Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analysis of the Influence of IL-6 and the Activation of the Jak/Stat3 Pathway in Fibromyalgia

Background: Fibromyalgia is a medical condition that affects a small percentage of the population, with no known effective treatment. There is evidence to suggest that inflammation is a key factor in the nerve sensitization that characterizes the disorder. Therefore, this paper concentrates on the role of IL-6 in fibromyalgia and the related pain-like symptoms. Methods: This work aimed to evaluate Sprague–Dawley rats, which were injected for three consecutive days with 1 mg/kg of reserpine; IL-6-R Ab was intraperitoneally injected at 1.5 mg/kg seven days after the first reserpine injection. Behavioral analyses were conducted at the beginning of the experiment and at seven and twenty-one days from the first reserpine injection. At this timepoint, the animals were sacrificed, and tissues were collected for molecular and histological analysis. Results: Our data showed the analgesic effect of IL-6-R-Ab administration on mechanical allodynia and thermal hyperalgesia. Additionally, the reserpine + IL-6-R-Ab group showed a reduced expression of the pain-related mediators cFOS and NFG and reduced levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6) and chemokines (Cxcl5, Cxcl10 and Cx3cl1). From the molecular point of view, the IL-6-R-Ab administration reduced the gp130 phosphorylation and the activation of the Jak/STAT3 pathway. Additionally, the IL-6-R Ab reduced the activation of neuroinflammatory cells. Conclusions: Our study showed that IL-6 plays a crucial role in fibromyalgia by triggering the Jak/STAT3 pathway, leading to an increase in chemokine levels and activating glial cells.
Electrospun nanofibres in drug delivery: advances in controlled release strategies

Emerging drug-delivery systems demand a controlled or programmable or sustained release of drug molecules to improve therapeutic efficacy and patient compliance. Such systems have been heavily investigated as they offer safe, accurate, and quality treatment for numerous diseases. Amongst newly developed drug-delivery systems, electrospun nanofibres have emerged as promising drug excipients and are coming up as promising biomaterials. The inimitable characteristics of electrospun nanofibres in terms of their high surface-to-volume ratio, high porosity, easy drug encapsulation, and programmable release make them an astounding drug-delivery vehicle.
H-functions and mixing in violent relaxation

On donne un critere simple permettant de determiner si une fonction de distribution donnee est plus melangee qu'une autre. On utilise ce critere pour montrer qu'une galaxie ayant subi une relaxation violente ne ressemble aux galaxies elliptiques observees que si l'etat initial est froid ou a grumeaux
Spectral unmixing algorithm for distributed endmembers with applications to biomedical imaging

Spectral unmixing algorithms tend to make the simplifying assumptions that each type of material in a spectral library may be represented by a single reference spectrum and that the mixing process is linear. While these assumptions are convenient in that they allow techniques of linear algebra to be used, they lack realism as each material type in a spectral image will in general emit a distribution of spectra while the mixing itself need not be linear. We describe a 'common sense' spectral unmixing algorithm for the general case where endmembers are described by arbitrary D-dimensional probability distribution and the mixing can be non-linear. As an application we outline an unsupervised procedure for deriving the fractional material content of every pixel in an image and identifying anomalies given no a priori knowledge. Accurate endmember distribution are obtained by first masking out impure pixels using locally normalized Sobel and Laplacian filters and then performing single-link hierarchical clustering on the pure pixels which remain. The most probable endmember decomposition for a given target spectrum is found by selecting an appropriate set of endmembers based on the target's immediate neighborhood, and performing a constrained maximum likelihood search over the space of fractional abundances. We also explain how the procedure may be applied to subpixel and anomaly detection. To illustrate our ideas the techniques described are applied to biomedical images throughout.
Modified gas-kinetic scheme for shock structures in argon

The gas-kinetic scheme (GKS) is a finite-volume method in which the fluxes are constructed from the single particle velocity distribution function f. The distribution function f is obtained from the linearised Boltzmann equation and is retained only to the Navier-Stokes order in terms of the Chapman-Enskog expansion. Higher order non-equilibrium effects are included in a variable local particle collision time depending on local gradients of the hydrodynamic variables up to second order. The fluxes so constructed possess the non-equilibrium information beyond the linear constitutive relations and Fourier law. The modified gas-kinetic scheme with a local particle collision time λ* depending on the gradients of hydrodynamic variables is used to compute shock structures in argon for Mach numbers between 1.2 and 25.0. We validate our results with existing numerical and experimental ones. Our results show that the modified gas-kinetic scheme is effective and efficient for shock structure calculations.
Stabilizing robot force control through low pass filtering with low cut off frequency

Addressing the problem of dynamic instability in robot force control, the authors reveal that for an arbitrary linear time invariant process which is open loop stable, closed loop stability of proportional feedback control can be guaranteed by adding low pass filtering with a sufficiently low cutoff frequency in the loop, even if the control is implemented in continuous time or discrete time. As a consequence, the dynamic instabilities caused either by flexibility or insufficient sampling rate in robot force control can all be eliminated through simple low pass filtering. The analysis also shows that the filtering does not lead to slow response. <<ETX>>
Boundary Layers on Sobolev–Besov Spaces and Poisson's Equation for the Laplacian in Lipschitz Domains

We study inhomogeneous boundary value problems for the Laplacian in arbitrary Lipschitz domains with data in Sobolev–Besov spaces. As such, this is a natural continuation of work in [Jerison and Kenig,J. Funct. Anal. (1995), 16–219] where the inhomogeneous Dirichlet problem is treated via harmonic measure techniques. The novelty of our approach resides in the systematic use of boundary integral methods. In this regard, the key results are establishing the invertibility of the classical layer potential operators on scales of Sobolev–Besov spaces on Lipschitz boundaries for optimal ranges of indices. Applications toLp-based Helmholtz type decompositions of vector fields in Lipschitz domains are also presented.
Characterizing Topographic Influences of Bushfire Severity Using Machine Learning Models: A Case Study in a Hilly Terrain of Victoria, Australia

Topography plays a significant role in determining bushfire severity over a hilly landscape. However, complex interrelationships between topographic variables and bushfire severity are difficult to quantify using traditional statistical methods. More recently, different machine learning (ML) models are becoming popular in characterizing complex relationships between different environmental variables. Yet, few studies have specifically evaluated the suitability of ML models in predictive bushfire severity analysis. Hence, the aim of this research is twofold. First, to determine suitable ML models by assessing their performances in bushfire severity predictions using remote sensing data analytics, and second to identify and investigate topographic variables influencing bushfire severity. The results showed that random forest (RF) and gradient boosting (GB) models had their distinct advantages in predictive modeling of bushfire severity. RF model showed higher precision (86% to 100%) than GB (59% to 72%) while predicting low, moderate, and high severity classes. Whereas GB model demonstrated better recall, i.e., completeness of positive predictions (56% to 75%) than RF (49% to 61%) for those classes. Closer investigations on topographic characteristics showed a varying relationship of severity patterns across different morphological landform classes. Landforms having lower slope curvatures or with unchanging slopes were more prone to severe burning than those landforms with higher slope curvatures. Our results provide insights into how topography influences potential bushfire severity risks and recommends purpose-specific choice of ML models.
Overexpanding coronal mass ejections at high heliographic latitudes: Observations and simulations

Ulysses observations reveal that most coronal mass ejections (CMEs) observed in the solar wind far from the Sun at high heliographic latitudes have large radial widths and are still expanding as they pass the spacecraft. CME radial widths ranging between 0.5 and 2.5 AU have been observed at heliocentric distances between 1.4 and 4.6 AU and at latitudes greater than 22{degree}. A CME may expand simply because it is ejected from the Sun with a leading edge speed that is greater than its trailing edge speed. Rarefaction waves produced by relative motion between a CME and the surrounding wind also can cause a CME to expand. Finally, a CME may expand because it is ejected into the wind with an internal pressure that is greater than that of the surrounding wind. In the latter case, which we have called {open_quotes}overexpansion,{close_quotes} the expansion tends to drive compressive waves into the surrounding solar wind; these waves commonly steepen into shocks at large distances from the Sun. The relative importance of these various expansion processes differs from event to event depending upon initial conditions within the CME and the surrounding wind. Using Ulysses observations and a simple one-dimensional, gasdynamic code, we have exploredmore » how initial conditions affect the radial evolution of solar wind disturbances associated with overexpanding CMEs. We find good qualitative agreement between the results of our simulations and Ulysses observations of such disturbances. {copyright} 1998 American Geophysical Union« less
Using a Role-Based Approach to Develop a Comprehensive Typology of Follower Characteristics and Behaviors

Although numerous typologies, taxonomies, characteristics, and behaviors of followers have been proposed, there has been little systematic work to integrate these efforts. Guided by literature on follower role theory and expectations for those in follower roles, we propose a theoretical descriptive typology of follower characteristics and behaviors from the perspective of how leaders view followers within their role(s). Specifically, we constructed our typological model based on the three core tenets of follower role theory: (1) active versus passive characteristics and behaviors, (2) self-directed versus relationship-directed characteristics and behaviors, and (3) stability-focused versus change-focused characteristics and behaviors demonstrated in response to organizational constraints. We then conducted a systematic review of existing follower typologies, taxonomies, characteristics, and behaviors and synthesized 173 follower concepts from 36 Journal articles and book chapters to build out our typological model of 8 specific types of followers, labeled as follows: Politically strategic followers, independent followers, proactive followers, conforming followers, deviant followers, alienated followers, devoted followers, and submissive followers. This typology has important implications for scholars and practitioners. For scholars, this is the first effort to integrate prior attempts to classify follower in-role characteristics and behaviors, thus providing a useful framework to examine various ways in which followers interact with leaders in organizational frameworks. For practitioners, this typology can be used as a diagnostic tool to determine how to effectively engage subordinates.
Energy Expenditure Estimation From Respiratory Magnetometer Plethysmography: A Comparison Study

Physical activity (PA) quantification by estimating energy expenditure (EE) is essential to health. Reference methods for EE estimation often involve expensive and cumbersome systems to wear. To address these problems, light-weighted and cost-effective portable devices are developed. Respiratory magnetometer plethysmography (RMP) is among such devices, based on the measurements of thoraco-abdominal distances. The aim of this study was to conduct a comparative study on EE estimation with low to high PA intensity with portable devices including the RMP. Fifteen healthy subjects aged $23.84\pm 4.36$ years were equipped with an accelerometer, a heart rate (HR) monitor, a RMP device and a gas exchange system, while performing 9 sedentary and physical activities: sitting, standing, lying, walking at 4 and 6 km/h, running at 9 and 12 km/h, biking at 90 and 110 W. An artificial neural network (ANN) as well as a support vector regression algorithm were developed using features derived from each sensor separately and jointly. We compared also three validation approaches for the ANN model: leave one out subject, 10 fold cross-validation, and subject-specific. Results showed that 1. for portable devices the RMP provided better EE estimation compared to accelerometer and HR monitor alone; 2. combining the RMP and HR data further improved the EE estimation performances; and 3. the RMP device was also reliable in EE estimation for various PA intensities.
Epigenetic and Drug Response Modulation of Epigalocaten-In-3-Gallate in Staphylococcus aureus with Divergent Resistance Phenotypes

Healthcare-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections represent extremely high morbidity and mortality rates worldwide. We aimed to assess the antimicrobial potential and synergistic effect between Epigalocatenin-3-gallate (EGCG) and different antibiotics in S. aureus strains with divergent resistance phenotypes. EGCG exposure effects in epigenetic and drug resistance key modulators were also evaluated. S. aureus strains (n = 32) were isolated from infected patients in a Lisbon hospital. The identification of the S. aureus resistance phenotype was performed through automatized methods. The antibiotic synergistic assay was performed through disk diffusion according to EUCAST guidelines with co-exposure to EGCG (250, 100, 50 and 25 µg/mL). The bacteria’s molecular profile was assessed through FTIR spectroscopy. The transcriptional expression of OrfX, SpdC and WalKR was performed by using qRT-PCR. FTIR-spectroscopy analysis enabled the clear discrimination of MRSA/MSSA strains and the EGCG exposure effect in the bacteria’s molecular profiles. Divergent resistant phenotypes were associated with divergent transcriptional expression of the epigenetic modulator OrfX, particularly in MRSA strains, as well as the key drug response modulators SpdC and WalKR. These results clearly demonstrate that EGCG exposure alters the expression patterns of key epigenetic and drug response genes with associated divergent-resistant profiles, which supports its potential for antimicrobial treatment and/or therapeutic adjuvant against antibiotic-resistant microorganisms.
Extraction of homogeneous turbulent motions in the ionized interstellar medium: application to the NGC 595 nebula

Relatively unexplored in recent years, turbulence in the ionized interstellar medium could allow us to explain peculiar gas motions observed in H ii regions. We present an improved method that allows the extraction of quasi-homogeneous turbulent motions from bidimensional radial velocity maps. This paper is an application to the NGC 595 nebula, a giant H ii region in M33. The use of the Zurflueh filter is re-instated in order to separate ordered motions from turbulent fluctuations in astronomical observations. A statistical approach, based on the application of the autocorrelation and second-order structure functions, is used on the filtered centroid measurements in Hα, [O iii] and [S ii]. Following the work of Brunt & Mac Low, an investigation of the density inhomogeneities in NGC 595 suggests that turbulence in the large nebula could be at least partially supersonic. Compressible shock waves related to stellar winds of massive stars are presented as the main source for stirring up optical gases into high-amplitude turbulent velocity fluctuations. Unfortunately, the transition from a 2D to 3D geometry, required in order to compare observations to existing turbulence models, could not be appropriately accomplished. This is attributed to an important scattering characterizing the supersonic regime in the theoretical results. Using particular conclusions reached in our ongoing work on standard H ii regions in M33, the kinematical disorder induced by turbulent velocities and observed on the plane of the sky is translated into a mean broadening effect along the line of sight for each investigated ion. This confirms that the O++ sphere is largely governed by supersonic turbulence while the same argument remains inconclusive in Hα and [S ii]. The amplitude of the turbulent motions (velocities) seems to decrease with distance from the central star cluster. This provides a reasonable explanation for a well-defined signature in non-thermal linewidths already identified in our first paper on NGC 595.
Photothermolysis of tumor with gold nanoparticles guided by NIR and acoustic thermometries

In the current paper we present preliminary data demonstrating therapeutic efficiency of local laser hyperthermia of mouse tumors with gold nanoparticles. Measuring the tumor temperatures both superficial and inner by means of standard NIR-thermograph and original acoustic thermometer correspondingly we show that the gold nanoparticles increase thermal sensitivity of tumor tissue. Transmission electron microscopy and histopathology of the tumor tissue indicated that the mechanism of apoptotic death of tumor cells is triggered following the laser treatment. 5 days after the treatment tumor growth inhibition was 104 %.
Revisiting social capital and knowledge sharing processes in tertiary education: Vietnamese and Bangladeshi students as target populations

Abstract The current study revisited social capital and knowledge sharing processes in virtual communities among university students. The conceptual framework was developed in the form of a hierarchical component model. Two dimensions of social capital (relational and cognitive) as second-order variables reflected sequencing relationships among social capital, outcome expectations, knowledge sharing, and learning performance. Social capital theory was used in support of the study’s conceptual framework. The target populations were Vietnamese and Bangladeshi students at Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City and Comilla University, respectively. The sample included a total of 465 participants recruited through purposive and quota sampling in the two target populations. We used partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) to estimate the hierarchical component model. Our findings suggest that the cognitive dimension of social capital, and outcome expectations (i.e., personal and community-related) had significantly positive impacts on knowledge sharing behaviour; and subsequently that knowledge sharing behaviour had a significantly positive impact on learning performance. Moreover, a multi-group analysis was conducted to deliver new insights when making comparisons among different sub-samples. The study provides theoretical contributions to the fields of social capital and knowledge sharing through delivering related best practices among university students in virtual communities, and outlines promising directions for further research.
Role of Monomer/Tetramer Equilibrium of Rod Visual Arrestin in the Interaction with Phosphorylated Rhodopsin

The phototransduction cascade in vertebrate rod visual cells is initiated by the photoactivation of rhodopsin, which enables the activation of the visual G protein transducin. It is terminated by the phosphorylation of rhodopsin, followed by the binding of arrestin. Here we measured the solution X-ray scattering of nanodiscs containing rhodopsin in the presence of rod arrestin to directly observe the formation of the rhodopsin/arrestin complex. Although arrestin self-associates to form a tetramer at physiological concentrations, it was found that arrestin binds to phosphorylated and photoactivated rhodopsin at 1:1 stoichiometry. In contrast, no complex formation was observed for unphosphorylated rhodopsin upon photoactivation, even at physiological arrestin concentrations, suggesting that the constitutive activity of rod arrestin is sufficiently low. UV-visible spectroscopy demonstrated that the rate of the formation of the rhodopsin/arrestin complex well correlates with the concentration of arrestin monomer rather than the tetramer. These findings indicate that arrestin monomer, whose concentration is almost constant due to the equilibrium with the tetramer, binds to phosphorylated rhodopsin. The arrestin tetramer would act as a reservoir of monomer to compensate for the large changes in arrestin concentration in rod cells caused by intense light or adaptation.
Systematic Review of the Short-Term versus Long-Term Duration of Antibiotic Management for Neutropenic Fever in Patients with Cancer

Simple Summary Empirical administration of broad-spectrum antibiotics during neutropenia has been shown to reduce mortality from bacterial infections. However, prolonged antibiotic exposure, in particular, promotes the development of antimicrobial resistance and the selection of resistant microorganisms, which are often more difficult to treat, and carry a higher risk of complications. Early antibiotic discontinuation has been proposed in patients with hematologic malignancy who have febrile neutropenia. Several studies have found that shorter duration of antimicrobial therapy have better clinical outcomes and lower the exposure to the broad-spectrum antibiotics, but this raises concerns about their implementation in clinical practice. Furthermore, their safety and efficacy have been questioned. In our study, a systematic review was conducted to compare the short-term and long-term durations of antibiotics for febrile neutropenia for the outcomes of clinical failure, mortality, and bacteremia. Abstract Early antibiotic discontinuation has been proposed in patients with hematologic malignancy with fever of unknown origin during febrile neutropenia (FN). We intended to investigate the safety of early antibiotic discontinuation in FN. Two reviewers independently searched for articles from Embase, CENTRAL, and MEDLINE on 30 September 2022. The selection criteria were randomized control trials (RCTs) comparing short- and long-term durations for FN in cancer patients, and evaluating mortality, clinical failure, and bacteremia. Risk ratios (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. We identified eleven RCTs (comprising 1128 distinct patients with FN) from 1977 to 2022. A low certainty of evidence was observed, and no significant differences in mortality (RR 1.43, 95% CI, 0.81, 2.53, I2 = 0), clinical failure (RR 1.14, 95% CI, 0.86, 1.49, I2 = 25), or bacteremia (RR 1.32, 95% CI, 0.87, 2.01, I2 = 34) were identified, indicating that the efficacy of short-term treatment may not differ statistically from that of long-term treatment. Regarding patients with FN, our findings provide weak conclusions regarding the safety and efficacy of antimicrobial discontinuation prior to neutropenia resolution.