Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dynamic field testing of coating chemistry candidates by a rotating disk system

Abstract Quick and reliable testing is crucial for the development of new fouling release (FR) coatings. Exposure of these coatings to natural multispecies communities is essential in evaluating their efficacy. To this end, we present a rotating disk setup for dynamic field exposure. To achieve a well-defined flow on the surface of the disk, an easy to use sample mounting system was developed that provides a smooth and even surface. We related the angular velocity of the disk to the wall shear stress on the surface with a hydrodynamic model. The wall shear stress was adjusted to values previously found to be suitable to discriminate dynamic diatom attachment on different coating chemistries in the lab. The effect of the dynamic conditions was shown by comparing polystyrene slides under static and dynamic exposure. Using a set of self-assembled monolayers, the discrimination potential of the assay in a multispecies environment was demonstrated.
Current Challenges in Plant Eco-Metabolomics

The relatively new research discipline of Eco-Metabolomics is the application of metabolomics techniques to ecology with the aim to characterise biochemical interactions of organisms across different spatial and temporal scales. Metabolomics is an untargeted biochemical approach to measure many thousands of metabolites in different species, including plants and animals. Changes in metabolite concentrations can provide mechanistic evidence for biochemical processes that are relevant at ecological scales. These include physiological, phenotypic and morphological responses of plants and communities to environmental changes and also interactions with other organisms. Traditionally, research in biochemistry and ecology comes from two different directions and is performed at distinct spatiotemporal scales. Biochemical studies most often focus on intrinsic processes in individuals at physiological and cellular scales. Generally, they take a bottom-up approach scaling up cellular processes from spatiotemporally fine to coarser scales. Ecological studies usually focus on extrinsic processes acting upon organisms at population and community scales and typically study top-down and bottom-up processes in combination. Eco-Metabolomics is a transdisciplinary research discipline that links biochemistry and ecology and connects the distinct spatiotemporal scales. In this review, we focus on approaches to study chemical and biochemical interactions of plants at various ecological levels, mainly plant–organismal interactions, and discuss related examples from other domains. We present recent developments and highlight advancements in Eco-Metabolomics over the last decade from various angles. We further address the five key challenges: (1) complex experimental designs and large variation of metabolite profiles; (2) feature extraction; (3) metabolite identification; (4) statistical analyses; and (5) bioinformatics software tools and workflows. The presented solutions to these challenges will advance connecting the distinct spatiotemporal scales and bridging biochemistry and ecology.
Learning to Teach

Teaching plays a very important role in our society, by spreading human knowledge and educating our next generations. A good teacher will select appropriate teaching materials, impact suitable methodologies, and set up targeted examinations, according to the learning behaviors of the students. In the field of artificial intelligence, however, one has not fully explored the role of teaching, and pays most attention to machine \emph{learning}. In this paper, we argue that equal attention, if not more, should be paid to teaching, and furthermore, an optimization framework (instead of heuristics) should be used to obtain good teaching strategies. We call this approach “learning to teach”. In the approach, two intelligent agents interact with each other: a student model (which corresponds to the learner in traditional machine learning algorithms), and a teacher model (which determines the appropriate data, loss function, and hypothesis space to facilitate the training of the student model). The teacher model leverages the feedback from the student model to optimize its own teaching strategies by means of reinforcement learning, so as to achieve teacher-student co-evolution. To demonstrate the practical value of our proposed approach, we take the training of deep neural networks (DNN) as an example, and show that by using the learning to teach techniques, we are able to use much less training data and fewer iterations to achieve almost the same accuracy for different kinds of DNN models (e.g., multi-layer perceptron, convolutional neural networks and recurrent neural networks) under various machine learning tasks (e.g., image classification and text understanding).
In vivo Effects of Bioactive Glass S53P4 or Beta Tricalcium Phosphate on Osteogenic Differentiation of Human Adipose Stem Cells after Incubation with BMP-2

Aims: Human adipose stem cells (hASCs) have been suggested as viable alternative for bone tissue engineering. However, the tissue response and osteogenic potential of BAG S53P4 or β-TCP granules has not been studied in vivo when seeded with hASCs and/or co-incubated with BMP-2 and thus, was evaluated in the current study. Methods and results: Human ASCs were isolated, expanded and seeded on BAG and β-TCP in vitro and, cell viability was assessed using Live/Dead staining. In a subcutaneous rodent implantation model, the cellular response and osteogenic potential of 1) plain, 2) hASC seeded, 3) BMP-2 co-incubated and 4) hASC seeded and BMP-2 co-incubated BAG and β-TCP granules were investigated using computed tomography and semi-quantitative histologic scores after 4 and 8 weeks. Live/Dead staining confirmed good cell viability on both biomaterials prior to implantation. Overall, implantation of both biomaterials resulted in formation of well-vascularized granulation tissue without excessive inflammation, fibrosis or adverse reactions independent on group assignment and time point evaluated and thus, suggesting safety for prospective applications. However, our results also indicate that β-TCP may temporarily stimulate foreign body giant cell formation after hASCs supplementation suggesting a resorptive response. Both biomaterials required supplementation of hASCs and/or BMP-2 to induce osteoblastic activity. However, BAG induced calcification exclusively when seeded with BMP-2 activated hASCs, whereas β-TCP required seeding with hASCs only. Conclusion: BAG and β-TCP granules can be safely implanted subcutaneously, induce a different cellular response and require hASC and/or BMP-2 supplementation to induce osteoblastic activity and calcification. A combination of β-TCP and hASCs appeared to be a feasible way in enhancing osteoblastic activity resulting in early osteogenesis while minimizing safety and regulatory concerns in bone-tissue engineering.
Tunable quantum criticality and super-ballistic transport in a “charge” Kondo circuit

A nanostructure quantum simulator Phase transitions occurring at absolute zero temperature, or quantum phase transitions (QPTs), can be grouped into broad categories called universality classes. The classification is based on the properties of the transition rather than the microscopic details of the underlying system. Iftikhar et al. exploited this fact to study QPTs in clean, tunable nanostructures, rather than in complex materials, where they most often occur. Within a single nanostructure, two different classes of QPTs with profoundly different characters were studied and comprehensively characterized. Science, this issue p. 1315 Nanostructures are used for the simulation of two very different classes of second-order phase transitions. Quantum phase transitions (QPTs) are ubiquitous in strongly correlated materials. However, the microscopic complexity of these systems impedes the quantitative understanding of QPTs. We observed and thoroughly analyzed the rich strongly correlated physics in two profoundly dissimilar regimes of quantum criticality. With a circuit implementing a quantum simulator for the three-channel Kondo model, we reveal the universal scalings toward different low-temperature fixed points and along the multiple crossovers from quantum criticality. An unanticipated violation of the maximum conductance for ballistic free electrons is uncovered. The present charge pseudospin implementation of a Kondo impurity opens access to a broad variety of strongly correlated phenomena.
N-hydroxy-pipecolic acid is a mobile metabolite that induces systemic disease resistance in Arabidopsis

Significance Plants lack circulating immune cells and instead rely on small molecule chemistry for local and long-distance defense signaling. Following pathogen attack, plants activate innate immune pathways at the site of infection to limit pathogen growth. Plants also possess the ability to prime similar immune responses in uninfected tissues to prevent the spread of pathogens or protect against new infections. Despite the importance of systemic immunity, the mechanism for signaling is not clear. In this study, we show that N-hydroxy-pipecolic acid metabolites are mobile defense signals produced at the site of bacterial infection and establish and amplify defense in uninfected, distal tissues. Our study illuminates the chemical nature of a mobile bioactive metabolite that confers pathogen resistance throughout the plant. Systemic acquired resistance (SAR) is a global response in plants induced at the site of infection that leads to long-lasting and broad-spectrum disease resistance at distal, uninfected tissues. Despite the importance of this priming mechanism, the identity and complexity of defense signals that are required to initiate SAR signaling is not well understood. In this paper, we describe a metabolite, N-hydroxy-pipecolic acid (N-OH-Pip) and provide evidence that this mobile molecule plays a role in initiating SAR signal transduction in Arabidopsis thaliana. We demonstrate that FLAVIN-DEPENDENT MONOOXYGENASE 1 (FMO1), a key regulator of SAR-associated defense priming, can synthesize N-OH-Pip from pipecolic acid in planta, and exogenously applied N-OH-Pip moves systemically in Arabidopsis and can rescue the SAR-deficiency of fmo1 mutants. We also demonstrate that N-OH-Pip treatment causes systemic changes in the expression of pathogenesis-related genes and metabolic pathways throughout the plant and enhances resistance to a bacterial pathogen. This work provides insight into the chemical nature of a signal for SAR and also suggests that the N-OH-Pip pathway is a promising target for metabolic engineering to enhance disease resistance.
Risk factors associated with gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors in a cohort of 2.3 million Israeli adolescents

We investigated whether obesity and sociodemographic factors at adolescence are associated with incident gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP‐NET). Our cohort included 2.3 million Israeli adolescents examined at ages 16 to 19 years between 1967 and 2010. The baseline database included sex, country of birth, residential socioeconomic status (SES), body‐mass index (BMI) and height. Participants were followed through linkage with the National Cancer Registry up to 2012. We identified 221 cases of GEP‐NET (66 pancreatic, 52 gastric, 39 rectal, 27 appendiceal, 23 small bowel and 14 colonic). Immigration from the Former Soviet Union (FSU) was associated with the risk of small bowel and rectal NET's, [Hazard Ratio (HR) 4.79, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 1.37–16.76 and 3.43, 95% CI 1.20–9.83, respectively]. Height >75th percentile and BMI ≥ 85th percentile were associated with increased risk of gastric NET (HR 2.25 95% CI 1.14–4.42 and HR 2.38, 95% CI 1.19–4.75, respectively). Female sex was associated with appendiceal NET (HR 2.30, 95% CI 1.06–4.96) while male gender was associated with an increased risk for NET of the small bowel [HR 4.72 (95% CI 1.10–20.41)]. In conclusion, our findings suggest different risk factor associations with the various GEP‐NETS: immigrants from the FSU were at increased risk for small bowel and rectal NET; increased height and weight were associated with the risk of gastric NET and females were at increased risk for appendiceal NET. Further focus on the FSU population is indicated in addition to studies verifying the association of BMI and height with gastric NET.
Functional analysis of a hypomorphic allele shows that MMP14 catalytic activity is the prime determinant of the Winchester syndrome phenotype

Winchester syndrome (WS, MIM #277950) is an extremely rare autosomal recessive skeletal dysplasia characterized by progressive joint destruction and osteolysis. To date, only one missense mutation in MMP14, encoding the membrane-bound matrix metalloprotease 14, has been reported in WS patients. Here, we report a novel hypomorphic MMP14 p.Arg111His (R111H) allele, associated with a mitigated form of WS. Functional analysis demonstrated that this mutation, in contrast to previously reported human and murine MMP14 mutations, does not affect MMP14’s transport to the cell membrane. Instead, it partially impairs MMP14’s proteolytic activity. This residual activity likely accounts for the mitigated phenotype observed in our patients. Based on our observations as well as previously published data, we hypothesize that MMP14’s catalytic activity is the prime determinant of disease severity. Given the limitations of our in vitro assays in addressing the consequences of MMP14 dysfunction, we generated a novel mmp14a/b knockout zebrafish model. The fish accurately reflected key aspects of the WS phenotype including craniofacial malformations, kyphosis, short-stature and reduced bone density due to defective collagen remodeling. Notably, the zebrafish model will be a valuable tool for developing novel therapeutic approaches to a devastating bone disorder.
Posttraumatic Headache: Classification by Symptom‐Based Clinical Profiles

There are currently no accepted therapies for posttraumatic headache (PTH). In order to meet the urgent need for effective therapies for PTH, we must continue to address fundamental gaps in our understanding of the clinical course and impact of PTH. Here we examine the existing schema used to characterize the clinical characteristics of PTH, including the International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD). There remain unresolved questions about whether to classify patients based on the extent of brain injury or on clinical symptom profiles. There also remain problematic issues of definition such as continuous headache, and chronic daily headache with features of “embedded” migraine‐type within these headaches, which will need to be studied further. We make the case that a symptom‐based classification is needed to begin an examination of these unresolved questions, and to establish clinically relevant endpoints for research and clinical trials for effective therapies.
Complications of Pedicle Screw Fixation in Scoliosis Surgery: A Systematic Review

Study Design. Systematic review. Objective. To review the published literature on the use of pedicle screws in pediatric spinal deformity to quantify the risks and complications associated with pedicle screw instrumentation, particularly in the thoracic spine. Summary of Background Data. The use of pedicle screws in adolescent scoliosis surgery is common. Although many reports have been published regarding the use of pedicle screws in pediatric patients, there has been no systematic review on the risks of complications. Methods. PubMed, Ovid Medline, and Cochrane databases were searched for studies reporting the use of thoracic pedicle screws in pediatric deformity. We excluded articles dealing with neuromuscular scoliosis or bone dysplasia to focus mostly on adolescent thoracic idiopathic scoliosis and the likes. We then searched for cases reports dealing with thoracic pedicle screws complications. Results. This systematic review retrieved 21 studies with a total of 4570 pedicle screws in 1666 patients. The mean age of the patients was 17.6 years; 812 patients were women and 252 were men, and 5 studies did not identify sex. Overall, 518 (4.2%) screws were reported as malpositioned. However, in studies in which postoperative computed tomography scans were done systematically, the rate of screw malpositioning was as high as 15.7%. The reported percentage of patients with screw malpositioned is around 11%. Eleven patients underwent revision surgery for instrumentation malposition. Other complications reported include loss of curve correction, intraoperative pedicle fracture or loosening, dural laceration, deep infection, pseudarthrosis, and transient neurologic injury. There were no major vascular complications reported in these 21 studies. We could identify 9 case report articles dealing with complications of pedicle screws. Such complications were mostly either vascular (10 cases) or neurologic (4 cases), without any irreversible complications. Conclusion. Malposition is the most commonly reported complication of thoracic pedicle screw placement, at a rate of 15.7% per screw inserted with postoperative computed tomography scans. The use of pedicle screws in the thoracic spine for the treatment of pediatric deformity has been reported to be safe despite the high rate of patients with malpositioned screws (11%). Major compli cations, such as neurologic or vascular injury, were almost never reported in this literature review of case series. Cases reports on the other hand have started to identify such complications.
Clinical implications of incomplete pancreas divisum.

CONTEXT Incomplete pancreas divisum is a pancreatic anomaly that results in an inadequate communication between the ventral and dorsal pancreatic ducts. Although the relationship between complete pancreas divisum and pancreatitis has been contentious, clinical implications of incomplete pancreas divisum have not been noted. OBJECTIVE This study was done to investigate the clinical significance of incomplete pancreas divisum. PATIENTS AND METHODS We studied the anatomy of the pancreatic duct system in 3,220 cases using endoscopic retrograde pancreatography; 44 cases had complete pancreas divisum, and 41 had incomplete pancreas divisum. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE The prevalence of chronic and acute pancreatitis associated with complete or incomplete pancreas divisum was compared with that of cases with neither complete nor incomplete pancreas divisum (controls). RESULTS All of the patients with complete or incomplete pancreas divisum who abused alcohol had chronic or acute pancreatitis. The prevalence of chronic pancreatitis in patients with complete or incomplete pancreas divisum was significantly higher than in controls (P<0.001 and P=0.001, respectively), but acute pancreatitis occurred more frequently only in patients with complete pancreas divisum (P=0.010). When we considered pancreatic-type pain as a pancreatitis-like disease, complete and incomplete pancreas divisum were suspected as the cause of pancreatitis-like disease in 39% (15/38: chronic dorsal pancreatitis, n=5; acute pancreatitis, n=7; pancreatic-type pain, n=3) and 30% (10/33: chronic dorsal pancreatitis, n=2; acute relapsing pancreatitis, n=1; pancreatic-type pain, n=7) of patients who did not abuse alcohol, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Although the precise pathophysiology may differ, patients with complete pancreas divisum and patients with incomplete pancreas divisum may have similar presentations and a similar prevalence. The clinical implications of incomplete pancreas divisum may be similar to those of complete pancreas divisum.
Estimating the Marginal Causal Effect of Fish Consumption during Adolescence on Multiple Sclerosis: A Population-Based Incident Case-Control Study

Background: Adolescence is considered as a critical time period in multiple sclerosis (MS) etiology. Nonetheless, there are insufficient reports regarding the potential role of fresh and canned fish consumptions during adolescence in MS etiology. The authors investigated the association between fresh and canned fish consumptions and MS. Methods: This was a population-based incident case-control study conducted in Tehran. Cases (n = 547) identified from Iranian Multiple Sclerosis Society between August 7, 2013, and November 17, 2015 were included in the study. Population-based controls (n = 1,057) were recruited by random digit telephone dialing without any matching. Inverse-probability-of-treatment weighing (IPTW) using 2 sets of propensity scores and model-based standardization were used to separately estimate the marginal odds ratio between fresh and canned fish consumptions in adolescence and MS. Results: The marginal OR for fresh fish was 0.72 (95% CI 0.58–0.90; p = 0.005) in both IPTW analyses. Similarly, the marginal OR for canned fish consumption was 0.75 (95% CI 0.60–0.95; p = 0.014). The model-based standardized OR was 0.72 (95% CI 0.58–0.91; p = 0.008) for fresh and 0.73 (95% CI 0.59–0.94; p = 0.006) for canned fish consumption in adolescence. Discussion: Subject to limitation of case-control studies in interpreting associations causally, this study suggests that both fresh and canned fish consumptions in adolescence can decrease the risk of MS.
Reconstruction of complex tissue defect of forearm with a chimeric flap composed of a sural neurocutaneous flap and a vascularized fibular graft: A case report

One‐stage reconstruction of composite bone and soft‐tissue defects in the forearm remains a tough challenge. Here, we present a case of reconstruction of complex tissue defect at forearm with a chimeric flap consisting of a sural neurocutaneous flap and a fibular graft. A 61‐year‐old man suffered from a machine crush injury in his left forearm, resulting in a complex tissue defect including extensive dorsomedial soft‐tissue, digit extensor muscles of 2–4 fingers, the muscle flexor carpi ulnaris, the ulna bone with 5.5 cm in length, segmental injuries of ulna nerve and vessels, and the radius fracture. The defects were reconstructed by a modified chimeric flap, in which the sural neurocutaneous flap supplied by a peroneal perforator was used to repair the soft‐tissue defect and the vascularized fibular graft was used to repair the ulna defect. The two components were supplied by the peroneal vessels. The ulnar nerve defect was bridged by a sural nerve graft. The venous congestion caused by thrombosis was observed at 24 hours postoperatively. After the venous anastomosis was reperformed, the flap survived completely without other complications. Bone healing was achieved at the 7‐month follow‐up. The index and middle fingers reached nearly full range of motion, while the ranges of motion of metacarpophalangeal joint of the ring and little fingers were less than 60 degrees. The results showed that the modified chimeric flap may be an option for reconstruction of complex tissue defect in the forearm.