Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparative and cladistic analyses of the species of the genus Pelodera Schneider, 1866 (Rhabditidae: Nematoda) belonging to the coarctata group

Three new species of the genus Pelodera Schneider, 1866 viz., P. indica sp. nov., P. adeeli sp. nov. and P. paratretzeli sp. nov. collected from dung beetles and P. cylindrica (Cobb, 1898) collected from soil samples, are described and illustrated. Pelodera indica sp. nov. is characterised by sexual dimorphism in anterior region, cupola-shaped tail with a spike; males having punctated, striated and lobed bursa with no genital papillae originating anterior to cloaca. Pelodera adeeli sp. nov. is characterised by coarsely annulated cuticle; relatively narrow stoma; tail conoid without spike; males with punctated, lobed bursa and nine pairs of genital papillae arranged in a 2/1+2+P+3+1 configuration. Pelodera paratretzeli sp. nov. is characterised by sexual dimorphism in anterior region, stoma wide with three well-developed metastegostomal denticles; tail cupola-shaped with a long spike; males having spicules fused distally up to 12–14% of spicule length; bursa peloderan, anteriorly closed and punctated with nine pairs of genital papillae arranged in a 3/2+P+3+1 configuration. Pelodera cylindrica is described with additional details. The comparative analysis as well as phylogenetic relationship of the species belonging to the coarctata group have been elaborated by incorporating scanning electron microscopic observations. Information on the biogeographical distribution has also been provided.
A Cross-Scale Representation of Tourist Activity Space

Destination, as a key concept in tourism geography, has largely determined the scale at which tourist activity space was modeled and studied. Existing studies usually focused on investigating tourists’ activities and movements either at the intradestination (e.g., within a city) or interdestination scale. Although useful in numerous research contexts, these models based on fixed spatial scales are incapable of portraying the complex spatial structure of tourist activity spaces, which sometimes exhibit hierarchical structures, and could span across different spatial scales. In this study, we propose a new representation of tourist activity space to bridge these gaps. The representation takes tourists’ accommodation locations as key reference points. At the macroscale, the sequence of accommodation locations forms the backbone of tourist activity space, denoted as itinerary type. At the microscale, we introduce the concept of territory to describe how individuals organize activities around these overnight “base camps” (i.e., accommodation locations). We apply this representation over a large-scale mobile phone data set of international travelers visiting South Korea to demonstrate its capability. Results show that four generic itinerary types capture the activity space structure of 89 percent of the tourists. The interrelationships of territories and their topological structures further categorize activity spaces into subtypes, leading to a new method of tourist classification based on their spatiotemporal activity patterns. We believe the proposed representation could enrich new perspectives and debates on how tourist activities can be studied. The representation can also be extended as a generic framework to delineate complex forms of human activity space.
Real-Time Indoor Air Quality Index Prediction Using a Vacuum Cleaner Robot's AIoT Electronic Nose

: To encourage the good health and well-being sustainable development goal, this article presents the design and implementation of real-time indoor air quality index (AQI) prediction using an artificial internet of things (AIoT) electronic nose integrated into a vacuum cleaner robot. The objective of the proposed method is to implement an effective embedded AIoT solution utilizing sensor fusion and the TinyML framework for the purpose of strengthening the environmental health system with suitable current technology. The high-accuracy sensor outputs of total volatile organic compounds (TVOC), humidity, equivalent carbon dioxide (eCO 2 ), and PM2.5 gathered as the dataset are normalized in the data pre-processing state and utilized to create trained models using dense neural networks (DNN) deep learning algorithms. Tiny machine learning is responsible for neural network training, as it is capable of executing AI algorithms on embedded devices with extremely low power consumption and limited RAM and ROM resources. The testing results demonstrate that the predictive model performed well, with 99% accuracy for a maximum absolute regression error less than 15 and an 18.33 mean square error. The embedded device implementation uses Wio terminals with ARM Cortex-M4F microcontrollers for real-time indoor air quality index prediction and visualization. Experimental results demonstrating the average precision of the indoor AQI prediction were obtained at an average accuracy of over 98% with a computation time of 10 milliseconds and an acceptable usage of ROM and RAM resources of 8.5 KB and 1.1 KB, respectively, along with successive performances that satisfied web application data virtualization using the internet of things (IoT).
The hazards of dealing with response time outliers

The presence of outliers in response times can affect statistical analyses and lead to incorrect interpretation of the outcome of a study. Therefore, it is a widely accepted practice to try to minimize the effect of outliers by preprocessing the raw data. There exist numerous methods for handling outliers and researchers are free to choose among them. In this article, we use computer simulations to show that serious problems arise from this flexibility. Choosing between alternative ways for handling outliers can result in the inflation of p-values and the distortion of confidence intervals and measures of effect size. Using Bayesian parameter estimation and probability distributions with heavier tails eliminates the need to deal with response times outliers, but at the expense of opening another source of flexibility.
FoxO3 normalizes Smad3-induced arterial smooth muscle cell growth

Transition of arterial smooth muscle (ASM) from a quiescent, contractile state to a growth-promoting state is a hallmark of cardiovascular disease (CVD), a leading cause of death and disability in the United States and worldwide. While many individual signals have been identified as important mechanisms in this phenotypic conversion, the combined impact of the transcription factors Smad3 and FoxO3 in ASM growth is not known. The purpose of this study was to determine that a coordinated, phosphorylation-specific relationship exists between Smad3 and FoxO3 in the control of ASM cell growth. Using a rat in vivo arterial injury model and rat primary ASM cell lysates and fractions, validated low and high serum in vitro models of respective quiescent and growth states, and adenoviral (Ad-) gene delivery for overexpression (OE) of individual and combined Smad3 and/or FoxO3, we hypothesized that FoxO3 can moderate Smad3-induced ASM cell growth. Key findings revealed unique cellular distribution of Smad3 and FoxO3 under growth conditions, with induction of both nuclear and cytosolic Smad3 yet primarily cytosolic FoxO3; Ad-Smad3 OE leading to cytosolic and nuclear expression of phosphorylated and total Smad3, with almost complete reversal of each with Ad-FoxO3 co-infection in quiescent and growth conditions; Ad-FoxO3 OE leading to enhanced cytosolic expression of phosphorylated and total FoxO3, both reduced with Ad-Smad3 co-infection in quiescent and growth conditions; Ad-FoxO3 inducing expression and activity of the ubiquitin ligase MuRF-1, which was reversed with concomitant Ad-Smad3 OE; and combined Smad3/FoxO3 OE reversing both the pro-growth impact of singular Smad3 and the cytostatic impact of singular FoxO3. A primary takeaway from these observations is the capacity of FoxO3 to reverse growth-promoting effects of Smad3 in ASM cells. Additional findings lend support for reciprocal antagonism of Smad3 on FoxO3-induced cytostasis, and these effects are dependent upon discrete phosphorylation states and cellular localization and involve MuRF-1 in the control of ASM cell growth. Lastly, results showing capacity of FoxO3 to normalize Smad3-induced ASM cell growth largely support our hypothesis, and overall findings provide evidence for utility of Smad3 and/or FoxO3 as potential therapeutic targets against abnormal ASM growth in the context of CVD.
Mapping Urban Functional Areas Using Multisource Remote Sensing Images and Open Big Data

The urban functional areas (UFAs) are the basic spatial units of a city, identifying their category information and spatial distribution is of great significance for studying urban spatial structure and formulating scientific and reasonable urban planning policies. However, traditional classification systems are still limited due to the data processing costs and time-consuming process. With the development of high-resolution satellite, the 2-D image has been able to identify more ground object information on a fine scale, but it lacks the application of 3-D characteristics and social attributes. At the same time, machine learning and deep learning have shown great utility in extracting features, and they should be applied more to the classification of urban functional areas to improve efficiency. To solve these problems, we propose an efficient and accurate framework for mapping UFA using multisource geospatial data. It can grasp the dynamic changes in the city more accurately, and provide a reference for the study of urban functional areas. An improved frequency density (IFD) model was proposed to improve the overall classification accuracy by 4.4%. Besides, the nighttime light (NTL) data from SDGSAT-1 satellite glimmer imagers are also used to classify UFA. By combining NTL and urban building height data, a sky view enhanced nightlight index (SVENI) was proposed, which can improve the overall classification accuracy of UFA by 5.8%. This study systematically clarifies the role of data sources, methods, and automatic integration models in the classification framework for UFA, which is of great significance for urban planning and sustainable development.
A technique for measuring the plane-wave reflection coefficient of the ocean bottom

A new technique for the measurement of the plane-wave reflection coefficient of a horizontally stratified ocean bottom is described. It is based on the exact Hankel transform relationship between the reflection coefficient and the bottom reflected field due to a point source. The method employs a new algorithm for the numerical evaluation of the Hankel transform which is based on the "projection-slice" theorem for the two-dimensional Fourier transform. The details of the algorithm are described in the companion paper. Although the algorithm is applied to the case of an isovelocity ocean, the general theory for measuring the plane-wave reflection coefficient in a refracting ocean is developed. The technique provides information about the reflection coefficient, not only for real incident angles, _but also for complex angles, thus potentially providing substantial additional structural information about the bottom. The method is shown to yield excellent results with synthetically generated data for the cases of a hard bottom and slow isovelocity bottom.
Loss of LBP triggers lipid metabolic disorder through H3K27 acetylation-mediated C/EBPβ-SCD activation in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is associated with mutations in lipopolysaccharide-binding protein (LBP), but the underlying epigenetic mechanisms remain understudied. Herein, LBP-/- rats with NAFLD were established and used to conduct integrative targeting-active enhancer histone H3 lysine 27 acetylation (H3K27ac) chromatin immunoprecipitation coupled with high-throughput and transcriptomic sequencing analysis to explore the potential epigenetic pathomechanisms of active enhancers of NAFLD exacerbation upon LBP deficiency. Notably, LBP-/- reduced the inflammatory response but markedly aggravated high-fat diet (HFD)-induced NAFLD in rats, with pronounced alterations in the histone acetylome and regulatory transcriptome. In total, 1 128 differential enhancer-target genes significantly enriched in cholesterol and fatty acid metabolism were identified between wild-type (WT) and LBP-/- NAFLD rats. Based on integrative analysis, CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein β (C/EBPβ) was identified as a pivotal transcription factor (TF) and contributor to dysregulated histone acetylome H3K27ac, and the lipid metabolism gene SCD was identified as a downstream effector exacerbating NAFLD. This study not only broadens our understanding of the essential role of LBP in the pathogenesis of NAFLD from an epigenetics perspective but also identifies key TF C/EBPβ and functional gene SCD as potential regulators and therapeutic targets.
The role of serum visfatin and vaspin in hepatocellular carcinoma in hepatitis C-related liver cirrhosis

Aim of the study To investigate the role of the novel adipokines visfatin and vaspin in hepatitis C virus (HCV)-cirrhotic patients with and without hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and their association with tumour characteristics and liver dysfunction. Material and methods This case-control study was carried out between March 2021 and September 2021. Serum visfatin and vaspin were measured in 67 HCV-cirrhotic patients (37 had HCC, and 30 did not) and 20 healthy individuals using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results Serum visfatin and vaspin were substantially elevated in HCC patients compared to those without HCC and healthy controls (p = 0.001, < 0.0001, respectively) and significantly associated with hepatic dysfunction. At a cut-off value of 12.1 ng/ml, the sensitivity and specificity of the serum visfatin in detecting HCC were 67.6% and 83.3%, respectively. Serum vaspin at a cut-off value of 321 ng/dl had a sensitivity of 94.6% and specificity of 66.7%. In multivariate regression analysis, serum vaspin and albumin were independent risk factors for HCC development. Patients with Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage D had significantly the highest serum levels of visfatin and vaspin (p = 0.03, 0.008, respectively). Conclusions Serum visfatin and vaspin were substantially higher in HCC patients, associated with tumour stage, and might be considered as potential biomarkers of HCC, but this should be confirmed in larger independent cohorts of patients with liver cirrhosis. Serum vaspin and albumin were independent risk factors for HCC development. There was a substantial association between visfatin, vaspin, and the severity of the underlying liver dysfunction.
Evaluation of Headache Trends among Undergraduate First Responders for Medical Emergencies at Saudi University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Background and objective: Headache is more common among students and may be a crucial indication of mental health; it can have a detrimental impact if left untreated, especially on students, and may affect their academic performance. Thus, this study aimed to assess the headache trends among undergraduate first responders for medical emergencies at Saudi University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Method: A cross-sectional study was undertaken over three months in 2023 to analyze headache patterns among emergency medical services (EMS) students using prevalidated questionnaires. The data were collected via convenience sampling and processed with the IBM SPSS Statistics 26 program (IBM Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). Results: The current findings show that the majority 90.6% (n = 164) of the participants had at least one episode of headache in the last week. With regard to the number of days students had a headache during the last week, 21.5% (n = 39) of them reported 2 days, while 18.8% (n = 34) reported 1 day only. About slightly less than half (48.6% (n = 88)) of students reported that the usual site of the headache was frontal, followed by temporal 27.1% (n = 49), and 23.3% (n = 42) reported orbital. When students were asked whether a headache aggravates their routine activity, 40.3% agreed with this statement, and 44.2% of students reported that a headache causes them to avoid their routine activity (reading writing, attending college). The majority of the students considered taking analgesics (60.8%), followed by sleeping (26.5%), caffeine (14.4%), and herbal and alternative remedies (7.7%) for the relief of headaches. Although headache episodes were significantly associated with routine activities (reading writing, attending college) (p = 0.018, t = 2.282) daily activities (walking, running) (p = 0.022, t = 2.307). The findings showed that fourth-year EMS students were found to have higher headache pain intensity scores compared to other students (p = 0.046). Similarly, the pain intensity was significantly higher among the students between 1–3 and >7 episodes of headaches (p = 0.001) Conclusion: The findings of this study revealed that Saudi emergency medical services students suffer from headaches. However, the current findings revealed variation in the headache pain intensity scores concerning the year of study.
On the estimation of the quantile density function by orthogonal series

Abstract The classical estimator of a quantile density function by orthogonal series depends on the empirical distribution function estimator Hn. The fact that Hn is a step function even when the underlying cumulative distribution function is continuous, has called for the need (in certain areas of application like estimating the quantile density function ) for smooth estimators of Hn. The present work has two goals. The first one is to introduce a new technique for estimating by orthogonal series for any orthonormal system in , a smooth nonparametric estimators of and are proposed. Asymptotic properties of the proposed estimators are studied. The second is to introduce a new method for selection of a smoothing parameter. A simulation study is done to compare the performances of the new approach with the (Chesneau et al 2016) one, when comparing mean integrated square error of the two estimators.
Targeting NKG2DL with Bispecific NKG2D–CD16 and NKG2D–CD3 Fusion Proteins on Triple–Negative Breast Cancer

Triple–negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a particularly aggressive subtype of breast cancer with a poor response rate to conventional systemic treatment and high relapse rates. Members of the natural killer group 2D ligand (NKG2DL) family are expressed on cancer cells but are typically absent from healthy tissues; thus, they are promising tumor antigens for novel immunotherapeutic approaches. We developed bispecific fusion proteins (BFPs) consisting of the NKG2D receptor domain targeting multiple NKG2DLs, fused to either anti–CD3 (NKG2D–CD3) or anti–CD16 (NKG2D–CD16) Fab fragments. First, we characterized the expression of the NKG2DLs (MICA, MICB, ULBP1–4) on TNBC cell lines and observed the highest surface expression for MICA and ULBP2. Targeting TNBC cells with NKG2D–CD3/CD16 efficiently activated both NK and T cells, leading to their degranulation and cytokine release and lysis of TNBC cells. Furthermore, PBMCs from TNBC patients currently undergoing chemotherapy showed significantly higher NK and T cell activation and tumor cell lysis when stimulated with NKG2D–CD3/CD16. In conclusions, BFPs activate and direct the NK and T cells of healthy and TNBC patients against TNBC cells, leading to efficient eradication of tumor cells. Therefore, NKG2D–based NK and T cell engagers could be a valuable addition to the treatment options for TNBC patients.
The Multifaceted Opportunities Provided by the Pheomelanin-Inspired 1,4-Benzothiazine Chromophore: A Still-Undervalued Issue

1,4-Benzothiazines are the main building blocks of the naturally occurring pheomelanin pigments, and their chromophoric properties have been strongly related to the well-known phototoxicity of these pigments, partly responsible for the high incidence of melanoma and other skin cancers in red-haired people. However, some peculiar features of the 1,4-benzothiazine chromophore could be functionally exploited in several sectors. Within this context, in this perspective, an overview of the very recently reported applications of the 1,4-benzothiazine chromophore in pH sensing, filter permeability control, smart packaging, electrochromic device fabrication, bioimaging, photocatalysis, and HPLC detection systems is provided, together with a brief presentation of recently developed synthetic approaches to the 1,4-benzothiazine scaffold, with the aim of emphasizing the still-undervalued multifunctional opportunities offered by this class of compounds.
Blue laser diode-pumped Ce:YAG phosphor-coated cylindrical rod-based extended white light source with uniform illumination

We report the development of an extended white light source with uniform illumination using a cylindrical rod coated with Ce-doped YAG phosphor and excited by a blue diode laser. A long cylindrical rod made of transparent acrylic was first ground in order to diffuse laser light uniformly throughout the rod. Ce:YAG phosphor was then coated on the cylindrical rod and a blue color laser beam of 1 W power pumped into it. The laser beam propagates through the entire length of the rod via total internal reflection. This is possible because the laser light is highly directional and coherent with high brightness. To achieve a uniform scattering distribution of blue laser light throughout the length of the cylindrical rod, variations in grinding as well as making a hollow core inside the tube are reported. While propagating through the rod, the blue photons are also scattered out due to the rough scattering surface of the acrylic rod. Some of the blue photons are absorbed by yellow phosphor thus generating yellow color photons and the remaining blue photons are mixed with the yellow light generating white light. Such an extended light source acts as a conventional tubelight of 30 cm length. Due to this extended light source, the illumination is uniform and produces no glare as compared to high brightness laser-based point sources as well as LED-based white light sources. Since the phosphor is coated on the outside of the acrylic rod and laser power is distributed uniformly, the burning of phosphor is completely avoided. The light source was characterized by measuring Commission International de l’Eclairage coordinates and correlated color temperature. This kind of light source is highly useful for general purpose illumination.
Structural Insights into Neonicotinoids and N-Unsubstituted Metabolites on Human nAChRs by Molecular Docking, Dynamics Simulations, and Calcium Imaging

Neonicotinoid pesticides were initially designed in order to achieve species selectivity on insect nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs). However, concerns arose when agonistic effects were also detected in human cells expressing nAChRs. In the context of next-generation risk assessments (NGRAs), new approach methods (NAMs) should replace animal testing where appropriate. Herein, we present a combination of in silico and in vitro methodologies that are used to investigate the potentially toxic effects of neonicotinoids and nicotinoid metabolites on human neurons. First, an ensemble docking study was conducted on the nAChR isoforms α7 and α3β4 to assess potential crucial molecular initiating event (MIE) interactions. Representative docking poses were further refined using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and binding energy calculations using implicit solvent models. Finally, calcium imaging on LUHMES neurons confirmed a key event (KE) downstream of the MIE. This method was also used to confirm the predicted agonistic effect of the metabolite descyano-thiacloprid (DCNT).