receptors (scavenger receptor-A (SR-A), C-X-C motif ligand 16 (CXCL16), and lectin-like oxidized LDL receptor-1 (LOX-1)), and adenosine receptors (adenosine A2A receptor (A2AR) and adenosine A3 receptor (A3R)) were measured using qRT-PCR. Results: In PBMCs from T2DM patients, the expression of IL-12, CCR7, ABCA1, and SR-A1 was increased, whereas the expression of CXCL10, CCL17, ABCG1,27-hydroxylase, LOX-1, A2AR and A3R was decreased. On the other hand, treatment with the antidiabetic drug, metformin, reduced the expression of IL-12 and increased the expression of 27-hydroxylase, LOX-1, CXCL16 and A2AR. Conclusions: PBMCs in the circulation of patients with T2DM express phenotypic markers that are different from those typically present in adipose tissue M1 and M2 macrophages and could be representative of metabolically activated macrophages (MMe)-like cells. Our findings suggest that metformin alters phenotypic markers of MMe-like cells in circulation.
The Risk of Sarcopenia among Adults with Normal-Weight Obesity in a Nutritional Management Setting

Normal-weight obesity (NWO) is a phenotype characterized by excessive body fat (BF) despite normal body weight. We aimed to assess the association between NWO and the risk of sarcopenia. Two groups of patients with a normal body mass index [BMI (20–24.9 kg/m2)] were selected from a large cohort of participants. Body composition was measured using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), and 748 participants were categorized as NWO or normal-weight without obesity (NWNO) and were classed according to whether or not they were at risk of sarcopenia. The “NWO group” included 374 participants (cases), compared to 374 participants (controls) in the “NWNO group”, all of a similar BMI, age and gender. The participants in the “NWO group” displayed a higher prevalence of the risk of sarcopenia than the control group across both genders (0.6% vs. 14.1% in males; 1.4% vs. 36.5% in females). Regression analysis showed that being in the NWO category increased the risk of sarcopenia 22-fold in males (RR = 22.27; 95%CI: 3.35–147.98) and 25-fold in females (RR = 25.22; 95%CI: 8.12–78.36), compared to those in the NWNO category. In a “real-world” nutritional setting, the assessment of body composition to identify NWO syndrome is vital since it is also associated with a higher risk of sarcopenia.
Compact Wideband Four-Port MIMO Antenna for Sub-6 GHz and Internet of Things Applications

A compact four-port multi-input, multi-output (MIMO) antenna with good isolation is proposed for sub-6 GHz and Internet of Things (IoT) applications. Four similar L-shaped antennae are placed orthogonally at 7.6 mm distance from the corner of the FR4 substrate. The wideband characteristics and the required frequency band are achieved through the L-shaped structure and with proper placement of the slots on the substrate. To obtain good isolation between the ports, rectangular slots are etched in the bottom layer and are interconnected. The proposed antenna has total dimensions of 40 mm × 40 mm × 1.6 mm. The interconnected ground plane provides good isolation of less than −17 dB between the ports, and the impedance bandwidth obtained by the proposed four-port antenna is about 54% between the frequency range of 3.2 GHz to 5.6 GHz, thus providing a wideband antenna characteristic covering sub-6 GHz 5G bands (from 3.4 to 3.6 GHz and 4.8 to 5 GHz) and the WLAN band (5.2 GHz). The proposed design antenna is fabricated and tested. Good experimental results are achieved when compared with the simulation results. As the proposed design is compact and low profile, this antenna could be a suitable candidate for 5G and IoT devices.
Cytoscape stringApp 2.0: Analysis and Visualization of Heterogeneous Biological Networks

Biological networks are often used to represent complex biological systems, which can contain several types of entities. Analysis and visualization of such networks is supported by the Cytoscape software tool and its many apps. While earlier versions of stringApp focused on providing intraspecies protein–protein interactions from the STRING database, the new stringApp 2.0 greatly improves the support for heterogeneous networks. Here, we highlight new functionality that makes it possible to create networks that contain proteins and interactions from STRING as well as other biological entities and associations from other sources. We exemplify this by complementing a published SARS-CoV-2 interactome with interactions from STRING. We have also extended stringApp with new data and query functionality for protein–protein interactions between eukaryotic parasites and their hosts. We show how this can be used to retrieve and visualize a cross-species network for a malaria parasite, its host, and its vector. Finally, the latest stringApp version has an improved user interface, allows retrieval of both functional associations and physical interactions, and supports group-wise enrichment analysis of different parts of a network to aid biological interpretation. stringApp is freely available at https://apps.cytoscape. org/apps/stringapp.