Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Meldonium Inhibits Cell Motility and Wound-Healing in Trabecular Meshwork Cells and Scleral Fibroblasts: Possible Applications in Glaucoma

Meldonium (MID) is a synthetic drug designed to decrease the availability of L-carnitine—a main player in mitochondrial energy generation—thus modulating the cell pathways of energy metabolism. Its clinical effects are mostly evident in blood vessels during ischemic events, when the hyperproduction of endogenous carnitine enhances cell metabolic activities, leading to increased oxidative stress and apoptosis. MID has shown vaso-protective effects in model systems of endothelial dysfunction induced by high glucose or by hypertension. By stimulating the endothelial nitric oxide synthetase (eNOS) via PI3 and Akt kinase, it has shown beneficial effects on the microcirculation and blood perfusion. Elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) and endothelial dysfunction are major risk factors for glaucoma development and progression, and IOP remains the main target for its pharmacological treatment. IOP is maintained through the filtration efficiency of the trabecular meshwork (TM), a porous tissue derived from the neuroectoderm. Therefore, given the effects of MID on blood vessels and endothelial cells, we investigated the effects of the topical instillation of MID eye drops on the IOP of normotensive rats and on the cell metabolism and motility of human TM cells in vitro. Results show a significant dose-dependent decrease in the IOP upon topic treatment and a decrease in TM cell motility in the wound-healing assay, correlating with an enhanced expression of vinculin localized in focal adhesion plaques. Motility inhibition was also evident on scleral fibroblasts in vitro. These results may encourage a further exploration of MID eye drops in glaucoma treatment.
Circularly Polarized Annular Ring Microstrip Antenna for High Gain Application

ABSTRACT Design, simulation and measurement of high gain annular ring microstrip antenna with L-shaped strip for circular polarization is presented. The simulated and experimental results are obtained using Ansoft’s commercially available High Frequency Structure Simulator (HFSS, Brookfield WI) software and the Agilen (Santa Clara, CA) vector network analyzer (N5230A.PNA-L), respectively. Parametric study of input characteristics of the proposed antenna is carried out using modal expansion cavity model and circuit theory concept. Theoretical, simulated, and measured results show good accord between each other. For the TM12 mode, measured results illustrated an impedance bandwidth and axial ratio bandwidth of 28.20 and 10.4%, respectively. With high gain, low profile, good radiation pattern, and simple structure, it can find potential industrial application in X-band to communicate between peripherals with each other.
Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor, Nivolumab, Combined with Chemotherapy Improved the Survival of Unresectable Advanced and Metastatic Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma: A Real-World Experience

Patients with advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) have a poor prognosis when treated with standard chemotherapy. Programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression in esophageal cancer has been associated with poor survival and more advanced stage. Immune checkpoint inhibitors, such as PD-1 inhibitors, showed benefits in advanced esophageal cancer in clinical trials. We analyzed the prognosis of patients with unresectable esophageal SCC who received nivolumab with chemotherapy, dual immunotherapy (nivolumab and ipilimumab), or chemotherapy with or without radiotherapy. Patients who received nivolumab with chemotherapy had a better overall response rate (ORR) (72% vs. 66.67%, p = 0.038) and longer overall survival (OS) (median OS: 609 days vs. 392 days, p = 0.04) than those who received chemotherapy with or without radiotherapy. In patients receiving nivolumab with chemotherapy, the duration of the treatment response was similar regardless of the treatment line they received. According to clinical parameters, liver and distant lymph nodes metastasis showed a trend of negative and positive impacts, respectively, on treatment response in the whole cohort and in the immunotherapy-containing regimen cohort. Nivolumab add-on treatment showed less gastrointestinal and hematological adverse effects, compare with chemotherapy. Here, we showed that nivolumab combined with chemotherapy is a better choice for patients with unresectable esophageal SCC.
Stress Relaxation Behaviour Modeling in Rigid Polyurethane (PU) Elastomeric Materials

Polyurethane (PU) has been used in a variety of industries during the past few years due to its exceptional qualities, including strong mechanical strength, good abrasion resistance, toughness, low-temperature flexibility, etc. More specifically, PU is easily “tailored” to satisfy particular requirements. There is a lot of potential for its use in broader applications due to this structure–property link. Ordinary polyurethane items cannot satisfy people’s increased demands for comfort, quality, and novelty as living standards rise. The development of functional polyurethane has recently received tremendous commercial and academic attention as a result. In this study, the rheological behavior of a polyurethane elastomer of the PUR (rigid polyurethane) type was examined. The study’s specific goal was to examine stress relaxation for various bands of specified strains. We also suggested the use of a modified Kelvin–Voigt model to describe the stress relaxation process from the perspective of the author. For the purpose of verification, materials with two different Shore hardness ratings—80 and 90 ShA, respectively—were chosen. The outcomes made it possible to positively validate the suggested description in a variety of deformations ranging from 50% to 100%.
Intelligent Eye-Controlled Electric Wheelchair Based on Estimating Visual Intentions Using One-Dimensional Convolutional Neural Network and Long Short-Term Memory

When an electric wheelchair is operated using gaze motion, eye movements such as checking the environment and observing objects are also incorrectly recognized as input operations. This phenomenon is called the “Midas touch problem”, and classifying visual intentions is extremely important. In this paper, we develop a deep learning model that estimates the user’s visual intention in real time and an electric wheelchair control system that combines intention estimation and the gaze dwell time method. The proposed model consists of a 1DCNN-LSTM that estimates visual intention from feature vectors of 10 variables, such as eye movement, head movement, and distance to the fixation point. The evaluation experiments classifying four types of visual intentions show that the proposed model has the highest accuracy compared to other models. In addition, the results of the driving experiments of the electric wheelchair implementing the proposed model show that the user’s efforts to operate the wheelchair are reduced and that the operability of the wheelchair is improved compared to the traditional method. From these results, we concluded that visual intentions could be more accurately estimated by learning time series patterns from eye and head movement data.
Palliative Role of Zamzam Water against Cyclosporine-Induced Nephrotoxicity through Modulating Autophagy and Apoptosis Crosstalk

Cyclosporine (CsA) is considered one of the main components of treatment protocols for organ transplantation owing to its immunosuppressive effect. However, its use is very restricted due to its nephrotoxic effect. ZW is an alkaline fluid rich in various trace elements and has a great ability to stimulate antioxidant processes. This study aimed to investigate the possible mitigating effect of ZW on CsA-induced nephrotoxicity and its underlying mechanisms. Forty rats were allocated into four groups (n = 10): a control group, ZW group, cyclosporine A group (injected subcutaneously (SC) with CsA (20 mg/kg/day)), and cyclosporine A+ Zamzam water group (administered CsA (SC) and ZW as their only drinking water (100 mL/cage/day) for 21 days). Exposure to CsA significantly (p < 0.001) increased the serum creatinine level, lipid peroxidation marker level (malondialdehyde; MDA), and the expression of apoptotic markers procaspase-8, caspase-8, caspase- 9, calpain, cytochrome c, caspas-3, P62, and mTOR in renal tissues. Meanwhile, it markedly decreased (p< 0.001) the autophagic markers (AMPK, ULK-I, ATag5, LC3, and Beclin-1), antiapoptotic Bcl-2, and antioxidant enzymes. Moreover, the administration of CsA caused histological alterations in renal tissues. ZW significantly (p < 0.001) reversed all the changes caused by CsA and conclusively achieved a positive outcome in restraining CsA-induced nephrotoxicity, as indicated by the restoration of the histological architecture, improvement of renal function, inhibition of apoptosis, and enhancement of autophagy via the AMPK/mTOR pathway.
Predictive thermo-mechanical models for the quantification of electro-mechanical interactions during production and field-life

Many modern appliances rely on a significant number of high-performance-mixed-signal ICs. Circuit level trimming is often needed for these analog circuits. The piezoresistive effect can introduce undesired or unexpected shifts in the electrical performance after packaging. This effect can be studied by means of simulation using a combination of thermo-mechanical and analog simulation.In this study packaged polysilicon resistor test structures are simulated and measured and the results are compared against each other. A good agreement is found over the temperature range studied. Shifts during reflow and thermal cycling are studied and the effect of delamination on the shifts is included.
Effective masking levels for bone-conduction auditory steady-state response thresholds in infants

To obtain ear-specific bone-conduction thresholds, masking of the non-test ear is often required. Masking is not currently utilized in the pediatric diagnostic test battery, partly because effective masking levels (EMLs) for bone-conducted stimuli in young infants are not known. The purpose of this study is to determine EMLs for auditory steady-state responses (ASSRs) elicited by bone-conducted stimuli in a group of normal-hearing infants under six-months of age and adults. Using a two-channel ASSR recording, single 1000and 4000-Hz bone-conducted AM/FM stimuli were masked out with 1 and 4 kHz of narrowband noise presented binaurally. Taking into consideration maturational differences in real-ear-to-coupler differences (RECDs) and bone-conduction sensitivity (Small & Stapells, 2008a), it was predicted that infants would require more and less masking at 1000 and 4000 Hz, respectively. As expected, infants have higher and lower EMLs at 1000 and 4000 Hz, respectively, compared to adults. When RECDs are accounted for, infants have even higher EMLs at 1000 Hz and similar EMLs at 4000 Hz compared to adults. This is consistent with the frequency-dependent differences in boneconduction sensitivity for infants. When differences in bone-conduction sensitivity are accounted for, infants have lower EMLs at both frequencies. When RECDs and boneconduction sensitivity are taken into account, infants have lower EMLs at 1000 Hz and similar EMLs at 4000 Hz. Based on ipsilateral/contralateral asymmetries in masked amplitudes, adults were estimated to have inter-aural attenuations of at least 0-5 and 0-10 dB at 1000 and 4000 Hz, respectively. In contrast, infants were estimated to have inter-aural attenuations of at least 10 dB at 1000 Hz and minimum inter-aural attenuations of greater than 35 dB at 4000 Hz. Similar to behvaioural investigations, the amplitude findings of this study suggest processing efficiency may be immature at 1000 Hz, but not at 4000 Hz. Based on the findings of this study, the following preliminary masking levels for bone-conduction stimuli are recommended: (i) 1000 Hz: 48 and 58 dB SPL at 15 and 25 dB HL, respectively, and (ii) 4000 Hz: 40 and 45 dB SPL at 25 and 35 dB HL, respectively.
Incorporating nuclear reactions into SEU prediction

Space radiation can cause temporary and permanent damage to electronic components residing in outer space. The awareness of radiation environments in space and the knowledge of radiation effects is important for reliable design of space electronics used in, for example, satellites and spacecrafts. Radiation-induced errors in the stored information of memory elements are called single-event upsets (SEU) and the prediction of SEUs is an important aspect of reliable space system design. The early, but still widely used, SEU rate prediction methods originating from the 1970s rely on the direct ionization, also called linear energy transfer (LET), of charged particles neglecting any other processes, such as nuclear reactions. Relying only on the LET means that similar particles always cause similar effect in the device. In reality, this is not true and the energy loss may vary significantly, especially in the case of a nuclear reaction, and this may lead to underestimation of the SEU rate and consequently cause the system to malfunction. SEU rate prediction can also be made by utilizing physics-based particle transport simulators, such as the Geant4, where all physical processes can be included. For example, the significance of nuclear reactions in SEUs can be analyzed with the help of Geant4. However, the accuracy of such tools must be known in order to make reliable SEU rate predictions. In order to test the accuracy of the nuclear reaction description in Geant4, a time-of-flight (TOF) experiment was conducted in the RADEF facility. In these experiments, heavy ion beam was accelerated and guided onto heavy ion targets and the TOF and kinetic energy of the outcoming particles were measured. The same scenario was simulated by using Geant4 and the results for heavy fragment production were compared to those obtained from the experiments. The simulations show clear underestimation, by 1–2 orders of magnitude, in the heavy fragment production cross-sections. In order to improve the underlying code responsible for the nuclear physics, research on the low energy heavy ion reactions is required. Despite the discrepancy between the Geant4 simulations and the experiments, the utilization of a particle transport simulator can improve the reliability of SEU rate prediction. In addition to LET, including other physical processes in SEU rate prediction makes it possible to assess situations which could not be analyzed with the traditional, LET-based, methods. One example of such a situation is a case where a signicifant amount of SEUs which are due to heavy fragments after nuclear reactions in the component.
Potential for Therapeutic-Loaded Exosomes to Ameliorate the Pathogenic Effects of α-Synuclein in Parkinson’s Disease

Pathogenic forms of α-synuclein (α-syn) are transferred to and from neurons, astrocytes, and microglia, which spread α-syn pathology in the olfactory bulb and the gut and then throughout the Parkinson’s disease (PD) brain and exacerbate neurodegenerative processes. Here, we review attempts to minimize or ameliorate the pathogenic effects of α-syn or deliver therapeutic cargo into the brain. Exosomes (EXs) have several important advantages as carriers of therapeutic agents including an ability to readily cross the blood–brain barrier, the potential for targeted delivery of therapeutic agents, and immune resistance. Diverse cargo can be loaded via various methods, which are reviewed herein, into EXs and delivered into the brain. Genetic modification of EX-producing cells or EXs and chemical modification of EX have emerged as powerful approaches for the targeted delivery of therapeutic agents to treat PD. Thus, EXs hold great promise for the development of next-generation therapeutics for the treatment of PD.
Contextual antecedents for team learning in professional service firms

Purpose The purpose of this study is to identify contextual antecedents for team learning in professional service firms. Design/methodology/approach Structural equation modelling was applied to establish reliability and validity and to measure the size of relationships. Evidence was drawn from an empirical sample of 210 consultants in the Nordic professional service industry. Findings The findings of this study reveal and strongly support that two important contextual antecedent factors that facilitate for team learning in professional service firms are market orientation and leader support for collaborative learning practices. The effect of leader support on team learning is also mediated by a market orientation. Originality/value There is a paucity of knowledge on contextual factors that contribute to team learning. This study provides insight of theoretical and practical value.
Membrane Adaptations and Cellular Responses of Sulfolobus acidocaldarius to the Allylamine Terbinafine

Cellular membranes are essential for compartmentalization, maintenance of permeability, and fluidity in all three domains of life. Archaea belong to the third domain of life and have a distinct phospholipid composition. Membrane lipids of archaea are ether-linked molecules, specifically bilayer-forming dialkyl glycerol diethers (DGDs) and monolayer-forming glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs). The antifungal allylamine terbinafine has been proposed as an inhibitor of GDGT biosynthesis in archaea based on radiolabel incorporation studies. The exact target(s) and mechanism of action of terbinafine in archaea remain elusive. Sulfolobus acidocaldarius is a strictly aerobic crenarchaeon thriving in a thermoacidophilic environment, and its membrane is dominated by GDGTs. Here, we comprehensively analyzed the lipidome and transcriptome of S. acidocaldarius in the presence of terbinafine. Depletion of GDGTs and the accompanying accumulation of DGDs upon treatment with terbinafine were growth phase-dependent. Additionally, a major shift in the saturation of caldariellaquinones was observed, which resulted in the accumulation of unsaturated molecules. Transcriptomic data indicated that terbinafine has a multitude of effects, including significant differential expression of genes in the respiratory complex, motility, cell envelope, fatty acid metabolism, and GDGT cyclization. Combined, these findings suggest that the response of S. acidocaldarius to terbinafine inhibition involves respiratory stress and the differential expression of genes involved in isoprenoid biosynthesis and saturation.
Detecting the Neuraminidase R294K Mutation in Avian Influenza A (H7N9) Virus Using Reverse Transcription Droplet Digital PCR Method

The R294K mutation in neuraminidase (NA) causes resistance to oseltamivir in the avian influenza virus H7N9. Reverse transcription droplet digital polymerase chain reaction (RT-dd PCR) is a novel technique for detecting single-nucleotide polymorphisms. This study aimed to develop an RT-dd PCR method for detecting the R294K mutation in H7N9. Primers and dual probes were designed using the H7N9 NA gene and the annealing temperature was optimized at 58.0 °C. The sensitivity of our RT-dd PCR method was not significantly different from that of RT-qPCR (p = 0.625), but it could specifically detect R294 and 294K in H7N9. Among 89 clinical samples, 2 showed the R294K mutation. These two strains were evaluated using a neuraminidase inhibition test, which revealed that their sensitivity to oseltamivir was greatly reduced. The sensitivity and specificity of RT-dd PCR were similar to those of RT-qPCR and its accuracy was comparable to that of NGS. The RT-dd PCR method had the advantages of absolute quantitation, eliminating the need for a calibration standard curve, and being simpler in both experimental operation and result interpretation than NGS. Therefore, this RT-dd PCR method can be used to quantitatively detect the R294K mutation in H7N9.
Neuropilin‐1 (NRP1): A new marker for pathogenic autoreactive T‐helper cells in autoimmune disease

Inflammation in the central nervous system (CNS) leads to local damage causing peripheral disability. Adaptive immune responses may lead the way in autoimmune neuroinflammatory disease, such as multiple sclerosis (MS), as indicated by large genome-wide association studies, histologic analysis, and the efficacy of drugs targeting lymphocytes. 1 Research from our group and others indicates a previously underappreciated key role for T-helper (Th) cells in progressive MS and other neurodegenerative diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). 2,3 Such Th cells initiate neuroinflammation after becoming inappropriately activated against self-antigen, leading to immune responses against self-tissues. Rapid identification of aberrant Th cells would
Students’ online evaluation of teaching and system continuance usage intention: new directions from a multidisciplinary perspective

Abstract Student evaluation of teaching (SET), a major tool for assessing teaching quality in higher education is a crucial research topic. Among 13 studies published about online peer SET in Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education over the past two decades, ease of use, clarity and helpfulness of SET information were repeatedly tested. This study introduces theory from the information systems field to give a multi-disciplinary view in testing how students’ perceptions may affect their intention to continue to use an online peer SET system. While past studies focused on ratemyprofessor.com, offering results from USA, Canada and UK, this study aimed to provide Asian insight by using data from Taiwan. Based on 364 student members of the selected website, findings indicated that disconfirmation of SET information significantly affected perceived usefulness, trust and satisfaction, ultimately shaping continuance usage intention of the online peer SET system. Practical implications for online peer SET website managers and institutional SET managers are discussed.
Traffic data interpolation method of non-detection road link based on Kriging interpolation

From the diffused characteristic of traffic flow and prior knowledge,Kriging interpolation was adopted to interpolate the traffic data of non-detection road link.Based on the spatial correlation of traffic data,a spatial model of traffic data was built.The spatial distance was adopted as metric to estimate the unsampled traffic data of road link. The road link travel speeds of Nanchang's road network were used as experiment data,which were collected from urban floating car system,and the method was verified.Experiment result shows that the standard errors of speed interpolations are always lower than 8 km·h-1 in different urban traffic time periods.Downtown zone and lake zone have different road network structures,and their mean absolute errors of speed interpolations are 2-5 km·h-1.So the method has good temporal and regional portabilities.3 tabs,7 figs,13 refs.
Dedicated to Wilhelm Niethammer on the occasion of his 60th birthday.

It is well known that generalized conjugate gradient (cg) methods, fullling a mini- mization property in the whole spanned Krylov space, cannot be formulated with short recurrences for nonsymmetric system matrices. Here, Krylov subspace methods are proposed that do fulll a minimization property and can be implemented as short recurrence method at the same time. These properties are achieved by a generalization of the cg concept. The convergence and the geometric behavior of these methods are investigated. Practical applications show that rst realizations of these methods are already competitive with commonly used techniques such as smoothed biconjugate gradients or QMR. Better results seem to be possible by further improvements of the techniques. However, the purpose of this paper is not to propagate a special method, but to stimulate research and development of new iterative linear solvers.