Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Socio-Demographic Determinants of Quality of Life among Older People, a Population-Based Study

Introduction: Social participation is considered one dimension and also determinant of quality of life. The level of social participation of the elderly is influenced by various components such as socio-economic and demographic factors. The present study aimed to assess the relationship between social participation, quality of life, and some socio- economic factors in community dwelling elderly in Kerman, Iran. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 250 communities dwelling old people in Kerman in 2017 selected through random sampling. The data were collected using researcher-made Social Participation questionnaire and WHOQOL-BREF questionnaires. The data were analyzed using Pearson’s correlation coefficient, t-test, one-way ANOVA, and linear regression analysis. Results: The results revealed the participants’ mean score of social participation was above fifty. Social participation was significantly associated with age (p < 0.001), marital status (p = 0.004), education level (p < 0.001), and occupation (p = 0.021). A significant direct correlation was also observed between social participation and quality of life (p < 0.001), and social participation determined 21 % of variance of life quality score (p < 0.001). Conclusion: With the increase in social participation of the elderly, their quality of life improves. Establishing nongovernmental organizations, charities, and associations for retirement and aging can increase the level of social participation of the elderly.
PML Nuclear bodies: the cancer connection and beyond

ABSTRACT Promyelocytic leukemia (PML) nuclear bodies, membrane-less organelles in the nucleus, play a crucial role in cellular homeostasis. These dynamic structures result from the assembly of scaffolding PML proteins and various partners. Recent crystal structure analyses revealed essential self-interacting domains, while liquid–liquid phase separation contributes to their formation. PML bodies orchestrate post-translational modifications, particularly stress-induced SUMOylation, impacting target protein functions. Serving as hubs in multiple signaling pathways, they influence cellular processes like senescence. Dysregulation of PML expression contributes to diseases, including cancer, highlighting their significance. Therapeutically, PML bodies are promising targets, exemplified by successful acute promyelocytic leukemia treatment with arsenic trioxide and retinoic acid restoring PML bodies. Understanding their functions illuminates both normal and pathological cellular physiology, guiding potential therapies. This review explores recent advancements in PML body biogenesis, biochemical activity, and their evolving biological roles.
Comparative Study of Infiltration in Soils under Forest Cover and Agriculture in Temperate Climate

Under both the condition of this study, the forest land has higher initial infiltration rates of 46.8 cm/hr and 5 cm/hr and final infiltration rates of . 1 cm/hr in 150 mts and . 1 cm/hr in 120 mts from forest areas as compared to . 1 cm/hr in 60 mts ond 0 cm/hr in 20 mts from agricultural land after snow removal and snow melt respectively, due to thick layer of humus(10 cm) beneath the forest cover; higher organic matter (7.27%), higher moisture equivalent (29.87%), higher pore space (61.60%) and hIgher water balding capacity (60.26%) forest soils hafe resulted in higher infiltration rates in comparison to the agritultural soils, with no humus, low organic matter content (2.68%), lower moistnre equivalent (29.8%), lesser pore space (56.6%) and lower water holding capacity (46.88%).
Roles of microbiota in pancreatic cancer development and treatment

ABSTRACT Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is an aggressive disease with poor prognosis. This is due to the fact that most cases are only diagnosed at an advanced and palliative disease stage, and there is a high incidence of therapy resistance. Despite ongoing efforts, to date, the mechanisms underlying PDAC oncogenesis and its poor responses to treatment are still largely unclear. As the study of the microbiome in cancer progresses, growing evidence suggests that bacteria or fungi might be key players both in PDAC oncogenesis as well as in its resistance to chemo- and immunotherapy, for instance through modulation of the tumor microenvironment and reshaping of the host immune response. Here, we review how the microbiota exerts these effects directly or indirectly via microbial-derived metabolites. Finally, we further discuss the potential of modulating the microbiota composition as a therapy in PDAC.
Altered IL-7 signaling in CD4+ T cells from patients with visceral leishmaniasis

Background CD4+ T cells play a central role in control of L. donovani infection, through IFN-γ production required for activation of macrophages and killing of intracellular parasites. Impaired control of parasites can in part be explained by hampered CD4+ T cells effector functions in visceral leishmaniasis (VL) patients. In a recent studies that defined transcriptional signatures for CD4+ T cells from active VL patients, we found that expression of the IL-7 receptor alpha chain (IL-7Rα; CD127) was downregulated, compared to CD4+ T cells from endemic controls (ECs). Since IL-7 signaling is critical for the survival and homeostatic maintenance of CD4+ T cells, we investigated this signaling pathway in VL patients, relative to ECs. Methods CD4+ T cells were enriched from peripheral blood collected from VL patients and EC subjects and expression of IL7 and IL7RA mRNA was measured by real time qPCR. IL-7 signaling potential and surface expression of CD127 and CD132 on CD4+ T cell was analyzed by multicolor flow cytometry. Plasma levels of soluble IL-7 and sIL-7Rα were measured by ELISA. Result Transcriptional profiling data sets generated previously from our group showed lower IL7RA mRNA expression in VL CD4+ T cells as compared to EC. A significant reduction was, however not seen when assessing IL7RA mRNA by RT-qPCR. Yet, the levels of soluble IL-7Rα (sIL-7Rα) were reduced in plasma of VL patients compared to ECs. Furthermore, the levels of soluble IL-7 were higher in plasma from VL patients compared to ECs. Interestingly, expression of the IL-7Rα protein was higher on VL patient CD4+ T cells as compared to EC, with activated CD38+ CD4+ T cells showing higher surface expression of IL-7Rα compared to CD38- CD4+ T cells in VL patients. CD4+ T cells from VL patients had higher signaling potential baseline and after stimulation with recombinant human IL-7 (rhIL-7) compared to EC, as measured by phosphorylation of STAT5 (pSTAT5). Interestingly, it was the CD38 negative cells that had the highest level of pSTAT5 in VL patient CD4+ T cells after IL-7 stimulation. Thus, despite unaltered or potentially lowered IL7RA mRNA expression by CD4+ T cells from VL patients, the surface expression of the IL-7Rα was higher compared to EC and increased pSTAT5 was seen following exposure to rhIL-7. Accordingly, IL-7 signaling appears to be functional and even enhanced in VL CD4+ T cells and cannot explain the impaired effector function of VL CD4+ T cells. The enhanced plasma IL-7 may serve as part of homeostatic feedback mechanism regulating IL7RA expression in CD4+ T cells.
Modeling and potential use of hydrologic contributing areas for environmental applications GIS/EM4 No. 234

A method of calculation and visualization of hydrologic contributing areas using vector-based GIS is described. Selection of contributing areas around stream segments assists to define lateral and channel flow for each stream segment during the rainfall. During each time interval only certain area of the catchment contributes to the surface runoff. Developed GIS-based method helped to extract contributing areas and simultaneously calculate runoff values for each stream segment along the stream channel. It produced discharge values used in flow routing algorithm and simultaneously stored images of the expanding contributing areas for future animation. The basis of the presented methodology is a spatial, hydrologic response unit (HRU) matrix consisted of three GIS vector data sets: landuse, soil type and digital elevation model represented as a Triangulated Irregular Network (TIN). In this matrix each element has uniform surface runoff value. By overlaying stream outline vector data set and HRU matrix (which is a polygon), stream data set was broken into segments with different length, depending on the size of each element of HRU matrix. As a result, each stream segment acquired all HRU parameters from the matrix's polygon attribute table, i.e. landuse code, hydrologic group of the soil, slope, runoff coefficient and runoff discharge for each time interval during simulation. Algorithms and corresponding equations were developed to estimate discharge within the stream channel for each segment and time interval using contributing areas. Contributing areas, produced via GIS spatial iterations, were stored as graphic elements, annotated and exported into image files for animation. The method was tested for the small watershed in southern part of the New York state. The flow modeling predicted results within a range of 25% to 100% of observed values for 8 selected storm events. Predictions were generally better when storm durations exceeded 2 to 4 hours and time intervals were greater than 15 minutes. The method can be used for environmental applications dealing with the soil erosion and water quality modeling. Potential interest for environmental applications can be analysis of the pollutograph and dynamically changing contributing areas to define the location of the source of pollution.
Rainfall Variation of Peninsular India Reconstructed From a 331- Year-Old Speleothem

The southwest monsoon is of prime importance for the Indian sub-continent as it contributes the majority of annual rainfall. Any major departure from normal monsoon behavior seriously affects agricultural yield and the economy. To enable successful monsoon forecasting in order to plan agricultural activities, a systematic study of variations in monsoonal rainfall is required. This calls for long-term records of past rainfall. In tropical India, the major growth of speleothems occurs during the southwest monsoon (June to September) when water is most abundant. Therefore, speleothems would seem to show good potential as a rainfall proxy. While δ18O of tropical precipitation shows an inverse correlation with the amount of rainfall, it does not show a correlation with surface air temperature (Dansgaard, 1964). Speleothem δ18O, on the other hand, is related to both the δ18O of meteoric water and the temperature of the cave during carbonate precipitation. Therefore, it should in principle function as a proxy for past variations in the δ18O of meteoric water and the mean annual surface air temperature. Such an argument can be tested using a young speleothem. An active stalagmite (Fig. 1), with distinct annual layers covering the past 331 years (the tip is AD 1996), was found in the Akalagavi cave in the mountainous terrain of the Western Ghats, in the state of Karnataka, peninsular India (Yadava et al., submitted). δ18O measured along the growth axis varies between -2.7 and +1.6‰ (Fig. 2). During the past 300 years, mean annual temperature fl uctuations of more than 1oC (corresponding to only a ~0.22‰ change in the speleothem δ18O) seem unlikely. Hence, past δ18O variations in precipitation may have been largely responsible for the variations observed in speleothem δ18O. If speleothem δ18O is primarily governed by variation in rainfall, then a comparison of the δ18O time series of the most recent part of the speleothem with the instrumental rainfall record of the region should result in a high correlation coeffi cient. Indeed, a comparison of the decadal running mean yields a signifi cant value (r = -0.62, n = 80). This suggests that δ18O in cave deposits is a reasonable proxy for decadal variations in local rainfall. A strong positive correlation (r = 0.62, n = 301) between δ18O and δ13C along the growth axis indicates that on an annual scale, δ13C is also correlated with rainfall.
Nutritional Status in Patients with Chronic Pancreatitis

Chronic pancreatitis (CP) is defined as a continuing inflammatory disease of the pancreas that is characterized by irreversible morphological changes often associated with pain and the loss of exocrine and/or endocrine function, which may be clinically relevant. Maldigestion (absolute deficiency of pancreatic enzyme secretion) is a typical complication of CP of any etiology with long anamnesis. Fat malabsorption is considered to be the malnutrition base in CP patients. The purpose of this article is to evaluate the role of nutritive status and nutritive deficiency in CP patients, evaluate diagnostic approaches, correct nutritive status deviation with reference to previous experience, and explore the present situation and possible future perspectives.
MONTHLY ISOTOPIC SIGNAL OF THE PRECIPITATED WATER IN THE PROVINCE OF TRENTO: LAGRANGIAN ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF MEASUREMENTS

The present work has been performed in the framework of the research project AQUAPAST. The main focus of AQUAPAST is the reconstruction of past climate changes in the atmospheric circulation and in particular in the water vapour transport mechanism over the Mediterranean area starting from the analysis of the isotopic content of cave speleothemes in the Trentino Province (North-East of Italy). A Lagrangian methodology for the reconstruction and the analysis of the airstreams which govern the transport of water vapour has been applied to recent events. The average monthly isotopic signal of the precipitation water sampled in stations located in key geographic settings in the Province of Trento is used as tracer to infer the origin of the precipitating water and to validate the Lagrangian analysis. A comparison between the isotopic signal of November 2002 and November 2003 is here presented, as most of the yearly precipitation falls in November over the Eastern Alps. Hypotheses are proposed about the meteorological factors (e.g. monthly averaged sea surface temperature, atmospheric circulation, etc.) determining different isotopic signals in the two years.
Faunal finds from alpine ice – natural or archaeological depositions?

Inland ice covers large areas of the world’s surface, but the ecology of the ice itself is poorly studied and largely unknown. A large variety of melted out faunal finds from glaciers and ice patches around the world have been discovered for more than 150 years. These finds hold a unique and largely untapped information potential for archaeology, faunal history and glacial ecology. In order to retrieve information from this frozen databank we need a better understanding of how the material were deposited. This article provides a background for glacial faunal finds worldwide and presents the relatively large Norwegian collections for the first time. The Norwegian finds are very well preserved, allowing good insights into the taphonomy of the finds. While most finds seem to be naturally deposited, many of the sites are interesting hybrids between archaeological and natural history sites. Potential implications and prospects for future management and research are further discussed.
Group interventions for children in crisis

U radu su prikazane grupne intervencije koje se mogu poduzimati s djecom u kriznim situacijama u cilju njihove bolje pshiholoske prilagodbe i ozdravljenja. Najprije se iznose pravila za formiranje i rad grupa djece u kriznim situacijama, a potom pokazuju primjeri konkretnih intervencija. Prikazane intrevencije krecu se od edukacijskih, preko umjetnickih i kreativnih te sportskih, do socijalizacijskih grupnih intervencija i grupnog rada s roditeljima.
Machine‐learning algorithms in screening for type 2 diabetes mellitus: Data from Fasa Adults Cohort Study

Abstract Introduction The application of machine learning (ML) is increasingly growing in biomedical sciences. This study aimed to evaluate factors associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and compare the performance of ML methods in identifying individuals with the disease in an Iranian setting. Methods Using the baseline data from Fasa Adult Cohort Study (FACS) and in a sex‐stratified manner, we studied factors associated with T2DM by applying seven different ML methods including Logistic Regression (LR), Support Vector Machine (SVM), Random Forest (RF), K‐Nearest Neighbours (KNN), Gradient Boosting Machine (GBM), Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGB) and Bagging classifier (BAG). We further compared the performance of these methods; for each algorithm, accuracy, precision, sensitivity, specificity, F1 score, and Area Under Curve (AUC) were calculated. Results 10,112 participants were recruited between 2014 and 2016, of whom 1246 had T2DM at baseline. 4566 (45%) participants were males, aged between 35 and 70 years. For males, age, sugar consumption, and history of hospitalization were the most weighted variables regarding their importance in screening for T2DM using the GBM model, respectively; these variables were sugar consumption, urine blood, and age for females. GBM outperformed other models for both males and females with AUC of 0.75 (0.69–0.82) and 0.76 (0.71–0.80), and F1 score of 0.33 (0.27–0.39) and 0.42 (0.38–0.46), respectively. GBM also showed a sensitivity of 0.24 (0.19–0.29) and a specificity of 0.98 (0.96–1.0) in males and a sensitivity of 0.38 (0.34–0.42) and specificity of 0.92 (0.89–0.95) in females. Notably, close performance characteristics were detected among other ML models. Conclusions GBM model might achieve better performance in screening for T2DM in a south Iranian population.
A new pancryptodiran turtle from the Late Jurassic of Poland and palaeobiology of early marine turtles

Although Western Europe has yielded numerous Jurassic turtle taxa, several represented by cranial material or complete skeletons, the fossil record of the Jurassic turtles remains scarce to the north and east from Germany. Although some Late Jurassic testudinates were historically described from Poland, they were, thus far, represented by fragmentary remains that never were properly figured or described in detail. Therefore, very little is known about the mid‐Mesozoic diversity of turtles in that region of the continent. A new pancryptodiran turtle genus and species, Owadowia borsukbialynickae, is described from the uppermost Jurassic (Tithonian, ca. 148 Ma) carbonate sediments of the Kcynia Formation in Owadów‐Brzezinki Quarry, near Tomaszów Mazowiecki in central Poland. The lower jaw morphology and palaeoecological setting inhabited by the new genus and species, together with the trophic relationships of the Jurassic pancryptodiran turtles, are discussed in an attempt to determine the potential range of mode of life of O. borsukbialynickae. We propose that the new specimen belongs to a new durophagous pancryptodiran turtle taxon. O. borsukbialynickae might have spent considerable time in the marine environment and specialized on eating hard‐shelled invertebrates like bivalves and decapod crustaceans, common to that setting.
Effects of operational parameters on bacterial communities in Hong Kong and global wastewater treatment plants

ABSTRACT Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are indispensable biotechnology facilities for modern cities and play an essential role in modern urban infrastructure by employing microorganisms to remove pollutants in wastewater, thus protecting public health and the environment. This study conducted a 13-month bacterial community survey of six full-scale WWTPs in Hong Kong with samples of influent, activated sludge (AS), and effluent to explore their synchronism and asynchronism of bacterial community. Besides, we compared AS results of six Hong Kong WWTPs with data from 1,186 AS amplicon data in 269 global WWTPs and a 9-year metagenomic sequencing survey of a Hong Kong WWTP. Our results showed the compositions of bacterial communities varied and the bacterial community structure of AS had obvious differences across Hong Kong WWTPs. The co-occurrence analysis identified 40 pairs of relationships that existed among Hong Kong WWTPs to show solid associations between two species and stochastic processes took large proportions for the bacterial community assembly of six WWTPs. The abundance and distribution of the functional bacteria in worldwide and Hong Kong WWTPs were examined and compared, and we found that ammonia-oxidizing bacteria had more diversity than nitrite-oxidizing bacteria. Besides, Hong Kong WWTPs could make great contributions to the genome mining of microbial dark matter in the global “wanted list. ” Operational parameters had important effects on OTUs’ abundance, such as the temperature to the genera of Tetrasphaera, Gordonia and Nitrospira. All these results obtained from this study can deepen our understanding of the microbial ecology in WWTPs and provide foundations for further studies. IMPORTANCE Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are an indispensable component of modern cities, as they can remove pollutants in wastewater to prevent anthropogenic activities. Activated sludge (AS) is a fundamental wastewater treatment process and it harbors a highly complex microbial community that forms the main components and contains functional groups. Unveiling “who is there” is a long-term goal of the research on AS microbiology. High-throughput sequencing provides insights into the inventory diversity of microbial communities to an unprecedented level of detail. At present, the analysis of communities in WWTPs usually comes from a specific WWTP and lacks comparisons and verification among different WWTPs. The wide-scale and long-term sampling project and research in this study could help us evaluate the AS community more accurately to find the similarities and different results for different WWTPs in Hong Kong and other regions of the world.
Proteasome inhibition: a new therapeutic option in lupus nephritis?

Antinuclear auto-antibodies are a hallmark of systemic lupus erythematosus. Based on the characteristics of these auto-antibodies (somatic mutation, restricted use of certain VHandVLgenes,highavidityIgGantibodies,commonidiotypes), lupus is regarded as an auto-antigen-driven T-celldependent autoimmune disease [1]. It is generally assumed, however, that the produced auto-antibodies are pivotal for thedevelopmentoftissuelesions,andhencealsoBcellsare necessary for disease development. Indeed, MRL/lpr lupus mice, which due to a certain genetic manipulation lack B cells, develop neither glomerulonephritis nor vasculitis [2]. Therefore,inlupus,Bcellsrepresentamajortargetfortreatment. Cyclophophosphamide, an effective, although toxic, druginthetreatmentoflupusnephritisdepletesBcells(but also other cell types) and quickly suppresses auto-antibody formation. More recently, a number of new treatment options became available in lupus, all directed at the B cell [3]. These therapies have different mechanisms to influence B-cell function: (i) depletion by anti-CD20 antibodies (rituximab, ocrelizumab); (ii) reduction of anti-DNA titres (LJP394/abetimus); (iii) blockade of T-cell co-stimulation (CTLA4-Ig: abatacept and belatacept) and (iv) blockade of B-cell stimulation via CD40 or the cytokine BLys (belimumab or atacicept). Experience with these B cell-targeted therapies has taught that treatment efficacy goes beyond the reduction of auto-antibody levels and is in part due to silencing of B cells. This also affects other B-cell functions important for development and persistence of autoimmunity. However, these therapies hardly influence long-lived plasma cells. These long-lived plasma cells are important in lupus, because they represent a major fraction of the autoantibody-producing B cells. Since they are a difficult target