Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Current trends in candidate selection, contraindications, and indications for lung transplantation

Lung transplantation is an established treatment option that can improve quality of life and prolong survival for select patients diagnosed with end-stage lung disease. Given the gaps in organ donation and failures to make effective use of available organs, careful selection of candidates for lung transplant remains one of the most important considerations of the transplant community. Toward this end, we briefly reviewed recent trends in pretransplant evaluation, candidate selection, organ allocation, and organ preservation techniques. Since the latest consensus statement regarding appropriate selection of lung transplant candidates, many advances in the science and practice of lung transplantation have emerged and influenced our perspective of ‘contraindications’ to transplant. These advances have made it increasingly possible to pursue lung transplant in patients with risk factors for decreased survival—namely, older recipient age, increased body mass index, previous chest surgery, poorer nutritional status, and presence of chronic infection, cardiovascular disease, or extrapulmonary comorbid conditions. Therefore, we reviewed the updated evidence demonstrating the prognostic impact of these risk factors in lung transplant recipients. Lastly, we reviewed the salient evidence for current trends in disease-specific indications for lung transplantation, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, cystic fibrosis, emphysema due to alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, and pulmonary arterial hypertension, among other less common end-stage diseases. Overall, lung transplant remains an exciting field with considerable hope for patients as they experience remarkable improvements in quality of life and survival in the modern era.
FEW-GROUP CROSS SECTIONS LIBRARY BY ACTIVE LEARNING WITH SPLINE KERNELS

This work deals with the representation of homogenized few-groups cross sections libraries by machine learning. A Reproducing Kernel Hilbert Space (RKHS) is used for different Pool Active Learning strategies to obtain an optimal support. Specifically a spline kernel is used and results are compared to multi-linear interpolation as used in industry, discussing the reduction of the library size and of the overall performance. A standard PWR fuel assembly provides the use case (OECD-NEA Burn-up Credit Criticality Benchmark [1]).
Effect of the Human Probiotic Bacterium Escherichia coli Nissle (1917) on performance and immune response of Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus

ABSTRACT If a human probiotic is beneficial for fish, its incorporation into diets would be much easier to accept. The present work assessed the effect of human probiotic Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 (EcN) on growth, feed conversion and immune response of Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus. Diets with various EcN concentrations were offered to fish for 8 weeks. The fish were also challenged with pathogenic bacteria to assess whether EcN improved immunity. Dietary EcN did not affect survival and growth. Hematology suggests an effect on the immune system but EcN did not improve survival of challenged tilapia. Accordingly, the immune response was probably targeting the EcN itself. A decrease in respiratory burst was probably caused by the iron chelating systems of EcN, while decrease in liver weight was related to intestinal inflammation and stress caused by the EcN. Tilapia appear not to harbor intestinal Escherichia coli even when surrounding water is replete.
Combining radiotherapy with targeted therapies in non-small cell lung cancer: focus on anti-EGFR, anti-ALK and anti-angiogenic agents

The combination of radiotherapy (RT) with targeted agents in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has been expected to improve the therapeutic ratio and tumor control. The EGFR blockade enhances the antitumor effect of RT. The ALK inhibition elicits anti-proliferative, pro-apoptotic and antiangiogenic effects in ALK-positive NSCLC cell lines, enhanced by the exposure to RT. The antiangiogenic agents normalize pathological tumor vessels, thus decrease tumor cell hypoxia and improve radiosensitivity. To date, however, none of the targeted agents combined with RT has shown proven clinical benefit over standard chemoradiation (CRT) in locally advanced NSCLC. The risk of potential excessive toxicity related to the therapeutic combination of RT and targeted agents cannot be ignored. Well-designed clinical trials may allow development of more effective combination strategies. Another potential application of combined RT and targeted therapies in oncogene-driven NSCLC is metastatic oligoprogressive or oligopersistent disease. The use of RT in oligoprogressive oncogene-driven NSCLC, while continuing first line targeted therapy, can potentially eradicate resistant cell clones and provide survival benefit. Likewise, the consolidation of oligopersistent foci (molecularly resistant to first line targeted therapy) may potentially interfere with the natural course of the disease by avoiding or delaying progression. We discuss here the molecular and radiobiological mechanisms of combining RT and targeted agents, and summarize current clinical experience.
New Record of Macrobrachium lar (Fabricius, 1798) (Crustacea: Decapoda: Palaemonidae) from Al-Hammar Marsh, Southern Iraq

A species of freshwater prawn Macrobrachium was newly recorded from Al-Hammar marsh, Southern Iraq. Morphological features accompanied by 18 S r DNA analyses indicated that the species is Macrobrachum lar. DNA sequences of specimens of this species from the marsh is deposited at the GenBank for DNA as a new global isolate and was published by The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), the European Nucleotide Archive (ENA) and DNA Data Bank of Japan (DDBJ). M. lar inhabit deep sections of streams and brackish water, adults live in freshwater, while juveniles can be found in brackish or saltwater, the total length of M. lar recorded in this study was ranged between 72 and 109 mm for males and between 61 and 93 mm for females.
Neuregulin-1 Promotes Myocardial Angiogenesis in Acute Myocardial Infarction Through Regulating PI3K-AKT-eNOS and VEGF/VEGFR2 Signal Pathways

Background: Myocardial angiogenesis is central to the recovery of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Neuregulin-1 (NRG-1) plays a critical role in cardiac function, although its role in myocardial angiogenesis is still unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of NRG-1 in myocardial angiogenesis in a rat model of AMI, and elucidate the underlying mechanisms. Methods: AMI was induced by a single ligation of left anterior descending coronary artery, followed by intravenous injection of recombinant human NRG-1 or normal saline for 8 consecutive days. The cardiac function indices were measured using the catheter MPA cardiac function analysis system. Histo-pathological changes were observed by HE. Microvessel density (MVD) was measured by CD31 and α-SMA immunostaining. The expression levels of other proteins were assessed by Western blotting. Results: NRG-1 improved cardiac function and alleviated myocardial damage induced by AMI. Compared to the sham-operated group, the capillary density and arteriole density increased after AMI (P<0.05), and were augmented by NRG-1 which also significantly increased the left ventricular function (P<0.05). Furthermore, Compared with sham group, PI3K-AKT-eNOS signaling was decreased significantly (P<0.05) whereas VEGF/ VEGFR2 signaling was significantly increased（P<0.05）in AMI group and both of therm were further upregulated by NRG-1 (P > 0.05). Conclusion: NRG-1 improved cardiac function and promoted myocardial angiogenesis post AMI by up-regulating VEGF and activating the PI3K-Akt-eNOS pathway.
The Relationship Among Trauma, Acculturation, and Mental Health Symptoms in Somali Refugees

More than 100,000 Somali refugees have resettled in the United States, creating a need for additional research about mental health needs and premigration experiences that precede resettlement. The purpose of this study was to learn more about premigration traumatic experiences, the process of acculturation following resettlement, and the relationship between premigration trauma, acculturation, and mental health. Eighty Somali refugees from two mid-sized Midwestern cities participated. It was hypothesized that acculturation would mediate the relationship between premigration trauma and mental health symptoms. The results partially supported this hypothesis, dependent upon the dimension of acculturation included in the path analysis. Unexpected relationships among the various acculturation dimensions in the model (American cultural identity, English language competency, and American cultural competency) occurred with traumatic experiences, mental health symptoms, and time in the United States. We discuss implications and directions for future research, practice, advocacy, and training.
Heat Flux Constraints From Variance Spectra of Pluto and Charon Using Limb Profile Topography

We derive a topography data set from images of Pluto and Charon that contain the body edge (i.e., limb profiles) which will help in understanding the comparative history of the binary system. We use the profiles to derive topographic variance spectra and find that while the variance spectrum of Pluto fits a single power law, Charon's spectrum displays a clear breakpoint at ∼150 km wavelength. Assuming the breakpoint is a result of topographic flexure, we find that Charon's elastic thickness must have been 20 ± 10 km during topography formation. A lack of a breakpoint for Pluto sets a minimum elastic thickness for Pluto of 60 km. We use these elastic thickness estimates to calculate a maximum heat flux of ∼13 m Wm−2 on Pluto during and after topography formation. On Charon, however, we find that the heat flux during topography formation was 35−15+44 m Wm−2. This range of values far exceeds the likely radiogenic heat production and is consistent with either heat released following the Charon‐forming impact event or (more likely) tidal heating during Charon's early history.
Body scrub containing Virgin Coconut Oil, coffee grounds (Coffea arabica Linn) and carbon active coconut shell (Activated carbon Cocos nucifera L) as a moisturiser and a skin brightener

Introduction: Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO) contains a lot of medium chain fatty acids. VCO combined with coffee grounds (Coffea arabica Linn) and activated carbon (Activated carbon Cocos nucifera L) has the potential to form a preparation that can moisturise and brighten the skin. The purpose of this study was to make cosmetic cleansing preparations containing three natural ingredients. Methods: This study evaluated the organoleptic body scrub preparations, homogeneity, dispensability and pH for three different formulations. In vivo test for irritation (oedema and erythema) was carried out on albino rabbits (n = 3) for each treatment group. Clinical irritation testing was performed on the forearm of healthy volunteers, 17 45 years of age with no history of allergies (n = 30). Determination of skin moisture content and melanin index was carried out as a measure of effectiveness. Results: Organoleptic and homogeneity tests showed that preparations had dark black colour, the distinctive smell of coffee, it was homogeneous, spread ability was in the range of 4 cm with the pH at a safe pH for the skin. Irritation results also did not show any oedema and erythema in in vivo testing. In clinical testing no irritation occurred by testing the body scrub samples. Body scrubs routinely used by volunteers for 2 months increased moisture on the skin as well as brightness (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Body scrub creams containing VCO, coffee grounds and activated carbon are preparations that have the potential to be cosmetic cleansers.
Carry-Out Interference Optimization in WCRT Analysis for Global Fixed-Priority Multiprocessor Scheduling

With the development of multiprocessor technology, multiple processors are increasingly used in embedded real-time systems. The parallelism of multiple processors makes the worst-case response time (WCRT) analysis of multiprocessor real-time systems complicated. In the widely used global fixed-priority (GFP) scheduling, some effective approximate WCRT analysis methods have been proposed. These methods mainly focus on optimizing overall procedure or carry-in workload and assume that the whole carry-out workload of a high-priority task cause interference on the analyzed job. However, through our careful observation of specific examples, the partial carry-out workload of a high-priority task and the analyzed job may be executed in parallel. In other words, the part of parallel carry-out workload of a high-priority task could not cause interference on the analyzed job. In this article, we propose an improved WCRT analysis method by optimizing carry-out interference estimation for GFP scheduling, resulting in a more accurate upper bound of WCRT than the recent advanced methods. Experimental results show that our proposed method is superior than the recent advanced methods in terms of the acceptance rate of the system.
Enhancement of thermal stability for perovskite solar cells through cesium doping

Organic–inorganic hybrid perovskite solar cells are found to be sensitive to moisture, oxygen, UV light, light soaking, heat, electric field, etc. Among all these factors, thermal stability is one of the most challenging concerns affecting PSCs stability, since it is hard to avoid a temperature increase for solar cells during operation. In this work, we systematically studied the thermal stability of CsxMA1−xPbI3 film and solar cells. The introduction of Cs into the precursor solution would inevitably accelerate the film deposition rate, resulting in decreased grain size and more Cs atoms in the film than in the precursors. The study on thermal stability illustrated that perovskite degradation was highly related to the amount of oxygen in the air. A small amount of Cs doping (x = 0.09) was beneficial for better thermal stability. In addition, Cs doping also enhanced the device performance. The improvement of short-circuit currents came from the increased film thickness, which was due to the faster deposition rate for Cs doped samples. Besides, Cs doping was vital to suppress the trap states in the film since the trap states were related to halide deficiency during thermal annealing. At last, the final performance of Cs0.09MA0. 91PbI3 reached 18.1%, with a JSC of 22.57 mA cm−2, VOC of 1.06 V, FF of 0.76.
Crop Yield Estimation at Field Scales by Assimilating Time Series of Sentinel-2 Data Into a Modified CASA-WOFOST Coupled Model

Rapidly and accurately estimating yields at field scales are very significant. Each type of currently yield estimation model has been well studied, yet all of them have certain limitations. Based on a coupled Carnegie-Ames-Stanford approach (CASA)-World Food Studies (WOFOST) model and time series Sentinel-2 imagery, we achieved daily crop simulations and crop yield estimations at two adjacent farms in China. The results indicated that the coupled model inherited the high computing speed of light use efficiency (LUE) models and the mechanistic advantages of crop growth models. The ${R}^{2}$ of yield simulation was 0.64 for the CASA model, 0.84 for the coupled model, and 0.86 for the WOFOST model, and the root mean square error (RMSE) values were 948.32, 792.11, and 623.64 kg/ha, respectively. The operating times of the CASA model, CASA-WOFOST coupled model, and WOFOST model over the growing season of wheat were 37 min, 48 min, and 1 day 5 h 7 min, respectively. Compared with the WOFOST model, the coupled model provided a much faster running speed in yield simulations and a similar accuracy; therefore, the proposed model can be applied for assessments at large farms with high-spatial-resolution images to obtain accurate yield simulations. Compared with the CASA model, the coupled model provided higher simulation accuracy in mountainous areas and regions of uneven terrain. It can be concluded that the proposed coupled CASA-WOFOST model can improve the precision, reliability, and stability of crop yield estimation; provide theoretical support for crop yield estimation at field scales; and promote the development of precision agriculture.
Monitoring the Implementation of Exponential Organizations through the Assessment of Their Project Portfolio: Case Study

Many organizations are currently face significant challenges in terms of sustainability and technological development. Achieving sustainability in business activities, interweaving social, economic, and environmental perspectives, is one of the most challenging goals for companies. On the other hand, as technology advances exponentially, organizations grow in a linear way. This fact causes a gap which increases over the time. Models and tools have been developed to try to solve both problems separately; on one side to make the organization grow exponentially, and on the other side to incorporate sustainability into the business model. However, they do not allow enough time to know if the actions carried out really achieve their aim. The model presented provides a solution to both problems by monitoring the evolution of organizations towards an exponential structure through the analysis of the project portfolio. The main objective is to know how the orientation of ongoing projects has changed during the last period, in order to position them in terms of achieving the desired sustainability-oriented transformation. With the model designed, it is possible to know if the actions developed by the company are really heading towards a sustainable model and exponential growth. With the aim of validating the model, it has been applied in an innovation organization. With this model, the level of exponential progress of the organization was determined, as well as the goals that have been attained best and worst so far.
Distribution Power Loss Mitigation of Parallel-Connected Distributed Energy Resources in Low-Voltage DC Microgrids Using a Lagrange Multiplier-Based Adaptive Droop Control

This article presents a Lagrange multiplier-based adaptive droop control to mitigate distribution power loss of parallel-connected distributed energy resource (DER) systems in dc microgrids. The distribution power loss comprising line loss and converter loss can be modeled as a quadratic function of the output currents of the DER systems, which can be optimized by the tertiary-layer Lagrange multiplier method to obtain the optimal output current references for the secondary-layer adaptive droop control. The output currents are compensated by the adaptive droop control to provide output voltage references for the primary-layer local dual-loop control, which is a conventional local control scheme for the regulations of grid-connected dc–dc converters. Both simulation and experimental results validate that the proposed control strategy can reduce the distribution power loss of parallel-connected DER systems in 48 V dc microgrids as compared to the conventional control strategy by only optimizing the line loss in different cases.
The Impact of Heat-Moisture Treatment on Physicochemical Properties and Retrogradation Behavior of Sweet Potato Starch

Abstract Starch isolated from sweet potato was subjected to different levels of HMT at 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35 %. HMT showed negligible effect on the swelling power of starch. The swelling power was decreased with the increasing of the initial moisture content of the starch. The apparent amylose contents of HMT starches decreased from 24.11 % to 20.56 % with the initial moisture content increasing from 15 % to 35 %. The pasting temperatures enhanced from 73.1 to 81°C (p < 0.05) with the rapidly digestible starch (RDS) contents decreasing from 86.97 to 70.24 % (p < 0.05). Avrami equation analysis showed that HMT reduced the rate of starch retrogradation. The Avrami exponents of native and HMT-35 starches were 0.70 and 0.98 with the recrystallization rates 0.22 and 0.10, respectively. HMT could restrain the starch retrogradation and these results could provide theoretical guidance on sweet potato starch modification.
Highly Monodisperse Fe3O4@Au Superparamagnetic Nanoparticles as Reproducible Platform for Genosensing Genetically Modified Organisms

Several routes have been developed to prepare magnetic core–shell Fe3O4@Au nanoparticles (MNPs). However, only highly monodisperse MNPs are suitable for analytical applications. Herein, we describe the detection of GMO through the use of gold-coated MNPs with fine-tuned properties as platforms. The MNPs were prepared through a procedure that involves the preparation of Fe3O4 cores by thermal decomposition and their coating through reduction of a gold precursor. Different Fe3O4:Au precursor molar ratios (1:1; 1:4; 1:7) were tested on the Fe3O4 encapsulation. Monodisperse quasi-spherical core–shell Fe3O4@Au were obtained for the 1:4 and 1:7 ratios, in contrast, the 1:1 ratio did not lead to complete encapsulation of Fe3O4 cores. Therefore, the Fe3O4@Au obtained from higher Fe3O4:HAuCl4 ratios were tested as platforms for an electrochemical genoassay to detect MON810. The best performance was achieved with the Fe3O4@Au prepared from 1:4 ratio (10.0 ± 1.7 nm). A DNA probe covalently linked to a carboxylated s.
Model characterization and mechanical property analysis of bimetallic functionally graded turbine discs

In advanced propulsive systems, a turbine disc bears vast mechanical and thermal loads under its working conditions of high-temperature gradients and high rotational velocity.The complex working conditions of aero-engine turbine discs place stringent performance requirements on the materials used. With dual organizations and superior composite performances, bimetallic functionally graded turbine discs have become a focus in the research of high thrust-to-weight ratio aero-engines. To study the mechanical properties of new bimetallic functionally graded materials under service conditions, we propose a volumetric fraction expression and adjustable composition distribution parameters that are suitable for simulating the composition distribution of bimetallic functionally graded turbine discs. On this basis, a characterization model for functionally graded materials based on the analysis of the internal thermodynamic properties of bimetallic turbine discs is established. The thermodynamic properties and fatigue performances of functionally graded materials under service conditions are analysed. Mechanical property simulations of functionally graded turbine discs are performed using different composition distribution parameters, and reasonable ranges are determined for the various composition distribution parameters. The results show that bimetallic functionally graded turbine discs are suitable for high-stress-gradient and high-temperature-gradient environments with lower weights than those of current GH4169 alloy turbine discs.