Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Psychosocial Effect of Parental Cancer: Qualitative Interviews with Patients’ Dependent Children

Background: Children living with parental cancer are at an increased risk for various psychosocial, emotional, and behavioural problems. However, research regarding how children are affected by their parent’s diagnosis is still developing and patients’ children are typically invisible in clinical practice. This study aimed to investigate how children are affected by their parent’s cancer diagnosis, from children’s perspectives. Methods: Informed by methods of grounded theory and embedded within a social constructivist framework, twelve children (ranging from 5 to 17 years) living with a parent with cancer were interviewed using a semi-structured format assisted by a novel approach derived from play- and art-based developmental literature. Results: Findings indicate that patients’ children are constantly worried and distressed, and there are barriers that can be overcome to mitigate this. Four overarching themes were identified: (I) Feeling worried and distressed; (II) Comprehending their parent’s cancer diagnosis; (III) Being disconnected from their supports; and (IV) Needing someone to talk to. Conclusions: Children experience considerable levels of ongoing worry and distress when a parent is diagnosed with cancer and have difficulties comprehending and articulating this. They also feel a level of disconnection from their usual support systems (e.g., parents) and are limited regarding who they can seek out and talk to. Mitigating children’s ongoing worries and distress by promoting the availability and accessibility of parents and other supports to children, and reducing communication barriers between children and adults, should be a primary focus of psycho-oncology research and practice.
Genetic Dissection and Germplasm Selection of the Low Crude Fiber Component in Brassica napus L. Shoots

Background: Brassica napus is one of the most important oil crops in the world, and B. napus shoots are nutrient-rich fresh vegetables. The crude fiber (CF) component is one of the most important factors affecting the taste quality of B. napus shoots, but the factors underlying the desirable low-CF trait remain poorly understood. Methods: In this study, a high-density single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) map was used to map quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for five CF-related traits in a recombinant inbred population. Results: A total of 49 QTLs were obtained in four environments, including eleven, twelve, eight, twelve and six QTLs for content of neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent fiber, acid detergent lignin, hemicellulose and cellulose, respectively. The phenotypic variation explained by single QTL ranged from 4.62% to 14.76%. Eight of these QTLs were further integrated into four unique QTLs, which controlled two different traits simultaneously. Five CF-component-related candidate genes were identified, among which BnaC03g07110D and BnaC07g21271D were considered to be the most likely candidate genes. In addition, five lines with low CF content were selected, which can be used as excellent germplasm resources in breeding. Conclusions: The QTLs identified in this study will contribute to our understanding of the genetic mechanism of CF and can be used as targets for reducing CF content in B. napus shoots. In addition, this study also provided excellent germplasm resources for low CF content breeding.
Lymphangiogenesis Guidance Mechanisms and Therapeutic Implications in Pathological States of the Cornea

Corneal lymphangiogenesis is one component of the neovascularization observed in several inflammatory pathologies of the cornea including dry eye disease and corneal graft rejection. Following injury, corneal (lymph)angiogenic privilege is impaired, allowing ingrowth of blood and lymphatic vessels into the previously avascular cornea. While the mechanisms underlying pathological corneal hemangiogenesis have been well described, knowledge of the lymphangiogenesis guidance mechanisms in the cornea is relatively scarce. Various signaling pathways are involved in lymphangiogenesis guidance in general, each influencing one or multiple stages of lymphatic vessel development. Most endogenous factors that guide corneal lymphatic vessel growth or regression act via the vascular endothelial growth factor C signaling pathway, a central regulator of lymphangiogenesis. Several exogenous factors have recently been repurposed and shown to regulate corneal lymphangiogenesis, uncovering unique signaling pathways not previously known to influence lymphatic vessel guidance. A strong understanding of the relevant lymphangiogenesis guidance mechanisms can facilitate the development of targeted anti-lymphangiogenic therapeutics for corneal pathologies. In this review, we examine the current knowledge of lymphatic guidance cues, their regulation of inflammatory states in the cornea, and recently discovered anti-lymphangiogenic therapeutic modalities.
Seafood Choice and Consumption Behavior: Assessing the Willingness to Pay for an Edible Sea Urchin

Consumers’ behavior towards sea urchin and preferences towards their origin certification and place of consumption may condition their market. In this context, the aim of this research was to elicit the preferences and perceptions of Italian sea urchin dishes using a discrete choice experiment (DCE) approach. A field survey of 453 respondents in Apulia (southern Italy) was conducted for this purpose. The DCE revealed that the origin certification of sea urchin provided Apulia’s consumers a high utility with a great pleasurable service in restaurants in which this species was served as a principal dish or seasoned with pasta or pizza. The DCE also showed that the consumption utility of sea urchin was related to a greater influence by place of purchase, place of consumption, technique of conservation, appearance, quality label, fishing zone, low price, male buyer, and, finally, medium and high incomes. Furthermore, Apulian consumers were willing to pay EUR 10.53/dish as an overall average for safe and certified sea urchin consumption. Given this, this research may promote the creation of a local sea urchin brand through the adoption of a market policy and a particular regulation related to the certification of origin, enhancing the competitiveness of this marine heritage species.
In Vivo Biomechanical Measurements of the Cornea

In early corneal examinations, the relationships between the morphological and biomechanical features of the cornea were unclear. Although consistent links have been demonstrated between the two in certain cases, these are not valid in many diseased states. An accurate assessment of the corneal biomechanical properties is essential for understanding the condition of the cornea. Studies on corneal biomechanics in vivo suggest that clinical problems such as refractive surgery and ectatic corneal disease are closely related to changes in biomechanical parameters. Current techniques are available to assess the mechanical characteristics of the cornea in vivo. Accordingly, various attempts have been expended to obtain the relevant mechanical parameters from different perspectives, using the air-puff method, ultrasound, optical techniques, and finite element analyses. However, a measurement technique that can comprehensively reflect the full mechanical characteristics of the cornea (gold standard) has not yet been developed. We review herein the in vivo measurement techniques used to assess corneal biomechanics, and discuss their advantages and limitations to provide a comprehensive introduction to the current state of technical development to support more accurate clinical decisions.
Theory of Classical Fluids: Hyper-Netted Chain Approximation. III A New Integral Equation for the Pair Distribution Function

The expansion formulae for the free energy and the radial distribution function by means of the "hyper-netted chains" are also presented. They contain the results in the hyper-netted chain approxi­ mation as their leading terms. Another set of the formulae in the hyper-netted chain approximation is given and compared with the theories for ionic systems in the past. Applications to practical problems will be given in forthcoming papers.
Real World Data for Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma from a Population-Based Study in France

Simple Summary Pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal digestive cancers and is becoming more common over the decades. The analysis of prognostic factors for survival could help to evaluate the existing treatments and find better treatment options. Our retrospective study analyzed data from 2117 patients issued from a digestive tumor registry. Age, surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and metastasis location are prognostic factors correlated with overall survival. Although this study is retrospective, our data were collected across multiple sites and reflect the outcomes of the management of patients with pancreatic cancer over a long period. Abstract Pancreatic cancer is associated with high mortality rates, and most cases are diagnosed at advanced stages. This study aimed to evaluate the prognostic factors for survival in pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Data from the Finistere registry of digestive database were used in this analysis. This retrospective population-based study included 2117 patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma diagnosed between 2005 and 2019. Cox regression was used to assess the impact of different prognostic factors. The overall median age was 74 (IQR 65.0–81.0). The majority of pancreatic adenocarcinoma 1120 (52.90%) occurred in the head of the pancreas. The type of surgical resection correlated with age (pancreaticoduodenectomy performed in 13.39% of patients aged under 65 years and only 1.49% of patients aged ≥ 80 years). For the entire cohort, 1-year mortality rate after diagnosis was 77.81%. Chemotherapy was associated with better survival for both operated (HR 0.17 95% CI 0.22; 0.64 p < 0.001) and unoperated patients (HR 0.41 95% CI 0.27; 0.61 p < 0.001). Palliative radiotherapy was associated with improved survival (HR 0.69 95% CI 0.56; 0.85 p < 0.001). Among operated patients, the presence of lung metastases (median 34.06; CI 20.06; 34.66) was associated with better survival compared with liver metastases (median 21.10; CI 18.10; 28.96), peritoneal carcinomatosis (median 11.00; CI 8.53; 14.63), or distant metastases (median 15.16; CI 12.66; 18.13) (p = 0.0001). Age, curative surgery, positive lymph nodes, chemotherapy, and palliative radiotherapy were corelated with overall survival. Surgical resection is the only potentially curative treatment, but less than a quarter of patients were eligible.
U-Net Model with Transfer Learning Model as a Backbone for Segmentation of Gastrointestinal Tract

The human gastrointestinal (GI) tract is an important part of the body. According to World Health Organization (WHO) research, GI tract infections kill 1.8 million people each year. In the year 2019, almost 5 million individuals were detected with gastrointestinal disease. Radiation therapy has the potential to improve cure rates in GI cancer patients. Radiation oncologists direct X-ray beams at the tumour while avoiding the stomach and intestines. The current objective is to direct the X-ray beam toward the malignancy while avoiding the stomach and intestines in order to improve dose delivery to the tumour. This study offered a technique for segmenting GI tract organs (small bowel, big intestine, and stomach) to assist radio oncologists to treat cancer patients more quickly and accurately. The suggested model is a U-Net model designed from scratch and used for the segmentation of a small size of images to extract the local features more efficiently. Furthermore, in the proposed model, six transfer learning models were employed as the backbone of the U-Net topology. The six transfer learning models used are Inception V3, SeResNet50, VGG19, DenseNet121, InceptionResNetV2, and EfficientNet B0. The suggested model was analysed with model loss, dice coefficient, and IoU. The results specify that the suggested model outperforms all transfer learning models, with performance parameter values as 0.122 model loss, 0.8854 dice coefficient, and 0.8819 IoU.
Behavior of the Refractive Index Structure Parameter in the Entraining Convective Boundary Layer

Abstract The refractive index structure parameter CN2 has contributions from the temperature and humidity structure parameters Cr2 and CQ2 and from the joint structure parameter CTQ. We briefly review the behavior of these structure parameters in the surface layer. We show that the surface-layer similarity expressions for Cr2, CTQ and CQ2 yield, in the unstable limit, mixed-layer scaling laws which are in good agreement with data at small z/zi, where zi is the mixed-layer depth. However, we show that entrainment effects cause large departures from these laws in mid and upper regions of the convective boundary layer. Using Deardorff's idealization of the structure of the interfacial region at the top of a convective boundary layer, we use a “mean-field closure” approach to develop scaling expressions for the structure parameters generated by the entrainment process there. The available data on CT2, CTQ and CQ2 near the convective boundary-layer top, from both steady and evolving cases, are shown to be cons.
Morphostructural Differences between the Historical Genetic Lines of the Spanish Merino Sheep

Simple Summary This study addresses the analysis of the morphometric differences based on quantitative traits in the different historical genetic lines of the Spanish Merino sheep breed. The results show the existence of significative differences both in the measurements taken and in the indexes calculated between the different genetic lines. This result could indicate how different genetic lines within the autochthonous Merino breed have developed due to the chosen management models and the adaptation to the specific ecosystems in which the sheep have been bred in pure, closed conditions for centuries, which have been maintained to the present day. Our study complements a previous genomic approach, in which the different historical lines of the breed were characterized, showing the genuine genetic pool of the Spanish Merino, the origin of all the Merino and Merino derived breeds in the world. Abstract The Merino breed, which originates from Spain, is the most emblematic livestock breed in the world, since it is the first with a worldwide extension and has had an important impact on the genetic origin of several of the main current sheep populations. For this reason, it is of vital importance to typify the historical genetic lines of the original Spanish Merino breed and thereby ensure the conservation of its variability. In the present study, we used 337 purebred animals (males and females) registered in the Genealogical Book of the Native Merino Breed. All the animals were descendants of herds from six ancestral genetic lines (Maesso, Egea, Granda, López-Montenegro, Hidalgo, and Donoso). Significant differences were found in all the morphometric traits and indexes between the different genetic lines. Using discriminant analysis, 84% of the animals were classified correctly into their historical genetic lines. Furthermore, the distances between the lines, calculated by a cluster test, showed that Hidalgo, Maesso, and Donoso had the most clearly defined lines, while the Granda, López-Montenegro, and Egea lines were more similar to each other. All this demonstrates the rich genetic variability existing in the genuine gene pool of the Merino sheep breed.
Detection of specific DNA using a microfluidic device featuring tethered poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) on a silicon substrate

In this study, we grafted thermoresponsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) onto a Si substrate as the medium in a microfluidic device to detect specific DNA molecules [human genomic DNA (hgDNA528), 528 bp] at extremely low concentrations (down to 2 ng/μl). After using the polymerase chain reaction to amplify the released human gDNA signal from the tethered PNIPAAm on the substrate, the amplified human gDNA molecules were characterized through agarose gel electrophoresis. The tethered PNIPAAm in the fluid device allowed the precise detection of the human gDNA.
Differential Patterns in Motivations for Practicing Sport and Their Effects on Physical Activity Engagement across the Lifespan

This study aims to report what motivates individuals to be physically active, to determine whether motivating factors influence physical activity (PA) levels, and whether this differs across the lifespan. This is a cross-sectional study with 498 individuals: 117 adolescents, 306 adults, and 75 older adults. PA was assessed using Baecke’s questionnaire, and motivating factors for practicing sports were investigated using a scale with twelve questions. The factor analysis identified three motivating factors for sports practice: psychosocial, bodily, and well-being. The scale’s overall reliability and internal consistency indicated a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.885. The analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) adjusted for sex indicated the three factors as having a significant effect on PA (p < 0.050); however, only the well-being factor showed a significant interaction with age groups (p = 0.023, ηp2 = 0.030). Subsequently, the effect of the well-being factor on PA scores in each age group was explored through regression analyses. Only older adults showed a significant association in the unadjusted [OR = 0.378, p = 0.001, R2 = 0.243] and the sex-adjusted analysis [OR = 0.377, p = 0.001, R2 = 0.288]. These results help us to better understand the underlying motivational reasons in different age groups for engaging in sports.
Evolution of Public Opinion on COVID-19 Vaccination in Japan: Large-Scale Twitter Data Analysis

Background Vaccines are promising tools to control the spread of COVID-19. An effective vaccination campaign requires government policies and community engagement, sharing experiences for social support, and voicing concerns about vaccine safety and efficiency. The increasing use of online social platforms allows us to trace large-scale communication and infer public opinion in real time. Objective This study aimed to identify the main themes in COVID-19 vaccine-related discussions on Twitter in Japan and track how the popularity of the tweeted themes evolved during the vaccination campaign. Furthermore, we aimed to understand the impact of critical social events on the popularity of the themes. Methods We collected more than 100 million vaccine-related tweets written in Japanese and posted by 8 million users (approximately 6.4% of the Japanese population) from January 1 to October 31, 2021. We used Latent Dirichlet Allocation to perform automated topic modeling of tweet text during the vaccination campaign. In addition, we performed an interrupted time series regression analysis to evaluate the impact of 4 critical social events on public opinion. Results We identified 15 topics grouped into the following 4 themes: (1) personal issue, (2) breaking news, (3) politics, and (4) conspiracy and humor. The evolution of the popularity of themes revealed a shift in public opinion, with initial sharing of attention over personal issues (individual aspect), collecting information from news (knowledge acquisition), and government criticism to focusing on personal issues. Our analysis showed that the Tokyo Olympic Games affected public opinion more than other critical events but not the course of vaccination. Public opinion about politics was significantly affected by various social events, positively shifting attention in the early stages of the vaccination campaign and negatively shifting attention later. Conclusions This study showed a striking shift in public interest in Japan, with users splitting their attention over various themes early in the vaccination campaign and then focusing only on personal issues, as trust in vaccines and policies increased. An interrupted time series regression analysis showed that the vaccination rollout to the general population (under 65 years) increased the popularity of tweets about practical advice and personal vaccination experience, and the Tokyo Olympic Games disrupted public opinion but not the course of the vaccination campaign. The methodology developed here allowed us to monitor the evolution of public opinion and evaluate the impact of social events on public opinion, using large-scale Twitter data.
Fifth-order corrected electromagnetic field components for a fundamental Gaussian beam

Fifth‐order corrected expressions for the electromagnetic field components of a monochromatic fundamental Gaussian beam (i.e., a focused TEM00 mode laser beam) propagating within a homogeneous dielectric media are derived and presented. Calculations of relative error indicate that the fifth‐order Gaussian beam description provides a significantly improved solution to Maxwell’s equations in comparison with commonly used paraxial (zeroth‐order) and first‐order Gaussian beam descriptions.
Size Dependence Effect in MgO-Based CoFeB Tunnel Junctions with Perpendicular Magnetic Anisotropy

We examine the effect of junction sizes on the magnetization reversal process and spin-transfer torque switching of the MgO-based CoFeB magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA). From the magnetic field transport measurements, it was found that the miniaturization of MTJs inherently enhances the switching asymmetry and the PMA of the soft layer. Our micromagnetic simulations confirmed that the dipolar field from the hard layer is responsible for the switching asymmetry and the increase in perpendicular shape anisotropy induces improvement of the PMA. It was further revealed that this additional anisotropy gained from the smaller MTJ sizes is not sufficient to sustain the thermal stability to meet the long-term information storage at the state-of-the-art complementary-metal–oxide semiconductor technology node. The pulsed spin-transfer torque measurements showed that a higher current density is needed to switch the magnetization of the soft layer in MTJ with smaller lateral dimensions, which is attributed to the increase in PMA.
Reservation wages, labour market participation and health

Summary. The concept of the reservation wage has played an important role in labour market theory, particularly in models of job search, labour supply and labour market participation. We focus on the determinants of reservation wages, with a particular focus on health, which has attracted very little attention despite its importance from a policy perspective. Using UK data we estimate an endogenous switching model which predicts reservation wages for the unemployed and market wages for the employed. Our results have important policy implications since they suggest that poor health is a major cause of economic inactivity.
Application of the Level Set Method for Propagation of Small Curvature Bending Detonation Wave

Based on the detonation shock dynamics (DSD) theory, Level Set method for propagation of detonation wave was researched. In order to compute the propagation of small curvature bending detonation wave accurately, and according to characteristic of the Hamilton-Jacobi equation, the unstructured quadrilateral and Galerkin finite element difference scheme for solving Level Set function equation was studied.The finite-element code LS-DYNA was used to compute the experimental models about the propagation of detonation wave and the motion of flyers driven by explosive. The computation results are in good agreement with the experimental data. The results indicate that the difference scheme is of high accuracy and universal application.