Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Quantifying the effects of management on ecosystem services

Dit proefschrift onderzoekt de effecten van landbeheer op ecosysteemdiensten. Landbeheer betreft de menselijke activiteiten die landgebruik ondersteunen. Het geheel werd toegepast in drie case studies, varierend van landschap- tot bioomniveau: in Nationaal Landschap 'Het Groene Woud' in Noord Brabant (Hoofdstuk 3), mangrovesystemen in Java, Indonesie (Hoofdstuk 4), en voor ‘rangelands’ op globale schaal (Hoofdstuk 5).
Markers for Immunological Resilience: Effects of Moderate- and High-Intensity Endurance Exercise on the Kinetic Response of Leukocyte Subsets

The kinetic responses of leukocyte subsets to exercise and their recovery may serve as indicators of immunological resilience. These time-dependent responses were investigated in healthy young men using a bicycle ergometer test. Fifteen recreationally active male cyclists (20–35 years, VO2max 56.9 ± 3.9 mL kg−1 min−1) performed four exercise protocols with a 1 h duration in a cross-over design: at 70% of the maximal workload (Wmax) in a hydrated and a mildly dehydrated state, at 50% of the Wmax, and intermittently at 85/55% of the Wmax in blocks of 2 min. The numbers of lymphocytes, monocytes, neutrophils, eosinophils, basophils, thrombocytes, and NK cells (CD16 and CD56) were measured at different time points up to 24 h post-exercise. The total leukocyte counts and those of most subsets increased from the start of the exercise, peaking after 30–60 min of exercising. The neutrophil numbers, however, peaked 3 h post-exercise. The CD16brightCD56dim NK cells showed a 1.5-fold increase compared to the CD16brightCD56bright NK cells. Other than for MCP-1, no significant differences were found in the serum cytokine levels. Our results show that exercise intensity is reflected in different time-dependent changes in leukocyte subsets, which supports the concept that the exchange of immune cells between peripheral blood and tissues contributes to enhanced immune surveillance during strenuous exercise.
TherapyBot: a chatbot for mental well-being using transformers

The field of natural language processing (NLP) and conversational artificial intelligence (AI) has one ingenious application in the psychological space. Depression and anxiety are two major issues that the world is facing, with close to 41% of adults reporting these symptoms in the United States alone, as of December 2020. It has also been observed that most of the people are not open about it. As a result, it is critical to address this issue on a global scale. Developed countries reportedly have 9 psychiatrists per 100,000 people. One way to mitigate this is the use of chatbots. We propose a transformer-based methodology to build a therapy bot that has been trained on a combination of open-domain conversations from a publicly available dataset and therapist-client conversations from a self-constructed dataset. This end-to-end data-driven model shows quality performance in conversations and adds value by aiding in the case of mental health issues. The proposed architecture is proven to be effective in its usability in the psychological space for both single-turn and multi-turn dialogue. The performance of the proposed system shows loss is 0.29 and perplexity is 1.34, both metrics keeps gradually decreasing and it means an improvement in performance of chatbots system.
Population trends of songbirds in western North America

I used U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Breeding Bird Survey data to examine long-term population trends of western land birds. Trend data were broken down by long­ distance neotropical migrants, winter residents, habitat groups, taxonomic groups, and physiographic regions. There were no statistical differences between migrants and residents, nor among winter or breeding habitat groups for long-distance migrants. Maps of migrant species' trends by physiographic region show five species with consistent trends across all regions, possibly indicative of changes on wintering grounds. Thirty-seven species of migrants display a mosaic of trends, which suggests response to local conditions on breeding ranges. In summary, there is no evidence that western neotropical migrants are declining as a group. Further investigation is in order for 18 resident and migrant species significantly declining across the Western Region, and 16 species locally declining in the Southern Pacific Rainforest physiographic region.
Probabilistic Flood Inundation Forecasting Using Rating Curve Libraries

One approach for performing uncertainty assessment in flood inundation modeling is to use an ensemble of models with different conceptualizations, parameters, and initial and boundary conditions that capture the factors contributing to uncertainty. However, the high computational expense of many hydraulic models renders their use impractical for ensemble forecasting. To address this challenge, we developed a rating curve library method for flood inundation forecasting. This method involves pre‐running a hydraulic model using multiple inflows and extracting rating curves, which prescribe a relation between streamflow and stage at various cross sections along a river reach. For a given streamflow, flood stage at each cross section is interpolated from the pre‐computed rating curve library to delineate flood inundation depths and extents at a lower computational cost. In this article, we describe the workflow for our rating curve library method and the Rating Curve based Automatic Flood Forecasting (RCAFF) software that automates this workflow. We also investigate the feasibility of using this method to transform ensemble streamflow forecasts into local, probabilistic flood inundation delineations for the Onion and Shoal Creeks in Austin, Texas. While our results show water surface elevations from RCAFF are comparable to those from the hydraulic models, the ensemble streamflow forecasts used as inputs to RCAFF are the largest source of uncertainty in predicting observed floods.
Bacterial Diversity in Old Hydrocarbon Polluted Sediments of Ecuadorian Amazon River Basins

The Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest stands out as one of the world’s most biodiverse regions, yet faces significant threats due to oil extraction activities dating back to the 1970s in the northeastern provinces. This research investigates the environmental and societal consequences of prolonged petroleum exploitation and oil spills in Ecuador’s Amazon. Conducted in June 2015, the study involved a comprehensive analysis of freshwater sediment samples from 24 locations in the Rio Aguarico and Napo basins. Parameters such as water and air temperature, conductivity, soil pH, and hydrocarbon concentrations were examined. Total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) concentrations ranged from 9.4 to 847.4 mg kg−1, with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) levels varying from 10.15 to 711.1 mg kg−1. The pristane/phytane ratio indicated historic hydrocarbon pollution in 8 of the 15 chemically analyzed sediments. Using non-culturable techniques (Illumina), bacterial analyses identified over 350 ASV, with prominent families including Comamonadaceae, Chitinophagaceae, Anaeromyxobacteraceae, Sphingomonadaceae, and Xanthobacteraceae. Bacterial diversity, assessed in eight samples, exhibited a positive correlation with PAH concentrations. The study provides insights into how microbial communities respond to varying levels of hydrocarbon pollution, shedding light on the enduring impact of oil exploitation in the Amazonian region. Its objective is to deepen our understanding of the environmental and human well-being in the affected area, underscoring the pressing need for remedial actions in the face of ongoing ecological challenges.
In Dogged Pursuit: A Reassessment of the Dog's Domestication and Social Incorporation

The dog is the earliest known animal domesticate and is the most intensely studied animal outside of humans. Archaeology has provided varied evidence for its long prehistory, while other fields­ethology, genetics, paleontology, and others­have also greatly contributed to our understanding of this canid's evolution and domestication. In the Philippines and Southeast Asia, the presence of dogs is said to be associated with the onset and development of Neolithic cultures. A recent find of a dog's remains in Ille Cave , Palawan Island provides an avenue in which to study and reanalyze this fascinating animal's prehistory in this part of the world.
RIFD-Net: A Robust Image Forgery Detection Network

Image splicing forensic technologies reveal manipulations that add or remove objects from images. However, the performance of existing splicing forensic methods is fatally degraded when detecting noisy images, as they often ignore the influence of image noise. In this paper, we propose a new forgery detection network called the robust image forgery detection network (RIFD-Net) based on convolutional neural networks (CNNs). With the help of multi-classifiers and a denoising network, RIFD-Net can effectively filter out multiple types of image noise before forgery detection. To determine the extent of tampering, we follow the Siamese network to calculate the similarity between two image patches, without prior knowledge of forensic traces. Results from extensive experiments on benchmark datasets indicate that our method outperforms existing image splicing forensic methods, achieving a substantial improvement of over 20% in the mean average precision (mAP) for forgery detection. Furthermore, RIFD-Net accurately locates splice areas, even in the presence of noise.
The Association between CYP2C19 Genetic Polymorphism and Prognosis in Patients Receiving Endovascular Therapy

Background: Potentially substantial impacts on the prognosis have been observed in individuals undergoing endovascular treatment due to cytochrome P450 2c19 (CYP2C19) polymorphism. In an attempt to improve prognosis and lower the recurrence rate, this study investigated the CYP2C19 polymorphism in acute ischemic stroke patients. Materials and Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on 292 patients with cerebral infarction who had acute endovascular recanalization at the Department of Neurology of Chongqing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine between May 2017 and 2019. The patients were categorized into rapid-, medium-, and slow-metabolism groups based on CYP2C19 gene polymorphism, and their prognosis was monitored. In addition, the prognosis of 188 patients selectively receiving carotid artery stenting at a selected time was also observed. Results: Among the 292 cerebral infarction cases receiving acute endovascular recanalization, the patients in the CYP2C19 rapid-metabolism group regularly took clopidogrel and aspirin combined with antiplatelet therapy and suffered from reoccurrence of apoplexy and cerebral hemorrhage; the 90-day good prognosis had a statistical difference (P < 0.05, prognostic assessment includes hospitalization and 6 months after discharge) and the other adverse events had no statistical difference (including mortality). The 188 patients selectively receiving carotid artery stenting had a recurrence of apoplexy, cerebral hemorrhage, and restenosis rate with a statistical difference (P < 0.05), and the other adverse events had no statistical difference. Conclusions: In conclusion, the findings of the current study indicate that irrespective of whether patients are undergoing selective carotid artery stenting or acute endovascular recanalization, those with rapid CYP2C19 metabolism have a significantly lower likelihood of experiencing adverse prognostic events compared to those with intermediate and slow metabolism. Furthermore, this group also has a more favorable prognosis than the other two groups.
Tropospheric delay modelling for the EGNOS augmentation system

Tropospheric delay is one of the deleterious factors limiting the accuracy of the precise Global Navigation Satellite Systems positioning. The value of delay depends on the path through which a signal has to follow in the subsurface layers of the atmosphere. Tropospheric delay models are developed to overcome this limitation. Among them one can find UNB, TropGrid or IGGtrop models. In this paper, we adjusted the UNB3m model to the actual meteorological parameters from Europe. A new model was called UNBe.eu covering the EGNOS augmentation system area. The use of meteorological observations helped us to decrease the bias for more than 70% of reference radio sounding locations. Still, 30% of reference sites depicted a lack of any improvements of the ZTD estimation with regard to the newly established model. Therefore, this study puts forward a need for a deeper investigation of the discussed issue.
Integrating Patient Safety Discussions with First-Year Doctor of Pharmacy Students in a Skills Lab Course

The patient safety problem has been well established for over 20 years in the United States (U.S.), and there is a recognized focus on ensuring that health professions’ trainees receive explicit education in various patient safety principles and practices. While the literature provides examples of different approaches towards patient safety education for pharmacy students, there are few that focus on first-year pharmacy students. This educational observational study describes the implementation and evaluation of two 20 min patient safety learning activities integrated into a required pharmacy skills lab course. The first learning activity utilized a mock prescription and patient safety checklist that had students identify patient safety problems on the prescription, followed by a group discussion of implications for the patient. The second learning activity used images of common safety problems with a facilitated group discussion to have students identify systems-based solutions to those problems. Our study’s findings revealed that students were able to identify basic patient safety problems and safety solutions, although some additional foundational information may be needed, particularly for students who may not have pharmacy work experience. Additional research is needed to continue building a literature base on patient safety education approaches, particularly for first-year pharmacy students.
Molecular Atlas of HER2+ Breast Cancer Cells Treated with Endogenous Ligands: Temporal Insights into Mechanisms of Trastuzumab Resistance

Simple Summary A major hurdle in trastuzumab therapy remains acquired resistance within some HER2+ patients. Mechanisms contributing to, and as a consequence of, resistance remain elusive. Here, we investigate the spatiotemporal change in cell states within two cell lines—trastuzumab-sensitive (BT474) and -resistant (BT474R) HER2+ cancer cells in the presence of two endogenous ligands, epidermal growth factor (EGF) and neuregulin1/heregulin (HRG). We measure the HER2 receptor organization dynamics, signaling state, chromatin accessibility, and bioenergetics in both cell lines. Our measurements reveal significant alterations in a ligand-dependent manner within both cell lines. To the best of our knowledge, this study represents a novel attempt at systematically characterizing the effect of ligands on HER2 overexpressing cells, emphasizing their pivotal role. It provides critical insights into the dynamics of trastuzumab resistance in these cancers. Abstract Trastuzumab therapy in HER2+ breast cancer patients has mixed success owing to acquired resistance to therapy. A detailed understanding of downstream molecular cascades resulting from trastuzumab resistance is yet to emerge. In this study, we investigate the cellular mechanisms underlying acquired resistance using trastuzumab-sensitive and -resistant cancer cells (BT474 and BT474R) treated with endogenous ligands EGF and HRG across time. We probe early receptor organization through microscopy and signaling events through multiomics measurements and assess the bioenergetic state through mitochondrial measurements. Integrative analyses of our measurements reveal significant alterations in EGF-treated BT474 HER2 membrane dynamics and robust downstream activation of PI3K/AKT/mTORC1 signaling. EGF-treated BT474R shows a sustained interferon-independent activation of the IRF1/STAT1 cascade, potentially contributing to trastuzumab resistance. Both cell lines exhibit temporally divergent metabolic demands and HIF1A-mediated stress responses. BT474R demonstrates inherently increased mitochondrial activity. HRG treatment in BT474R leads to a pronounced reduction in AR expression, affecting downstream lipid metabolism with implications for treatment response. Our results provide novel insights into mechanistic changes underlying ligand treatment in BT474 and BT474R and emphasize the pivotal role of endogenous ligands. These results can serve as a framework for furthering the understanding of trastuzumab resistance, with therapeutic implications for women with acquired resistance.
Phytochrome Mediates Light Signal for Cortical Microtubule Randomization that Enables Root Hair Formation in Lettuce Seedlings

Summary When hydroponically cultured lettuce seedlings are transferred from a medium at pH 6.0 to another one at pH 4.0, the formation of root hairs takes place. Previous studies have revealed that this low-pH-induced root hair formation requires a phytochrome-mediated light signal and randomization of the existing transverse cortical microtubule (CMT) arrays in the future hair-forming cells, which occurs before the bulge formation. Here, we investigated the relationship between these two requisites, i.e . , whether phytochrome is involved in CMT randomization. To test this, seedlings were cultured throughout in the dark except the various periods and timings of red (R) or far-red (FR) light irradiation. In seedlings that had already been transferred to pH 4.0 medium, R light irradiation induced CMT randomization, whereas neither FR light irradiation nor continuous dark culturing instead of R light irradiation did. R light irradiation during the pre-culture at pH 6.0 also caused CMT randomization later when the seedlings were transferred to pH 4.0 medium. Irradiation of FR light immediately after the R light irradiation suppressed the R light-induced CMT randomization, regardless of whether R/FR irradiation was carried out before or after the transfer of seedlings to pH 4.0 medium. The efﬁcacy of R light and R/FR photo-reversibility in the induction of CMT randomization proves that the light signal needed for CMT randomization was indeed mediated by phytochrome, during lettuce root hair formation.
Photoplethysmographic Sensors in Automatized Diagnosis of the Cardiovascular System

The implementation of photoplethysmographic sensors in the data capture and data storage to analyze the cardiovascular condition of the patient is a new direction in automatized diagnosis of the cardiovascular system. This chapter contains a description of the use of photoplethysmographic sensors in a computerized patient cardiac monitoring system. The system consists of a portable device for collection of patient's cardiac data by applying photopletithysmographic method and software for mathematical analysis. An important diagnostic parameter that can be determined by the photoplethysmographic signal is the heart rate variability. The current application of the photoplethysmographic sensors in portable automatized system is of particular importance because the results of cardiac data analysis with these methods can provide not only detailed information about the cardiovascular status of the patients but also provide the opportunity to generate new knowledge about the diagnosis, and the prevention of pathology in cardiovascular diseases.
Dopamine Synthesis in the Nigrostriatal Dopaminergic System in Patients at Risk of Developing Parkinson’s Disease at the Prodromal Stage

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is diagnosed by the onset of motor symptoms and treated long after its onset. Therefore, the development of the early diagnosis of PD is a priority for neurology. Advanced methodologies for this include (1) searching for patients at risk of developing prodromal PD based on premotor symptoms; (2) searching for changes in the body fluids in these patients as diagnostic biomarkers; (3) verifying the diagnosis of prodromal PD and diagnostic-value biomarkers using positron emission tomography (PET); (4) anticipating the development of motor symptoms. According to our data, the majority of patients (n = 14) at risk of developing PD selected in our previous study show pronounced interhemispheric asymmetry in the incorporation of 18F-DOPA into dopamine synthesis in the striatum. This was assessed for the caudate nucleus and putamen separately using the specific binding coefficient, asymmetry index, and putamen/caudate nucleus ratio. Interhemispheric asymmetry in the incorporation of 18F-DOPA into the striatum provides strong evidence for its dopaminergic denervation and the diagnostic value of previously identified blood biomarkers. Of the 17 patients at risk of developing prodromal PD studied using PET, 3 patients developed motor symptoms within a year. Thus, our study shows the promise of using the described methodology for the development of early diagnosis of PD.
Reefs at Risk Revisited

aLLiSon perry Reefs at Risk Revisited ContriButing inStitutionS Reefs at Risk Revisited is a project of the World Resources Institute (WRI), developed and implemented in close collaboration with The Nature Conservancy (TNC), the WorldFish Center, the International Coral Reef Action Network (ICRAN), the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), and the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN). Many other government agencies, international organizations, research institutions, universities, nongovernmental organizations, and initiatives provided scientific guidance, contributed data, and reviewed results, including:
Formulation and characterization of solid lipid nanoparticles containing Camptotheca acuminata extract for the treatment of pancreatic cancer

To this day, pancreatic cancer remains not only one of the deadliest but also one of the most challenging types of the disease to successfully treat. Innovative therapy approaches are necessary if they are to be utilised in order to improve patient outcomes. The formulation and characterization of solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs), which are intended for the targeted therapy of pancreatic cancer, are the primary objectives of this research. The solid lipid nanoparticles include an extract from Camptotheca acuminata, which has the possible ability to act as a natural anticancer drug. The goal of this research project is to enhance the therapeutic efficacy of an extract derived from Camptotheca acuminata by concentrating on the development of SLNs as a technique for the administration of drugs. SLNs have improved drug solubility, a longer period in circulation, and higher cellular absorption.