Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Digital Forensics Subdomains: The State of the Art and Future Directions

For reliable digital evidence to be admitted in a court of law, it is important to apply scientifically proven digital forensic investigation techniques to corroborate a suspected security incident. Mainly, traditional digital forensics techniques focus on computer desktops and servers. However, recent advances in digital media and platforms have seen an increased need for the application of digital forensic investigation techniques to other subdomains. This includes mobile devices, databases, networks, cloud-based platforms, and the Internet of Things (IoT) at large. To assist forensic investigators to conduct investigations within these subdomains, academic researchers have attempted to develop several investigative processes. However, many of these processes are domain-specific or describe domain-specific investigative tools. Hence, in this paper, we hypothesize that the literature is saturated with ambiguities. To further synthesize this hypothesis, a digital forensic model-orientated Systematic Literature Review (SLR) within the digital forensic subdomains has been undertaken. The purpose of this SLR is to identify the different and heterogeneous practices that have emerged within the specific digital forensics subdomains. A key finding from this review is that there are process redundancies and a high degree of ambiguity among investigative processes in the various subdomains. As a way forward, this study proposes a high-level abstract metamodel, which combines the common investigation processes, activities, techniques, and tasks for digital forensics subdomains. Using the proposed solution, an investigator can effectively organize the knowledge process for digital investigation.
Quiescence Through the Prism of Evolution

Being able to reproduce and survive is fundamental to all forms of life. In primitive unicellular organisms, the emergence of quiescence as a reversible proliferation arrest has most likely improved cell survival under unfavorable environmental conditions. During evolution, with the repeated appearances of multicellularity, several aspects of unicellular quiescence were conserved while new quiescent cell intrinsic abilities arose. We propose that the formation of a microenvironment by neighboring cells has allowed disconnecting quiescence from nutritional cues. In this new context, non-proliferative cells can stay metabolically active, potentially authorizing the emergence of new quiescent cell properties, and thereby favoring cell specialization. Through its co-evolution with cell specialization, quiescence may have been a key motor of the fascinating diversity of multicellular complexity.
Metronomic Anti-Cancer Therapy: A Multimodal Therapy Governed by the Tumor Microenvironment

Simple Summary Metronomic chemotherapy with different mechanisms of action against cancer cells and their microenvironment represents an exceptional holistic cancer treatment. Each type of tumor has its own characteristics, including each individual tumor in each patient. Understanding the complexity of the dynamic interactions that take place between tumor and stromal cells and the microenvironment in tumor progression and metastases, as well as the response of the host and the tumor itself to anticancer therapy, will allow therapeutic actions with long-lasting effects to be implemented using metronomic regimens. This study aims to highlight the complexity of cellular interactions in the tumor microenvironment and summarize some of the preclinical and clinical results that explain the multimodality of metronomic therapy, which, together with its low toxicity, supports an inhibitory effect on the primary tumor and metastases. We also highlight the possible use of nano-therapeutic agents as good partners for metronomic chemotherapy. Abstract The concept of cancer as a systemic disease, and the therapeutic implications of this, has gained special relevance. This concept encompasses the interactions between tumor and stromal cells and their microenvironment in the complex setting of primary tumors and metastases. These factors determine cellular co-evolution in time and space, contribute to tumor progression, and could counteract therapeutic effects. Additionally, cancer therapies can induce cellular and molecular responses in the tumor and host that allow them to escape therapy and promote tumor progression. In this study, we describe the vascular network, tumor-infiltrated immune cells, and cancer-associated fibroblasts as sources of heterogeneity and plasticity in the tumor microenvironment, and their influence on cancer progression. We also discuss tumor and host responses to the chemotherapy regimen, at the maximum tolerated dose, mainly targeting cancer cells, and a multimodal metronomic chemotherapy approach targeting both cancer cells and their microenvironment. In a combination therapy context, metronomic chemotherapy exhibits antimetastatic efficacy with low toxicity but is not exempt from resistance mechanisms. As such, a better understanding of the interactions between the components of the tumor microenvironment could improve the selection of drug combinations and schedules, as well as the use of nano-therapeutic agents against certain malignancies.
Jaagsiekte sheep retrovirus infection induces changes in microRNA expression in the ovine lung

Ovine pulmonary adenocarcinoma (OPA) is an infectious neoplastic lung disease of sheep caused by jaagsiekte sheep retrovirus. OPA is an important veterinary problem and is also a valuable large animal model for human lung adenocarcinoma. JSRV infects type 2 alveolar epithelial cells in the lung and induces the growth of tumors, but little is known about the molecular events that lead to the activation of oncogenic pathways in infected cells. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small RNA molecules of approximately 22 nucleotides with important roles in regulating gene expression in eukaryotes and with well-established roles in cancer. Here we used small-RNA sequencing to investigate the changes in miRNA expression that occur in JSRV-infected ovine lung. After filtering out low abundance miRNAs, we identified expression of 405 miRNAs, 32 of which were differentially expressed in JSRV-infected lung compared to mock-inoculated control lung. Highly upregulated miRNAs included miR-182, miR-183, miR-96 and miR-135b, which have also been associated with oncogenic changes in human lung cancer. Network analysis of genes potentially targeted by the deregulated miRNAs identified their involvement in pathways known to be dysregulated in OPA. We found no evidence to support the existence of miRNAs encoded by JSRV. This study provides the first information on miRNA expression in OPA and identifies a number of targets for future studies into the role of these molecules in the pathogenesis of this unique veterinary model for human lung adenocarcinoma. IMPORTANCE Ovine pulmonary adenocarcinoma is a neoplastic lung disease of sheep caused by jaagsiekte sheep retrovirus (JSRV). OPA is a significant welfare and economic concern for sheep producers and is a valuable large animal model for human lung adenocarcinoma. MicroRNAs are small RNA molecules of approximately 22 nucleotides with important functions in regulating gene expression in eukaryotes and with well-established roles in cancer. In this study, we examined the changes in microRNA expression that occur in the lung in response to JSRV infection. We identified differential expression of a number of host-encoded microRNAs in infected tissue, including microRNAs with roles in human cancer. We found no evidence that JSRV encodes a microRNA. This study provides new insights on the cellular response to JSRV infection in the ovine lung, which will inform future studies into the pathogenesis of OPA in sheep and its use as a model for human lung adenocarcinoma.
The relevance of prostate cancer screening among Saudi men attending outpatient clinics of tertiary-care hospitals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Background: Prostate cancer is a significant health-care burden in both developing and under developed countries. Efforts in Saudi Arabia may be hindered by the unclarity of awareness of predictors of early prostate cancer screening, given the complexity of such screening. Aims: The objective of this study was to assess awareness levels of early screening of prostate cancer and its predictors among Saudi men. Methods: A cross-sectional participatory approach was used to assess the awareness levels of early screening of prostate cancer among Saudi men within the age group for which early prostate cancer screening is recommended. Results: Participants were recruited out of those admitted to outpatient clinics of the five largest tertiary-care hospitals. Four hundred and eighteen Saudi outpatient men aged 40–65 years were interviewed. Of all participants, 79.2% had heard of prostate cancer. When comparing eligible age groups, there was a significant difference in the percentage of men who had not undergone prostate screening (P < 0.0001). Across all eligible age groups, 65.8% of participants had not been advised to undergo prostate screening by their primary care physicians. In each age group, more than 75% of men reported that they would consider early screening for prostate cancer. Conclusion: There was no significant difference in the percentages of men who would consider screening if they presented lower urinary tract symptoms (P = 0.179). Data on the uptake of voluntary screening of prostate cancer in Saudi Arabia are either inconclusive or insufficient. Therefore, it may be challenging to interpret the awareness levels and surveillance strategies for this disease in Saudi Arabia.
Epidemiological determinants of Chrysomya (Diptera: calliphoridae) infestation in layer farms of Minas Gerais, Brazil

Aspects related to the epidemiology of Diptera belonging to genus Chrysomya were studied in order to determine predisposing factors for their occurrence in commercial laying hens farms from the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. An observational, analytical and sectional survey was conducted to verify the main epidemiological determinants of infestations by Chrysomya spp. Forty-three farms were visited in 2012 and these 13 (30,23%) were infested by Chrysomya putoria, 4 (9,30%) by Chrysomya megacephala and 2 (4,65%) by Chrysomya albiceps and in 2 farms (4,65%) was not possible to identify the species of Chrysomya. The epidemiological determinants for the occurrence of infestations by Chrysomya spp. were investigated using multiple logistic regression models. Housing clustering type and its conditions were important factors involved in epidemiology of these species (OR=5.05, 95% CI = 2.66 to 9.58, p = 0.000). It was also observed that the increase of the humidity of manure leads to increase chances of infestations (OR = 1.81, 95% CI = 1.36 to 2.40, p = 0.000). The presence of the beetle “lesser mealworm” (Alphitobius diaperinus) (OR = 0.15, 95% CI = 0.067 to 0.36, p = 0.000) was characterized as a protective factor against infestations, probably due to predation behavior of the beetle. Some regions of the state were characterized as lower risk areas for Chrysomya spp. infestation as compared to other regions. Management measures, such as constant monitoring of water leaks on manure, adequate composting of dead poultry and periodic removal of manure could assist in decreasing the presence of Chrysomya spp. inside the laying houses.
Customized Novel Design of 3D Printed Pregabalin Tablets for Intra-Gastric Floating and Controlled Release Using Fused Deposition Modeling

Three-dimensional (3D) printing has been recently employed in the design and formulation of various dosage forms with the aim of on-demand manufacturing and personalized medicine. In this study, we formulated a floating sustained release system using fused deposition modeling (FDM). Filaments were prepared using hypromellose acetate succinate (HPMCAS), polyethylene glycol (PEG 400) and pregabalin as the active ingredient. Cylindrical tablets with infill percentages of 25%, 50% and 75% were designed and printed with the FDM printer. An optimized formulation (F6) was designed with a closed bottom layer and a partially opened top layer. Filaments and tablets were characterized by means of fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The results show that the processing condition did not have a significant effect on the stability of the drug and the crystallinity of the drug remained even after printing. A dissolution study revealed that drug release is faster in an open system with low infill percentage compared to closed systems and open systems with a high infill ratio. The optimized formulation (F6) with partially opened top layer showed zero-order drug release. The results show that FDM printing is suitable for the formulation of floating dosage form with the desired drug release profile.
Phage Therapy, The Best Choice To Overcome Antibiotic Resistance, But Can Never Replace Antibiotics

within the bacteria. Phage therapy is the clinical use of these bacteriophages to treat infections caused by superbugs (bacteria that have acquired resistance against antibiotics). Phages when administered in to bacteria, causes the lysis of the bacterial cells in the lytic phase of phage life cycle. Phage therapy has acquired its importance in the recent years after their successful use in managing some life threatening infections and helped in saving lives. Phage therapy is currently being used as the antimicrobial therapy in some western countries. this paper mainly discusses about using phage therapy in treating infections caused by superbugs, and also discusses on what measures should be taken by different countries to successfully introduce the phage therapy in clinical use. Apart from this phage therapy has got some disadvantages which shows that phage therapy can never be an effective alternative for antibiotics. We conclude that phage therapy can be the best choice for treating infections caused by superbugs, where antibiotics can’t work but can’t be used again once used before in a particular patient.
Probabilistic Short-Term Load Forecasting Incorporating Behind-the-Meter (BTM) Photovoltaic (PV) Generation and Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESSs)

Increased behind-the-meter (BTM) solar generation causes additional errors in short-term load forecasting. To ensure power grid reliability, it is necessary to consider the influence of the behind-the-meter distributed resources. This study proposes a method to estimate the size of behind-the-meter assets by region to enhance load forecasting accuracy. This paper proposes a semi-supervised approach to BTM capacity estimation, including PV and battery energy storage systems (BESSs), to improve net load forecast using a probabilistic approach. A co-optimization is proposed to simultaneously optimize the hidden BTM capacity estimation and the expected improvement to the net load forecast. Finally, this paper presents a net load forecasting method that incorporates the results of BTM capacity estimation. To describe the efficiency of the proposed method, a study was conducted using actual utility data. The numerical results show that the proposed method improves the load forecasting accuracy by revealing the gross load pattern and reducing the influence of the BTM patterns.
Gradient Boosting Machine and Deep Learning Approach in Big Data Analysis: A Case Study of the Stock Market

Designing a system for analytics of high-frequency data (Big data) is a very challenging and crucial task in data science. Big data analytics involves the development of an efficient machine learning algorithm and big data processing techniques or frameworks. Today, the development of the data processing system is in high demand for processing high-frequency data in a very efficient manner. This paper proposes the processing and analytics of stochastic high-frequency stock market data using a modified version of suitable Gradient Boosting Machine (GBM). The experimental results obtained are compared with deep learning and Auto-Regressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) methods. The results obtained using modified GBM achieves the highest accuracy (R2 = 0.98) and minimum error (RMSE = 0.85) as compared to the other two approaches.
Anatomic Total Shoulder Arthroplasty versus Hemiarthroplasty for Glenohumeral Osteoarthritis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Purpose: Both anatomic total shoulder arthroplasty (TSA) and shoulder hemiarthroplasty (SHA) are used for the management of end-stage glenohumeral osteoarthritis (GHOA). The present study compared TSA and SHA in terms of clinical outcome and complication rate. Methods: This meta-analysis followed the PRISMA guidelines. In October 2021, the following databases were accessed: Web of Science, Google Scholar, Pubmed, Scopus. All clinical trials comparing anatomical TSA versus SHA for GHOA were considered. Results: Data from 11,027 procedures were retrieved. The mean length of the follow-up was 81.8 (16 to 223.20) months. The mean age of the patients was 61.4 ± 8.6 years, and 56.0% (5731 of 10,228 patients) were women. At last follow-up, the age-adjusted constant score was greater following TSA (p < 0.0001), as were active elevation (p < 0.0001), flexion (p < 0.0001), abduction (p < 0.0001), and American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons Shoulder Score (p < 0.0001). Postoperative pain (p < 0.0001) and revision rate (p = 0.02) were lower in the TSA group. Conclusions: Anatomic TSA performed better than SHA in patients with GHOA.
Silver Quantum Dot Decorated 2D-SnO2 Nanoflakes for Photocatalytic Degradation of the Water Pollutant Rhodamine B

Decoration of 2D semiconductor structures with heterogeneous metal quantum dots has attracted considerable attention due to advanced optical, electrical, and catalytic properties that result from the large surface-to-volume ratio associated with these structures. Herein, we report on silver quantum dot decorated 2D SnO2 nanoflakes for the photocatalytic abatement of water effluents, the synthesis of which was achieved through a straightforward and mild hydrothermal procedure. The photocatalysts were systematically investigated using UV–Vis, XRD, electron microscopy (SEM, HR-TEM), EDX, XPS and FTIR. The photocatalytic activity of the nanostructures was evaluated for the abatement of water pollutant rhodamine B (RhB), under light irradiation. The mild hydrothermal synthesis (100 °C) proved highly efficient for the production of large scale Ag quantum dot (QD)/SnO2 nanoflakes for a novel photocatalytic application. The decoration of SnO2 with Ag QDs significantly enhances the synergetic charge transfer, which diminishes the photo-induced electron-hole reunion. Moreover, the plasmonic effect from Ag QDs and 2D-SnO2 structures acts as an electron tank to collect the photo-induced electrons, generating a Schottky barrier between the SnO2 structures and quantum dots. Overall, this resulted in a facile and efficient degradation of RhB, with a rate double that of pristine SnO2.
Disease characteristics of diffuse large B‐cell lymphoma predicting relapse and survival after autologous stem cell transplantation: A single institution experience

While various tools such as the International Prognostic Index (IPI) and its derivatives exist for risk‐stratification of diffuse large B‐cell lymphoma (DLBCL) at diagnosis, patient and disease characteristics capable of predicting outcome after high‐dose chemotherapy followed by autologous stem cell transplantation (HDC/ASCT) are not clearly defined. We retrospectively analyzed medical records of 111 DLBCL patients (78 relapsed and 33 refractory) who underwent HDC/ASCT at our institution from 2010‐2015. After a median follow‐up time of 4.6 years (interquartile range [IQR] 2.2‐8.1), the likelihood of 5‐year progression‐free survival (PFS) was 62.2% (95% CI, 53.4%‐72.4%) and the likelihood of 5‐year overall survival (OS) was 68.9% (95% CI, 60.7%‐78.2%). More than three chemotherapy regimens prior to ASCT was the only variable associated with lower likelihood of PFS (P = .004) and OS (P = 0.026). Male gender and high IPI score at time of ASCT were also associated with lower likelihood of PFS (P = .043; P = .013). NCCN IPI and age‐adjusted IPI at time of ASCT were not predictive of outcome following ASCT. Patients with refractory and relapsed disease had similar outcomes post‐ASCT (P = .207 for PFS, P = .073 for OS).
Fusion of Deep Features With Superpixel Based Local Handcrafted Features for Surface Condition Assessment of Metal Oxide Surge Arrester Using Infrared Thermal Images

This letter presents an innovative approach to sense surface contamination severity of in-service metal oxide surge arrester through combining handcrafted and deep learning-based features. For this purpose, different color regions in the captured infrared thermal (IRT) images are isolated to generate superpixel regions through grouping of informative and meaningful pixels. Thereafter, handcrafted color features are extracted from each superpixel region. Additionally, the IRT images are analyzed through pretrained “ResNet50” deep architecture, and deep features are extracted. Thereafter, handcrafted color features and deep features are combined and fed to a classifier for classification of different surface contamination severity. The findings of this letter indicate that the proposed fusion strategy strongly boosts the classification performance compared to each stand-alone approach. Therefore, proposed framework with feature fusion strategy can be implemented for surface condition assessment of metal oxide surge arrester is service.
The Role of Obesity-Induced Perivascular Adipose Tissue (PVAT) Dysfunction in Vascular Homeostasis

Perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT) is an additional special type of adipose tissue surrounding blood vessels. Under physiological conditions, PVAT plays a significant role in regulation of vascular tone, intravascular thermoregulation, and vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation. PVAT is responsible for releasing adipocytes-derived relaxing factors (ADRF) and perivascular-derived relaxing factors (PDRF), which have anticontractile properties. Obesity induces increased oxidative stress, an inflammatory state, and hypoxia, which contribute to PVAT dysfunction. The exact mechanism of vascular dysfunction in obesity is still not well clarified; however, there are some pathways such as renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system (RAAS) disorders and PVAT-derived factor dysregulation, which are involved in hypertension and endothelial dysfunction development. Physical activity has a beneficial effect on PVAT function among obese patients by reducing the oxidative stress and inflammatory state. Diet, which is the second most beneficial non-invasive strategy in obesity treatment, may have a positive impact on PVAT-derived factors and may restore the balance in their concentration.