Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Genomic Analysis of the Necrotrophic Fungal Pathogens Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and Botrytis cinerea

Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and Botrytis cinerea are closely related necrotrophic plant pathogenic fungi notable for their wide host ranges and environmental persistence. These attributes have made these species models for understanding the complexity of necrotrophic, broad host-range pathogenicity. Despite their similarities, the two species differ in mating behaviour and the ability to produce asexual spores. We have sequenced the genomes of one strain of S. sclerotiorum and two strains of B. cinerea. The comparative analysis of these genomes relative to one another and to other sequenced fungal genomes is provided here. Their 38–39 Mb genomes include 11,860–14,270 predicted genes, which share 83% amino acid identity on average between the two species. We have mapped the S. sclerotiorum assembly to 16 chromosomes and found large-scale co-linearity with the B. cinerea genomes. Seven percent of the S. sclerotiorum genome comprises transposable elements compared to <1% of B. cinerea. The arsenal of genes associated with necrotrophic processes is similar between the species, including genes involved in plant cell wall degradation and oxalic acid production. Analysis of secondary metabolism gene clusters revealed an expansion in number and diversity of B. cinerea–specific secondary metabolites relative to S. sclerotiorum. The potential diversity in secondary metabolism might be involved in adaptation to specific ecological niches. Comparative genome analysis revealed the basis of differing sexual mating compatibility systems between S. sclerotiorum and B. cinerea. The organization of the mating-type loci differs, and their structures provide evidence for the evolution of heterothallism from homothallism. These data shed light on the evolutionary and mechanistic bases of the genetically complex traits of necrotrophic pathogenicity and sexual mating. This resource should facilitate the functional studies designed to better understand what makes these fungi such successful and persistent pathogens of agronomic crops.
Experimental investigation on steady granular flows interacting with an obstacle down an inclined channel: study of the dead zone upstream from the obstacle. Application to interaction between dense snow avalanches and defence structures

Abstract. An experimental investigation with dry granular flows passing over an obstacle down a rough inclined channel has been performed. The aim is to improve our understanding of the interaction between dense snow avalanches and defence structures. Specific attention was directed to the study of the zone of influence upstream from the obstacle, linked to the formation of a dead zone. The dead zone length L was systematically measured as a function of the obstacle height H and the channel inclination θ, for several discharges. In a whole range of channel inclinations, all the data are shown to collapse into a single curve when properly scaled. The scaling is based on the introduction of a theoretical deposit length (depending on H, θ and the internal friction angle of the material, φ) and a Froude number of the flow depending on the obstacle height.
Regional Homogeneity Abnormalities Affected by Depressive Symptoms in Migraine Patients without Aura: A Resting State Study

Background Bidirectional relationship between migraine and depression suggests that there might be some etiological risk factors shared. However, few studies investigated resting state abnormalities affected by depressive symptoms in migraine patients without aura (MWoA). Materials and Methods According to their self-rating depression scale (SDS) score, MWoA were divided into twenty in the SDS (+) (SDS > 49) group and 20 in the SDS (−) (SDS ≤ 49) group. Regional homogeneity (ReHo) method were employed to assess local features of spontaneous brain activity between 1) all MWoA and healthy controls, 2) each subgroup and healthy controls, and 3) SDS (−) group and SDS (+) group. Results Compared with healthy controls, decreased ReHo in similar regions were shown in the MWoA group and subgroups. It is noteworthy that the caudate showed increased ReHo in the SDS (−) group compared with healthy controls and the SDS (+) group. Moreover, the average ReHo values of the caudate in SDS (−) group were significantly positively correlated with duration of migraine. Conclusions Our results suggested that ReHo patterns in migraine patients may be affected by depressive symptoms and serve as a biomarker to reflect depression severity in MWoA.
Ab initio calculations of the optical properties of 4-Å-diameter single-walled nanotubes

We performed density-functional theory calculations in the local-density approximation of the structural, electronic, and optical properties of 4-$\mathrm{\AA{}}$-diameter single-walled carbon nanotubes. The calculated relaxed geometries show significant deviations from the ideal rolled graphene sheet configuration. We study the effect of the geometry on the electronic band structure finding the metallic character of the (5,0) nanotube to be a consequence of the high curvature of the nanotube wall. Calculations of the dielectric function and optical absorption of the isolated nanotubes were performed under light polarized parallel and perpendicular to the tube axis. We compare our results to measurements of the optical absorption of zeolite-grown nanotubes and are able to assign the observed maxima to the nanotube chiralities.
High-level synthesis for micro-electrode-dot-array digital microfluidic biochips

A digital microfluidic biochip (DMFB) is an attractive technology platform for automating laboratory procedures in biochemistry. However, today's DMFBs suffer from several limitations: (i) constraints on droplet size and the inability to vary droplet volume in a fine-grained manner; (ii) the lack of integrated sensors for real-time detection; (iii) the need for special fabrication processes and reliability/yield concerns. To overcome the above problems, DMFBs based on a micro-electrode-dot-array (MEDA) architecture have recently been demonstrated. However, due to the inherent differences between today's DMFBs and MEDA, existing synthesis solutions cannot be utilized for MEDA-based biochips. We present the first biochip synthesis approach that can be used for MEDA. The proposed synthesis method targets operation scheduling, module placement, routing of droplets of various sizes, and diagonal movement of droplets in a two-dimensional array. Simulation results using benchmarks and experimental results using a fabricated MEDA biochip demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed co-optimization technique.
Psoriasis in pregnancy: case series and literature review of data concerning exposure during pregnancy to ustekinumab

Abstract Psoriasis tends to improve for approximately half of patients during pregnancy, but an equal number of patients report no change or worsening during this period, when lots of medications, like biologics, are not indicated. The aim of our study was to review data of patient that had been pregnant during ustekinumab treatment, analyzing data of our data set between September 2010 and February 2018. We found data of three patients that had been pregnant during ustekinumab treatment. All three patients successfully completed the pregnancy without complications. One of the three patients was pregnant even twice during treatment with ustekinumab, with also a successful birth of two perfectly healthy twins. Biologic agents approved for the treatment of moderate-to-severe psoriasis are currently classified as pregnancy category B, even if, particularly for ustekinumab, there are several case reports regarding exposure during pregnancy in humans related to a healthy pregnancy, both for women and children. Although further studies are required to find real indication of biological treatment in pregnant patients, according to our and to the reviewed experience, ustekinumab does not interfere with gestation.
Continuous-Phase Control of a Powered Knee–Ankle Prosthesis: Amputee Experiments Across Speeds and Inclines

Control systems for powered prosthetic legs typically divide the gait cycle into several periods with distinct controllers, resulting in dozens of control parameters that must be tuned across users and activities. To address this challenge, this paper presents a control approach that unifies the gait cycle of a powered knee–ankle prosthesis using a continuous, user-synchronized sense of phase. Virtual constraints characterize the desired periodic joint trajectories as functions of a phase variable across the entire stride. The phase variable is computed from residual thigh motion, giving the amputee control over the timing of the prosthetic joint patterns. This continuous sense of phase enabled three transfemoral amputee subjects to walk at speeds from 0.67 to 1.21 m/s and slopes from <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$-2.5^{\circ }$</tex-math></inline-formula> to +9.0<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$^{\circ }$</tex-math></inline-formula>. Virtual constraints based on task-specific kinematics facilitated normative adjustments in joint work across walking speeds. A fixed set of control gains generalized across these activities and users, which minimized the configuration time of the prosthesis.
How can we explain the gender wealth gap in France

One can find an extensive literature analyzing the gender wage gap. In contrast, wealth inequalities remains relatively unexplored. However, wealth is an important indicator of economic well-being, whether one focuses on the inequalities within the population as a whole or within a specific household. Using data from the 2003-2004 and 2009-2010 French Household Wealth surveys, we find that the gross wealth of men is roughly 15% higher than that of women. The gap is noticeably larger for financial assets (roughly 37%) than for real estate (4% for primary residence in 2009). However, an OLS regression shows that, all other things being equal, women’s wealth is more important. In order to better highlight the factors that explain this wealth gap, we make use of the semi-parametric decomposition method developed by DiNardo, Fortin and Lemieux (1996). We thus decompose the gaps not only at the average (as one might do with the Oaxaca and Blinder method) but also at other points of the wealth distribution. This is important because this distribution is asymmetric. We show that the gender wealth gap is predominantly explained by the differences in the distribution of individual characteristics (especially those related to the labour market - income, status and experience). However, the gap is reduced by the better returns on women’s characteristics (which corresponds to the unexplained share of the decomposition). In other words, women derive more wealth from their characteristics than men do.
Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma and its correlation with human papillomavirus in people living with HIV: a systematic review

Over the last 20 years we assisted to an increase in the mean age of People Living with HIV and their comorbidities. Especially, there was an increase in Human Papillomavirus-related head and neck squamous cell carcinomas. Despite their increasing incidence in HIV-positive people, mechanisms that lead to their development and progression are only partially understood. The aim of this review is to identify key data and factors about HPV-related head and neck squamous cell carcinoma in HIV-seropositive patients. Systematic search and review of the relevant literature-peer-reviewed and grey-was conducted using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. We included in our review only the 35 full-text articles we considered the most substantial. It is mandatory to improve our knowledge about the interactions existing between HPV and HIV, and about their actions on oral mucosa immune system.
The Test–Retest Reliability of Questionnaires Regarding Attitudes and Beliefs Toward Noise, Hearing Loss, and Hearing Protector Devices in Young Adults

Context: Young people expose themselves to high noise levels during leisure activities, and might thus be at risk of acquiring hearing-related problems. Therefore, information regarding risk-taking behavior is necessary to prevent future hearing problems and to optimize future preventive campaigns. Aim: This study evaluated the test–retest reliability of the Youth Attitude to Noise Scale (YANS) and beliefs about hearing protection and hearing loss (BAHPHL) instrument. Settings and Design: Forty-three young adults between 18 and 29 years filled in a questionnaire at two test moments. Materials and Methods: The YANS and BAHPHL instrument were used to evaluate the attitudes toward noise, hearing loss, and hearing protection. Each participant completed the retest within 21–55 days after the first administration of the questionnaire. Results: Paired Student’s t-tests showed no significant differences in mean scores between test and retest for both the entire YANS and BAHPHL instrument as well as their factors. Furthermore, a good agreement between test and retest scores was seen by Bland–Altman analyses. Intraclass correlation coefficients were above 0.70 for the entire YANS and the factor related to youth culture as well as for the entire BAHPHL and all the factors of the BAHPHL instrument, except for the factor related to the severity of the consequences of hearing loss. Conclusion: Reliable test–retest measurements of the YANS and BAHPHL instrument can be performed. Hence, these questionnaires can be used in longitudinal studies to explore young adults’ changes in attitudes toward noise, hearing loss, and hearing protection, with or without an educational intervention.
Key bioactive reaction products of the NO/H2S interaction are S/N-hybrid species, polysulfides, and nitroxyl

Significance Reactions of sulfur-centered nucleophiles with nitrogenous species have been studied independently for more than a century for synthetic/industrial purposes; to understand geochemical, atmospheric, and biological processes; and to explain the origins of life. Various products and reaction mechanisms were proposed. We here identify a singular process comprising a network of cascading chemical reactions that form three main bioactive products at physiological pH: nitrosopersulfide, polysulfides, and dinitrososulfite. These anionic products scavenge, transport, and release NO/HNO or sulfide/sulfane sulfur, each displaying distinct chemistries and bioactivities. Our observations provide a chemical foundation for the cross-talk between the NO and H2S signaling pathways in biology and suggest that the biological actions of these entities can be neither considered nor studied in isolation. Experimental evidence suggests that nitric oxide (NO) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) signaling pathways are intimately intertwined, with mutual attenuation or potentiation of biological responses in the cardiovascular system and elsewhere. The chemical basis of this interaction is elusive. Moreover, polysulfides recently emerged as potential mediators of H2S/sulfide signaling, but their biosynthesis and relationship to NO remain enigmatic. We sought to characterize the nature, chemical biology, and bioactivity of key reaction products formed in the NO/sulfide system. At physiological pH, we find that NO and sulfide form a network of cascading chemical reactions that generate radical intermediates as well as anionic and uncharged solutes, with accumulation of three major products: nitrosopersulfide (SSNO−), polysulfides, and dinitrososulfite [N-nitrosohydroxylamine-N-sulfonate (SULFI/NO)], each with a distinct chemical biology and in vitro and in vivo bioactivity. SSNO− is resistant to thiols and cyanolysis, efficiently donates both sulfane sulfur and NO, and potently lowers blood pressure. Polysulfides are both intermediates and products of SSNO− synthesis/decomposition, and they also decrease blood pressure and enhance arterial compliance. SULFI/NO is a weak combined NO/nitroxyl donor that releases mainly N2O on decomposition; although it affects blood pressure only mildly, it markedly increases cardiac contractility, and formation of its precursor sulfite likely contributes to NO scavenging. Our results unveil an unexpectedly rich network of coupled chemical reactions between NO and H2S/sulfide, suggesting that the bioactivity of either transmitter is governed by concomitant formation of polysulfides and anionic S/N-hybrid species. This conceptual framework would seem to offer ample opportunities for the modulation of fundamental biological processes governed by redox switching and sulfur trafficking.
Breastfeeding performance in Iranian women

AIM Studies have shown that breastfeeding has both short-term and long-term useful effects on mother's and newborn's health. This study was conducted with the aim of determining predictors of breastfeeding performance in women who were referred to health centres in Tabriz City, Iran, in 2014 to 2015. METHODS This cross-sectional study cluster-sampled 220 breastfeeding women with infants aged 4 to 6 months. The Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale, the Iowa Infant Feeding Attitude Scale, the personal resource questionnaire-85, and a researcher-developed knowledge questionnaire were used to collect data. Multivariate linear regression model was used to determine predictors of breastfeeding performance. RESULTS The results showed that participants' breastfeeding performance mean (SD) value was 3.6 (1.2) of 6. There were significant relationships between breastfeeding performance and breastfeeding self-efficacy (P = .033) but not between social support, knowledge, attitudes, and breastfeeding performance (P > .05). Breastfeeding self-efficacy, occupation, family income sufficiency, and living with the family were identified as predictors of breastfeeding performance. CONCLUSION Given the relationship between breastfeeding self-efficacy and breastfeeding performance, strengthening mothers' self-efficacy should be considered, especially when compiling programs to promote breastfeeding. Increasing breastfeeding self-efficacy in women improves their breastfeeding performance: In developing programs to promote breastfeeding culture, women's self-efficacy should be considered.
A Profile of Noise Sensitivity on the Health-Related Quality of Life Among Young Motorcyclists

Introduction: Motorcycle riders with noise sensitivity (NS) may suffer from degraded health-related quality of life (HRQOL) because they are exposed to acute noise levels on a daily basis. Materials and Methods: This study was aimed to identify the relationship between NS and HRQOL among young motorcycle riders (undergraduate university students) aged between 19 and 25 years (n = 301) through a cross-sectional questionnaire-based study, that is, Weinstein noise sensitivity scale and the World Health Organization Quality of Life. The effects of NS on HRQOL were assessed based on gender, the years of motorcycle driving experience, and noise sensitive among groups using one-way analysis of variances with an alpha value of 0.05. Results: The results showed no significant difference in NS between males and females. On the other hand, motorcycle driving experience for <4 years displayed a higher tendency toward NS. Moreover, a significantly (P = 0.004) decreasing trend among low, moderate, and high NS with their respective HRQOL was observed, while a high NS showed significantly (P = 0.015) lower scores on the social domain of the quality of life. Conclusion: The overall premise of the study has statistical significance and shows that individuals with high NS tend to have degraded HRQOL compared to individuals with low NS. Furthermore, in-depth studies are required from the other demographical background of participants to investigate the motorcyclist’s NS and HRQOL as an integral requirement for the rider’s safety and health.
Physical Activity and Cognitive Functioning of Children: A Systematic Review

Childhood is an important and sensitive period for cognitive development. There is limited published research regarding the relationship between sports and cognitive functions in children. We present studies that demonstrate the influence of physical activity on health, especially a positive correlation between sports and cognitive functions. The keywords “children, cognition, cognitive function, physical activity, and brain” were searched for using PsycInfo, Medline, and Google Scholar, with publication dates ranging from January 2000 to November 2017. Of the 617 results, 58 articles strictly connected to the main topics of physical activity and cognitive functioning were then reviewed. The areas of attention, thinking, language, learning, and memory were analyzed relative to sports and childhood. Results suggest that engaging in sports in late childhood positively influences cognitive and emotional functions. There is a paucity of publications that investigate the impact of sports on pre-adolescents’ cognitive functions, or explore which cognitive functions are developed by which sporting disciplines. Such knowledge would be useful in developing training programs for pre-adolescents, aimed at improving cognitive functions that may guide both researchers and practitioners relative to the wide range of benefits that result from physical activity.
Microbiological, chemical and physical quality of drinking water for commercial turkeys: a cross-sectional study

Abstract Drinking water for poultry is not subject to particular microbiological, chemical and physical requirements, thereby representing a potential transmission route for pathogenic microorganisms and contaminants and/or becoming unsuitable for water‐administered medications. This study assessed the microbiological, chemical and physical drinking water quality of 28 turkey farms in North‐Eastern Italy: 14 supplied with tap water (TW) and 14 with well water (WW). Water salinity, hardness, pH, ammonia, sulphate, phosphate, nitrate, chromium, copper and iron levels were also assessed. Moreover, total bacterial count at 22°C, presence and enumeration of Enterococcus spp. and E. coli, presence of Salmonella spp. and Campylobacter spp. were quantified. A water sample was collected in winter and in summer at 3 sampling sites: the water source (A), the beginning (B) and the end (C) of the nipple line (168 samples in total). Chemical and physical quality of both TW and WW sources was mostly within the limits of TW for humans. However, high levels of hardness and iron were evidenced in both sources. In WW vs. TW, sulphate and salinity levels were significantly higher, whilst pH and nitrate levels were significantly lower. At site A, microbiological quality of WW and TW was mostly within the limit of TW for humans. However, both sources had a significantly lower microbiological quality at sites B and C. Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serotype Kentucky was isolated only twice from WW. Campylobacter spp. were rarely isolated (3.6% of farms); however, Campylobacter spp. farm‐level prevalence by real‐time PCR was up to 43% for both water sources. Winter posed at higher risk than summer for Campylobacter spp. presence in water, whereas no significant associations were found with water source, site, recirculation system, and turkey age. Low salinity and high hardness were significant risk factors for C. coli and C. jejuni presence, respectively. These results show the need of improving sanitization of drinking water pipelines for commercial turkeys.