Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cell Biology International

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a chronic progressive neurodegenerative disorder. However, its pathogenetic mechanism is still poorly understood. An increasing number of studies have evidenced the important role of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in AD. The aim of the current study was to investigate the effect and molecular mechanism of the lncRNA X‐inactive specific transcript (XIST) in AD. Bilateral common carotid artery occlusion (2VO) was used to induce an AD model in mice. Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) was used to induce an AD model in N2a cells. The lncRNA XIST, miR‐124, and BACE1 messenger RNA expression levels were detected by a real‐time polymerase chain reaction. The BACE1 protein expression level was detected by western blot and immunofluorescence assay. The Aβ1–42 expression level was detected using an enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay kit. The expression level of lncRNA XIST was significantly upregulated in AD models, both in vivo and in vitro. Silencing of lncRNA XIST negatively regulated miR‐124 and positively regulated BACE1 expression in N2a cells, which is attenuated by cotransfection of anti‐miR‐124 oligodeoxyribonucleotide (AMO‐124). Silencing of lncRNA XIST reversed the effect of H2O2 on miR‐124, BACE1, and Aβ1–42 expression in N2a cells, which was reversed by cotransfection of AMO‐124. Silencing of lncRNA XIST attenuated AD‐related BACE1 alteration through miR‐ 124. LncRNA XIST may be a new potential target for the treatment of AD.
Soil, Plant, and Microorganism Interactions Drive Secondary Succession in Alpine Grassland Restoration

Plant secondary succession has been explored extensively in restoring degraded grasslands in semiarid or dry environments. However, the dynamics of soil microbial communities and their interactions with plant succession following restoration efforts remain understudied, particularly in alpine ecosystems. This study investigates the interplay between soil properties, plant communities, and microbial populations across a chronosequence of grassland restoration on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau in China. We examined five succession stages representing artificial grasslands of varying recovery durations from 0 to 19. We characterized soil microbial compositions using high-throughput sequencing, enzymatic activity assessments, and biomass analyses. Our findings reveal distinct plant and microbial secondary succession patterns, marked by increased soil organic carbon, total phosphorus, and NH4+-N contents. Soil microbial biomass, enzymatic activities, and microbial community diversity increased as recovery time progressed, attributed to increased plant aboveground biomass, cover, and diversity. The observed patterns in biomass and diversity dynamics of plant, bacterial, and fungal communities suggest parallel plant and fungal succession occurrences. Indicators of bacterial and fungal communities, including biomass, enzymatic activities, and community composition, exhibited sensitivity to variations in plant biomass and diversity. Fungal succession, in particular, exhibited susceptibility to changes in the soil C: N ratio. Our results underscore the significant roles of plant biomass, cover, and diversity in shaping microbial community composition attributed to vegetation-induced alterations in soil nutrients and soil microclimates. This study contributes valuable insights into the intricate relationships driving secondary succession in alpine grassland restoration.
20 Years of Transgenic Research in China for Resistance to Papaya ringspot virus

Papaya is a favorite fruit and important industrial raw material in China. It is traditionally planted in southern China. Due to its wide uses and mystical health-related effects, papaya has been listed in fruits of high priority. Papaya ringspot virus (PRSV) is the main limitation of papaya production. PRSV infection rate reaches 100% in field in the late season of planting, which considerably reduces productivity and quality of papaya. Several research groups in China started around 1990 to develop transgenic papaya lines for resistance against PRSV, adopting pathogen-derived resistance strategy. The evaluation of resistance against PRSV and biosafety assessments with genetically modified (GM) papaya lines have been conducted in greenhouse and field. GM papaya with replicase gene from PRSV has been approved for commercial production in Guangdong province by Chinese government since 2006. In this review, we discuss 20 years research and regulatory management on transgenic papaya in China. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Decomformer: Decompose Self-Attention of Transformer for Efficient Image Restoration

A transformer architecture achieves outstanding performance in computer vision tasks based on the ability to capture long-range dependencies. However, a quadratic increase in complexity with respect to spatial resolution makes it impractical to apply for image restoration tasks. In this paper, we propose a Decomformer that efficiently captures global relationship by decomposing self-attention into linear combination of vectors and coefficients to reduce the heavy computational cost. This approximation not only reduces the complexity linearly, but also preserves the globality of the vanilla self-attention properly. Moreover, we apply a linear simple gate to represent the complex self-attention mechanism as the proposed decomposition directly. To show the effectiveness of our approach, we apply it to image restoration tasks including denoising, deblurring and deraining. The proposed decomposing scheme for self-attention in the Transformer achieves better or comparable results with state-of-the-arts as well as much more efficiency than most of previous approaches.
Control of IBMIR in Neonatal Porcine Islet Xenotransplantation in Baboons

The instant blood‐mediated inflammatory reaction (IBMIR) is a major obstacle to the engraftment of intraportal pig islet xenografts in primates. Higher expression of the galactose‐α1,3‐galactose (αGal) xenoantigen on neonatal islet cell clusters (NICC) than on adult pig islets may provoke a stronger reaction, but this has not been tested in the baboon model. Here, we report that WT pig NICC xenografts triggered profound IBMIR in baboons, with intravascular clotting and graft destruction occurring within hours, which was not prevented by anti‐thrombin treatment. In contrast, IBMIR was minimal when recipients were immunosuppressed with a clinically relevant protocol and transplanted with NICC from αGal‐deficient pigs transgenic for the human complement regulators CD55 and CD59. These genetically modified (GM) NICC were less susceptible to humoral injury in vitro than WT NICC, inducing significantly less complement activation and thrombin generation when incubated with baboon platelet‐poor plasma. Recipients of GM NICC developed a variable anti‐pig antibody response, and examination of the grafts 1 month after transplant revealed significant cell‐mediated rejection, although scattered insulin‐positive cells were still present. Our results indicate that IBMIR can be attenuated in this model, but long‐term graft survival may require more effective immunosuppression or further donor genetic modification.
High-Probability Regret Bounds for Bandit Online Linear Optimization

We present a modification of the algorithm of Dani et al. [8] for the online linear optimization problem in the bandit setting, which with high probability has regret at most O ∗ ( √ T) against an adaptive adversary. This improves on the previous algorithm [8] whose regret is bounded in expectation against an oblivious adversary. We obtain the same dependence on the dimension (n 3/2) as that exhibited by Dani et al. The results of this paper rest firmly on those of [8] and the remarkable technique of Auer et al. [2] for obtaining high probability bounds via optimistic estimates. This paper answers an open question: it eliminates the gap between the high-probability bounds obtained in the full-information vs bandit settings.
A review of factors influencing participation in social and community activities for wheelchair users

Abstract Objective: To systematically identify factors associated with participation in social and community activities for adult wheelchair users (WCUs). Data sources: PubMed/MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO and EMBASE. Study selection: Quantitative and qualitative peer-reviewed publications were included, which were written in English, reported original research and investigated factors associated with social and community participation in adult WCUs. Data extraction: The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines were used. Factors were organized using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). Data synthesis: Thirty-five studies were selected: two of power WCUs, 10 of manual WCUs and 23 of both. Six qualitative studies, ranging in quality from 8/10 to 9/10 and 29 quantitative studies were included, ranging in quality from 4/15 to 11/15. Fifteen body function, 4 activity, 5 participation, 15 environmental and 14 personal factors were found to be associated with social and community participation. Conclusions: Social and community participation of WCUs is associated with factors from all ICF domains. Wheelchair factors, accessibility, skills with wheelchair use, pain, finances and education are modifiable factors frequently reported to be associated with participation. Experimental research focusing on modifiable factors is needed to further our understanding of factors influencing participation among WCUs. Implications for Rehabilitation Wheelchair factors, including comfort and durability, are associated with participation and may be targeted in clinical intervention. Wheelchair skills are clinically modifiable and have been shown to improve participation in manual wheelchair users. Body functions (e.g. confidence, depression and fatigue) and personal factors (e.g. finances and level of education) may be considered for clinical intervention.
Migrant Construction Workers in Chennai City: A Study of Their Lives During the Pandemic

Tamil Nadu is one urban state which is industrialized and fast growing after the 1990s. The manufacturing and service sectors have been growing quickly, which contributes to the state's enormous labour demand. As Rural to urban migration is increasing in India for both the short term and the long-term movements, the migrants depend largely upon the construction sector for employment. Chennai and other areas of Tamil Nadu have emerged as the construction industries main hubs and draws migrants from and within the state and from other states flowing into these sectors. As Tamil Nadu is the home for more than 10 lakhs migrant workers especially working in construction segments. Every year, almost a lakh young men and women move from villages to Tamil Nadu with dreams to get better jobs and quality of life. Covid-19 had a major hit on the economy and turned it upside down all at once. The pandemic has caused a huge recession across all the countries. Many people were affected by the disease, many lost jobs, the global economy and the individual’s economic condition was severely affected. Considering the importance of establishing policies for migrants, especially towards the construction sector Firstly, the study examines the challenges faced by the migrant workers during pandemic with respect to provisions, residence, job, income, healthcare covid and non-covid related issues, mobility, and sanitation with the help of in-depth interview data collected from migrants’ construction workers in Chennai city. Secondly the paper focuses on various policy measures undertaken by the Government of India and Tamil Nadu to resolve the problem of the migrant workers. Thirdly, the paper Provides suggestions that can help governments be better equipped to handle these issues in the future. Random sampling technique is used to collect both quantitative and qualitative data’s which is collected from different areas of Chennai city, Vignette technique would be used to study the problems faced by the migrant’s workers during pandemic the qualitative data is analysed using vignettes to analyses the problem of the migrants during pandemic.
Global metabolic profiling of plant cell wall polysaccharide degradation by Saccharophagus degradans

Plant cell wall polysaccharides can be used as the main feedstock for the production of biofuels. Saccharophagus degradans 2–40 is considered to be a potent system for the production of sugars from plant biomass due to its high capability to degrade many complex polysaccharides. To understand the degradation metabolism of plant cell wall polysaccharides by S. degradans, the cell growth, enzyme activity profiles, and the metabolite profiles were analyzed by gas chromatography‐time of flight mass spectrometry using different carbon sources including cellulose, xylan, glucose, and xylose. The specific activity of cellulase was only found to be significantly higher when cellulose was used as the sole carbon source, but the xylanase activity increased when xylan, xylose, or cellulose was used as the carbon source. In addition, principal component analysis of 98 identified metabolites in S. degradans revealed four distinct groups that differed based on the carbon source used. Furthermore, metabolite profiling showed that the use of cellulose or xylan as polysaccharides led to increased abundances of fatty acids, nucleotides and glucuronic acid compared to the use of glucose or xylose. Finally, intermediates in the pentose phosphate pathway seemed to be up‐regulated on xylose or xylan when compared to those on glucose or cellulose. Such metabolic responses of S. degradans under plant cell wall polysaccharides imply that its metabolic system is transformed to more efficiently degrade polysaccharides and conserve energy. This study demonstrates that the gas chromatography‐time of flight mass spectrometry‐based global metabolomics are useful for understanding microbial metabolism and evaluating its fermentation characteristics. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2010; 105: 477–488. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Lipid rafts, the sarcoplasmic reticulum and uterine calcium signalling: an integrated approach

The pathways involved in Ca2+ signalling in the uterus remain incompletely understood, impairing our ability to prevent preterm and difficult labours. In this review we focus on two elements in the pathway of Ca2+ signalling that have recently emerged as playing important roles: membrane lipid rafts and the sarcoplasmic reticulum. We examine the evidence for lipid rafts in the uterus and discuss their functional role. We suggest that the increases in cytosolic [Ca2+] and contractility that occur with raft disruption are due, at least in part, to effects on large conductance Ca2+‐activated K+ (BK) channels that are localized to rafts. The role of the SR in contributing to subsarcolemmal cytosolic microdomains in uterus is evaluated, along with its interactions with ion channels on the plasma membrane. Thus, signalling microdomains play an important, but incompletely understood, role in the uterus, and integrating them into other Ca2+ signalling pathways is a challenge for further research. We suggest that the role of the SR changes in pregnancy, from promoting quiescence via BK channels or SR Ca2+ uptake, to promoting Ca2+ entry and contractility at term, and relate data on lipid rafts to clinical outcome in obese pregnant women.
Adaptive power management of on-chip video memory for Multiview Video Coding

An adaptive power management of on-chip video memory for Multiview Video Coding is presented. It leverages texture, motion and disparity properties of objects and their correlations in the 3D-neighborhood. It groups different Macroblocks of a frame and predicts the highly-probable motion/disparity search direction in order to power-gate idle memory regions. Exploited are the statistical properties of Macroblock groups to predict idle sectors. Our approach achieves on average 32% and 61% energy reduction (averaged over various video sequences) compared to state-of-the-art DSW [7] and Level C [12], respectively. The Motion/Disparity Estimation architecture with video memory and power management scheme is implemented using an ASIC flow (IBM-65nm Low-Power technology) and it processes 4-view HD1080p@33fps.
Taking into Account the Effect of Dual Wheels on the Behavior of Lateritic Gravelly Pavements

The representation in the three-dimensional space of the physical model symbolized by the application of the pairing of the wheels described by 2 disks with a radius of 0.125 m and a 0.375 m spacing has the advantage of more accurately simulating the loading. In most cases, the assumption of a uniform distribution of loading on the circular surface is considered. In order to determine the effect of dual wheels, this research proposes a new approach to the distribution of vertical contact stress in three-dimensional space with loading on the circular surface. This allowed evaluating the maximum deformation on the space described by the dual wheels. The results showed that vertical deformation is maximum at the center of each circular surface. The distribution of the vertical contact stress is non-uniform on the circular footprint and has a significant influence on the deformation of the pavement at the level of the bituminous layer. The impact assessment of the twinning reveals that the dual wheels load causes less damage than that of a single wheel. These results are obtained by means of a numerical simulation under Cast3M with a gravitational lateritic pavement.
Complement Receptor 1/Cd35 Is a Receptor for Mannan-Binding Lectin

Mannan-binding lectin (MBL), a member of the collectin family, is known to have opsonic function, although identification of its cellular receptor has been elusive. Complement C1q, which is homologous to MBL, binds to complement receptor 1 (CR1/CD35), and thus we investigated whether CR1 also functions as the MBL receptor. Radioiodinated MBL bound to recombinant soluble CR1 (sCR1) that had been immobilized on plastic with an apparent equilibrium dissociation constant of 5 nM. N-acetyl-d-glucosamine did not inhibit sCR1–MBL binding, indicating that the carbohydrate binding site of MBL is not involved in binding CR1. C1q inhibited MBL binding to immobilized sCR1, suggesting that MBL and C1q might bind to the same or adjacent sites on CR1. MBL binding to polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) was associated positively with changes in CR1 expression induced by phorbol myristate acetate. Finally, CR1 mediated the adhesion of human erythrocytes to immobilized MBL and functioned as a phagocytic receptor on PMNs for MBL–immunoglobulin G opsonized bacteria. Thus, MBL binds to both recombinant sCR1 and cellular CR1, which supports the role of CR1 as a cellular receptor for the collectin MBL.
Factors controlling evaporation and the CO2 flux over an open water lake in southwest of China on multiple temporal scales

Interactions between lakes and the atmosphere are poorly understood, especially for lakes in highland areas. A better understanding of the physical processes controlling turbulent exchange dynamics over lakes is crucial to improve the numerical modelling of the lake–climate interaction. Four years of continuous measurements of energy and CO2 fluxes are conducted over a shallow highland lake (Lake Erhai) in China using eddy covariance (EC) technique from 2012 to 2015. It is found that the latent heat flux (LE) and sensible heat flux (H) has distinct diurnal and seasonal variations. The diurnal H and LE ranges from −31 to 21 W/m2 and from 31 to 171 W/m2, respectively. The heat is stored in the lake from January to June and released from July to the end of the year. The annual total evaporation of Lake Erhai varies from 1120.8 to 1228.5 mm/a, which is always higher than the annual total precipitation. On diurnal scale, the CO2 uptake is observed during most of the midday period. On an annual scale, the Lake Erhai behaves as a net CO2 source, with an annual CO2 budget ranging from 117.5 to 161.7 g C m−2 a−1. The temperature difference (ΔT) between the water surface (T s) and the air temperature (T a), and the product of ΔT and wind speed (U) are the major drivers of H from half‐hourly to monthly scale. The main factors controlling LE are U and the product of U and the vapour pressure difference (VPD) on half‐hourly and daily scales, the total cloud cover, and net radiation (R n) on the monthly scale. Photosynthetic active radiation (PAR) and U has a close relationship with half‐hourly and daily CO2 fluxes, respectively, while annual precipitation and T s has a larger effect on annual CO2 fluxes.
Relative Impacts of Local and Remote Forcing on Tropical Cyclone Frequency in Numerical Model Simulations

Numerical experiments are carried out to explore the impacts of local and remote forcing on the interannual variability of tropical cyclone (TC) frequency. The first two groups of experiments focus on the regional simulations of Atlantic TCs, and the lateral boundary conditions and sea surface temperature (SST) are specified to investigate the relative importance of remote and local forcing. The results suggest that remote processes outside the North Atlantic, particularly extratropical processes, play an important role in modulating Atlantic TC frequency and that the remote impacts may exceed the impacts of local SST in some years. The total TC frequency in the northern tropics is explored in the third group of experiments. In contrast to the North Atlantic, tropical SST plays a dominant role in modulating the total TC frequency in the northern tropics. The difference may help to explain the uncertainties in the projections of future Atlantic TC frequency.
Using Rapid Feedback to Enhance Student Learning and Satisfaction

Our goal is to improve student learning in foundation engineering courses. Our hypothesis is that learning is improved by providing rapid feedback to students of their understanding of key concepts and skills. In the past two years, we conducted this study in two sections of a lower-level course, Statics. One author taught both sections and a crossover design of experiment was used. In a crossover study one section was randomly chosen to receive feedback with handheld computers (the 'treatment' group) while the other received the 'control,' which was either a feedback system using flashcards (in 2004) or no feedback (2005). After a certain period, the two sections swapped the treatment and control. Student performance on a quiz at the end of each treatment period provided the data for comparison using a general linear statistical model. Our findings from 2004 showed that there was no significant difference using either rapid-feedback method. In 2005 we found a significant and positive effect when students received feedback. This is a noteworthy finding that confirms the value of rapid feedback and the currently popular `clickers' that many professors are employing to promote classroom interaction