Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nanoparticle-Based Combination Therapy for Melanoma

Melanoma is a cutaneous carcinoma, and its incidence is rapidly increasing with every year. The treatment options for melanoma have been comprehensively studied. Conventional treatment methods (e.g., radiotherapy, chemotherapy and photodynamic therapy) with surgical removal inevitably cause serious complications; moreover, resistance is common. Nanoparticles (NPs) combined with conventional methods are new and promising options to treat melanoma, and many combinations have been achieving good success. Due to their physical and biological features, NPs can help target intended melanoma cells more efficiently with less damage. This creates new hope for a better treatment strategy for melanoma with minimum damage and maximum efficacy.
Blocking of SGLT2 to Eliminate NADPH-Induced Oxidative Stress in Lenses of Animals with Fructose-Induced Diabetes Mellitus

Chronic hyperglycemia triggers an abnormal rise in reactive oxygen species (ROS) that leads to blindness in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) and cataracts. In this study, the effects of dapagliflozin, metformin and resveratrol on ROS production were investigated in lens epithelial cells (LECs) of animals with fructose-induced DM. LECs were isolated from patients without DM, or with DM devoid of diabetic retinopathy. Animals were treated with 10% fructose for 8 weeks to induce DM, which was verified by monitoring blood pressure and serum parameters. For drug treatments, 1.2 mg/day of dapagliflozin was given for 2 weeks, 500 mg/kg/day of metformin was given, and 10 mg/kg/day of resveratrol was given. Dihydroethidium was used to stain endogenous O2˙− production in vivo of the LECs. Superoxide production was expressed in the cataract of DM, or patients without DM. Sodium–glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2), glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1), GLUT5, the reduced form of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase subunit p47/p67-phox, NOX4 and RAGE were significantly increased in LECs with DM. In addition, the dapagliflozin treatment reduced GLUT5, p47/p67-phox, NADPH oxidase 4 (NOX4) and receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) expressions. On the contrary, metformin or resveratrol inhibited p47-phox, GLUT5, and SGLT2 expressions, but not nuclear factor erythroid 2–related factor 2 (NRF2). In summary, dapagliflozin, metformin or resveratrol down-regulated p47-phox expression through SGLT2 inactivation and ROS reduction. These important findings imply that SGLT2 can be blocked to ameliorate oxidative stress in the cataracts of DM patients.
Organizational Behavior Theories Work in Apple Inc

: Apple’s high production costs, the rise of other Chinese technology brands and the change of Chinese consumption view have led to the unfavourable sales of Apple products. We suggest cutting the budgets of other departments to reduce production costs to solve the problem of reduced sales. Apple has well-organized management and leadership training programs, while focusing on employee welfare. However, the company may not pay enough attention to the staff training program of change. We propose that apple can provide employees with more intrinsic motivation, so that employees can learn to be flexible according to market demand. Apple adheres to the culture of minimalism and individualism, which brings extreme individualism and stubbornness that are not in line with the Chinese market. At the same time, Cook has even changed some of Apple’s initial principle culture. These problems can be improved by integrating the characteristics of collectivistic culture and referring to the opinions of customers and experts to upgrade the system. Philanthropy and environmental protection are part of Apple’s corporate strategy, which includes the maximization of Apple's interests behind those social responsibility .
Sensing Avian Influenza Viruses Using Terahertz Metamaterial Reflector

We numerically demonstrate a highly sensitive detection of three subtypes of Avian Influenza (AI) viruses, namely, H1N1, H5N2, and H9N2 viruses, using terahertz (THz) biosensing metamaterial (MM) that composed of an H-shaped graphene resonator located on a semiconductor film. Three subtypes of AI viruses with different complex refractive indexes (CRIs) were detected at the THz frequency regime. The optical properties of the viruses in the THz frequency range were first measured, and the real and imaginary parts of their CRI are also plotted to investigate the sensing/detecting applications. We observed the resonance frequency shift of the THz MM following the deposition of the viruses on the surface of the proposed design. As an RI sensing application, we show that, with placing different sensing materials in vicinity of the nano sensor/detector device, the reflected resonance frequency changes, which, in turn, leads to measuring the sensitivity of the nano sensor/detector to detect the AI viruses. We investigate the detection of three subtypes of AI viruses with different protein concentrations and different RI values. We observed the resonance-frequency shift of the THz nano bio-sensor/detector following the RI changing of the detected viruses. The resonance shift is higher for the H9N2 virus, which has a relatively large amount of real part of the RI. Thus, the frequency shift decreases with lower amount of the RI real part. Additionally, we show that the magnitude of the reflection spectrum will be enhanced in larger amount of imaginary parts of the RI. This results from a combination of size-related factors, leading to field enhancement accompanying strong field localization.
Chemical Composition of Lipophilic Bark Extracts from Pinus pinaster and Pinus pinea Cultivated in Portugal

The chemical composition of lipophilic bark extracts from Pinus pinaster and Pinus pinea cultivated in Portugal was evaluated using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Diterpenic resin acids were found to be the main components of these lipophilic extracts, ranging from 0.96 g kg−1 dw in P. pinea bark to 2.35 g kg−1 dw in P. pinaster bark. In particular, dehydroabietic acid (DHAA) is the major constituent of both P. pinea and P. pinaster lipophilic fractions, accounting for 0.45 g kg−1 dw and 0.95 g kg−1 dw, respectively. Interestingly, many oxidized compounds were identified in the studied lipophilic extracts, including DHAA-oxidized derivatives (7-oxo-DHAA, 7α/β-hydroxy-DHAA, and 15-hydroxy-DHAA, among others) and also terpin (an oxidized monoterpene). These compounds are not naturally occurring compounds, and their formation might occur by the exposure of the bark to light and oxygen from the air, and the action of micro-organisms. Some of these compounds have not been previously reported as lipophilic constituents of the bark of the referred pine species. Other constituents, such as aromatic compounds, fatty acids, fatty alcohols, and sterols, are also present in the studied extracts. These results can represent an opportunity to valorize P. pinaster and P. pinea by-products as a primary source of the bioactive resin acids that are integrated into the current uses of these species.
Generalized Network Model for Energization of Grounding Electrodes

The main difference between the application of the method of moments (MoM) to grounding system and antenna analysis is the shunt energization by the injection of current. There is no consensus on the modeling of such energization, which is also crucial for the definition of quantities that characterize grounding system time and frequency behavior. The contributions of this paper are as follows: The presentation of a simple and unified approach to model all important cases of energization based on a generalized network representation of the grounding electrodes; the demonstration that the mesh current method, whose matrix equation is identical to that of the MoM, leads to straightforward procedures in the analysis of all cases of energization; and the approach enables the computation of uniquely defined impedances to ground and transfer impedances at arbitrary points at the grounding electrodes (required for N-port representation) by simple matrix manipulations. The proposed approach is general since it allows for a rigorous full-wave and an approximate quasi-static modeling, depending on the choice of Green's functions.
An Efficient Approach for Separating Essential Oil and Polysaccharides Simultaneously from Fresh Leaves of Guajava by Microwave-Mediated Hydrodistillation with Lithium Salts and Antibacterial Activity of Essential Oil

The essential oils and polysaccharides from guava leaves have important functions. In the process of microwave extraction of plant essential oils and polysaccharides, pretreatment with lithium salts solution is helpful to increase the extraction rate. The experiment was conducted using a single factor method. Results were optimized by principal component analysis and response surface optimization. The optimal conditions were: LiCl dosage 45 μmol, microwave time 40 min, liquid-solid ratio 10, homogenization time 4.2 min, liquid-material ratio 10, and microwave irradiation power 700 W. The highest yield of essential oil and polysaccharide were 10.27 ± 0.58 mL/kg dry weight (DW) and 50.31 ± 1.88 g/kg·DW, respectively. Three verification experiments showed that the extraction rate of the microwave method was higher than that of the traditional heating method. In addition, the bacteriostatic zones reached the maximum 23.7 ± 0.11 mm when the concentration was 40 μL/mL, and the above results have practical significance.
Reflecting on the Plantationocene: the political economy of sugarcane plantations in Guangxi, China

This paper re ﬂ ects on the concept of the Plantationocene through an analysis of sugarcane plantations in Guangxi province, China. It argues that although these plantations are owned and operated by local villagers, they are de facto controlled by corporations, and subject to state intervention through a ‘ zoning scheme ’ . They are constructed and operated according to the same logic as other plantations all over the world, namely, the logic of extraction based on cheap land and labor . By demonstrating that plantations are not necessarily large-scale and do not always entail the alienation of land and labor, this paper hopes to empirically broaden the concept of the Plantationocene and to highlight the extractive nature of and the power relations around plantations.
Access to and Utilization of Wild Species for Food and Nutrition Security in Teso and Acholi Sub-regions of Uganda

Wild foods significantly contribute to the global food basket, and food and nutrition security. Worldwide, wild food species form an integral part of local diets and their widespread assimilation into local food culture suggests an untapped potential to ensure easy availability and access to micronutrients for sustainable food systems. However, wild species are often overlooked within nutrition-related policies, and their levels of availability remain unknown. This paper, therefore, focuses on understanding the changes in availability, access and utilization of wild animal and plant species in Teso and Acholi sub-regions of Uganda. A four-cell agrobiodiversity mapping protocol was applied through focus group discussions to establish the different wild animal and plant species that have played and still play a role within local communities' livelihoods in the two sub-regions. Findings showed that at the time of the study (2017), wild foods were considered to be important contributors to food and nutrition security, although the number of species reported to be available was slightly lower [91 (Acholi) and 103 (Teso)], compared to 20 years ago, where around 109 edible wild species were reportedly available in both the Acholi and Teso sub-regions. Reasons for the decline included (i) increased cultivations, and (ii) natural habitat destruction due to settlements and changes in land ownership. In the latter case, individual owners have further fragmented their land and do not allow villagers to freely participate in hunting and gathering. Lastly, rebel unrest increased feelings of insecurity, and thus prompted a decline in hunting and gathering. The noted presence and contribution of wild foods in Teso and Acholi calls for collective efforts to increase access to knowledge on the value of these wild foods for not only food and nutrition but also for their potential contribution to the social and cultural lives of the people.
Robust adaptive neural control for a class of perturbed nonlinear systems with unmodeled dynamics and output disturbances

For a nonlinear system with unmodeled dynamics and output disturbances, an adaptive neural network based control strategy is designed. For the unknown output interference, this article introduces a new module between the system output and the tracking signal for the first time. By constructing a new state, system becomes a new system without unknown output interference. In order to alleviate the major influence caused by the system dynamic disturbance and unknown time delay, appropriate Lyapunov–Krasovskii functions, and backstepping technology are employed. In designing some adaptive methods, the unmodeled dynamics, disturbances, and unknown time‐varying virtual coefficients are processed. Unknown function is approximated by neural network. All signals are semi‐global uniform ultimate boundedness. Simulation effectively verifies the control strategy.
Temperature–humidity index and reproductive performance of dairy cattle farms in Lima, Peru

Background: Heat stress results in a mild reduction in milk production, while long-term heat stress exposure can severely affect the productive and reproductive performance in dairy cattle. Aim: To quantify the relationship between reproductive performance and temperature–humidity index in dairy cattle farms in Lima, Peru. Methods: Monthly service, conception, and pregnancy rates were measured from four dairy farms in four different Lima localities as reproductive performance indicators, along with an index of heat stress and maximum daily temperature–humidity index (max THI), during a 3-year period. In order to establish the relationship between the max THI and the reproductive performance indicators, a multiple regression analysis was carried out, which considered farm and year as explicative variables. Results: The regression model showed an adjusted R2 of 33.5% with an estimated standard error of 5.75% and was highly significant (p < 0.001). The regression coefficients for max THI for the variables pregnancy rate and conception rate were significant (p < 0.0001). With every increasing unit of max THI, a 0.84% drop in the pregnancy rate and a 1.74% drop in the conception rate were estimated by the model. The regression coefficient of max THI for the service rate variable was not significant. Conclusion: It was concluded that the increase in max THI significantly affected the reproductive performance of intensive dairy cattle farms in Lima.
Can the Internet of Things Persuade Me? An Investigation Into Power Dynamics in Human-Internet of Things Interaction

The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) has revolutionized user experience with objects. Things can perform social roles and convey persuasive messages to users, posing an important research question for communication and human-computer interaction researchers: What are the factors and underlying mechanisms that shape persuasive effects of IoT? Bridging the reactance theory and the computers are social actors paradigm, this study focuses on how power dynamics are shaped in human-IoT interactions and its implications on persuasion. Specifically, the study examines the effects of the social role assigned to the IoT mobile app agent and the scope of IoT controlled by the app on users’ perceived power and subsequent persuasive outcomes. The results reveal that when the mobile IoT app is for controlling a smart home, the servant (vs. companion) agent elicits greater perceived power over IoT for users, leading to less threat-to-freedom and better persuasive outcomes, including attitude, intention, and actual behavior. However, such a difference is not observed when the mobile app is for controlling a single smart device (i.e., smart fridge). The study findings offer valuable implications for communication practitioners interested in using IoT as a persuasive tool.
Changes in the Expression of Smooth Muscle Cell–Related Genes in Human Dermal Sheath Cup Cells Associated with the Treatment Outcome of Autologous Cell–Based Therapy for Male and Female Pattern Hair Loss

In a clinical study of autologous cell–based therapy using dermal sheath cup (DSC) cells, the treatment of hair loss showed improvements. However, the outcomes were variable. Here, correlations between marker gene expression in DSC cells and treatment outcomes were assessed to predict therapeutic efficacy. Overall, 32 DSC cell lines were used to evaluate correlations between marker gene expression and treatment outcomes. Correlations between vascular pericyte and preadipocyte marker expression and treatment outcomes were inconsistent. As smooth muscle cell markers, MYOCD correlated negatively with treatment outcomes and SRF consistently demonstrated an inverse correlation. Additionally, CALD1 correlated negatively and ACTA2 correlated inversely with treatment outcomes. DSC cell lines were divided into good and moderate/poor responders to further investigate the correlations. SRF and CALD1 were lower in a good responder compared with a moderate responder. Next, DSC cells were differentiated toward dermal papilla cells. Dermal papilla markers SOX2 and LEF1 before differentiation had moderate positive and inverse correlations with the treatment outcome, respectively. SOX2 after differentiation more consistently demonstrated a positive correlation. Significant downregulation of smooth muscle–related genes was also observed after differentiation. These findings revealed putative markers for preclinical evaluation of DSC cells to improve hair loss.
Immediate effects of static stretching and post isometric relaxation on hamstring flexibility among sedentary young adults: a pilot study

Background: ‘Hamstrings’ is a group of muscles in the posterior compartment of the thigh crossing both hip and knee joints. Hamstring muscles are frequently subjected to reduced flexibility, especially among young adults 18-25 years old. Hamstring tightness is found to cause several conditions affecting the human body. Stretching has immediate effects on muscle stiffness, such that, positive effects can be obtained within few seconds or minutes after a stretching session.Methods: A total of 32 Undergraduates who satisfied the inclusion criteria were recruited for the pilot study. The subjects needed to have hamstring tightness measured by active knee extension (AKE) to be included to the study. The subjects with a history of recent injury or surgery to the spine or lower limbs, those who involved in sports activity at competitive level and obese subjects were excluded. The subjects were allocated randomly by 1:1 ratio to the Static Stretching (SS) and Post Isometric Relaxation (PIR) groups.Results: The data of both the groups was normally distributed. The baseline values of AKE for both the groups (SS=46.68±5.31; PIR=49.03±6.53) were matched and there was no significant difference before stretching. Independent sample T-Test was used to compare the means of the two groups post stretching. There was a significant difference in the mean of the AKE values of the two groups. The improvement was higher in the PIR group (SS= 42.62±4.78; PIR=36.28±6.51), such that the range of flexion was lesser in the PIR group indicating a greater degree of knee extension.Conclusions: Immediate effects from single bout with few repetitions of Post Isometric Relaxation stretching were more effective in reducing hamstring tightness among sedentary young adults compared to static stretching.
Clustering Passenger Trip Data for the Potential Passenger Investigation and Line Design of Customized Commuter Bus

Customized commuter bus (CCB) is a kind of innovative public transit service launched starting in 2013 in many cities all over the world. It is designed to meet the direct travel demands of commuters who have similar origin and destination locations during their long-distance commuting trips at peak hours. To identify the origin and destination distribution of potential CCB passengers, this paper proposes a pair wise density-based spatial clustering algorithm. With the proposed algorithm, the method to extract the potential CCB passengers from regular bus passengers based on the bus smart card data is introduced. Meanwhile, the discovered hot locations of potential CCB passengers can be regarded as the candidate locations of CCB stops and can be used to set candidate CCB lines. Finally, the demand survey data collected from the actual registered CCB passengers are applied to verify the accuracy and feasibility of the clustering results obtained by the proposed algorithm. The related findings could guide bus operators to design CCB lines and allocate vehicle capacities on different lines.
Challenges and opportunities for low noise electric aircraft

A new class of electric aircraft is being developed to transport people and goods as a part of the urban and regional transportation infrastructure. To gain public acceptance of these operations, these aircraft need to be much quieter than conventional airplanes and helicopters. This article seeks to review and summarize the aeroacoustic research relevant to this new category of aircraft. First, a brief review of the history of electric aircraft is provided, with an emphasis on how these aircraft differ from conventional aircraft. Next, the physics of rotor noise generation are reviewed, and the noise sources most likely to be of concern for electric aircraft are highlighted. These are divided into deterministic and nondeterministic sources of noise. Deterministic noise is expected to be dominated by the unsteady loading noise caused by the aerodynamic interactions between components. Nondeterministic noise will be generated by the interaction of the rotor or propeller blades with turbulence from ingested wakes, the atmosphere, and self-generated in the boundary layer. The literature for these noise sources is reviewed with a focus on applicability to electric aircraft. Challenges faced by the aeroacoustician in understanding the noise generation of electric aircraft are then identified, as well as the new opportunities for the prediction and reduction of electric aircraft noise that may be enabled by advances in computational aeroacoustics, flight simulation, and autonomy.