Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
RIPK4/PEBP1 axis promotes pancreatic cancer cell migration and invasion by activating RAF1/MEK/ERK signaling

Pancreatic cancer is a lethal disease with a high metastatic potential. In our previous study, we identified a specific subgroup of patients with pancreatic cancer with a serum signature of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA)+/cancer antigen (CA)125+/CA19-9 ≥1,000 U/ml. In this study, by using high-throughput screening analysis, we found that receptor-interacting protein kinases 4 (RIPK4) may be a key molecule involved in the high metastatic potential of this subgroup of patients with pancreatic cancer. A high RIPK4 expression predicted a poor prognosis and promoted pancreatic cancer cell migration and invasion via the RAF1/MEK/ERK pathway. Moreover, RIPK4 activated the RAF1/MEK/ERK pathway by regulating proteasome-mediated phosphatidylethanolamine binding protein 1 (PEBP1) degradation. The suppression of PEBP1 degradation eliminated the RIPK4-induced activation of RAF1/MEK/ERK signaling and pancreatic cancer cell migration or invasion. Thus, on the whole, the findings of this study indicated that RIPK4 was upregulated in the subgroup of pancreatic cancer with a high metastatic potential. RIPK4 overexpression promoted pancreatic cancer cell migration and invasion via the PEBP1 degradation-induced activation of the RAF1/MEK/ERK pathway.
Integrating Physiology and Architecture in Models of Fruit Expansion

Architectural properties of a fruit, such as its shape, vascular patterns, and skin morphology, play a significant role in determining the distributions of water, carbohydrates, and nutrients inside the fruit. Understanding the impact of these properties on fruit quality is difficult because they develop over time and are highly dependent on both genetic and environmental controls. We present a 3D functional-structural fruit model that can be used to investigate effects of the principle architectural properties on fruit quality. We use a three step modeling pipeline in the OpenAlea platform: (1) creating a 3D volumetric mesh representation of the internal and external fruit structure, (2) generating a complex network of vasculature that is embedded within this mesh, and (3) integrating aspects of the fruit's function, such as water and dry matter transport, with the fruit's structure. We restrict our approach to the phase where fruit growth is mostly due to cell expansion and the fruit has already differentiated into different tissue types. We show how fruit shape affects vascular patterns and, as a consequence, the distribution of sugar/water in tomato fruit. Furthermore, we show that strong interaction between tomato fruit shape and vessel density induces, independently of size, an important and contrasted gradient of water supply from the pedicel to the blossom end of the fruit. We also demonstrate how skin morphology related to microcracking distribution affects the distribution of water and sugars inside nectarine fruit. Our results show that such a generic model permits detailed studies of various, unexplored architectural features affecting fruit quality development.
Validation of an Assessment Tool for Field Endotracheal Intubation.

OBJECTIVES Endotracheal intubation (ETI) is an important skill for all emergency providers; our ability to train and assess our learners is integral to providing optimal patient care. The primary aim of this study was to assess the inter-rater reliability (IRR) and discriminant validity of a novel field ETI assessment tool using a checklist-derived performance score (PS) and critical failure (CF) rate. METHODS Forty-three participants (18 paramedic students, 11 paramedics, and 14 emergency physicians [EPs]) performed ETI during a simulated trauma scenario on a pseudo-ventilated cadaver. Each participant was assessed by two experienced raters. IRR was calculated using the intraclass correlation coefficient. Regarding discriminant validity, a Kruskal-Wallis test was used to analyze PSs and a χ2 test was used for CFs. Mean global rating scale (GRS) scores were compared using an analysis of variance. RESULTS The ETI assessment tool had excellent IRR, with an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.94. There was a significant difference in PSs, CFs, and GRSs (p < 0.05) between cohorts. CONCLUSION The novel field ETI assessment tool has excellent reliability among trained raters and discriminates between experienced ETI providers (EPs) and less experienced ETI performers using PSs, CFs, and GRSs on a fresh cadaveric model.
A Novel Variation of Lateral Doping Technique in SOI LDMOS With Circular Layout

The breakdown characteristics of a practical silicon-on-insulator (SOI) lateral power device are generally limited by the 3-D curvature effect induced by its circular layout. The Conventional 2-D design methods such as 2-D variation of lateral doping (VLD) technique cannot derive optimal device parameters. In this paper, for the first time, a 3-D VLD technique is proposed to suppress the 3-D curvature effect in the lateral power device with circular layout. The 3-D Poisson equation is solved to formulate the optimized doping profile. TCAD tools are employed to verify the model and explore the physic insight. By adding an inversely proportional doping profile onto the conventional linear doping profile, the analytical and numerical results show that the uniform electric field in the drift region and maximized breakdown voltage (BV) are obtained for the SOI lateral double-diffused metal–oxide–semiconductor with circular layout. Furthermore, compared to the 2-D VLD device, the proposed 3-D VLD technique also contributes to excellent on-state characteristics, including the high on-state BV, reduced specific on-resistance, large saturation current, suppressed quasi-saturation effect, improved transconductance, and thus a large Baliga’s figure of merits (BFOM).
Spectral analysis combined with advanced linear unmixing allows for histolocalization of phenolics in leaves of coffee trees

An imaging method using spectral analysis combined with advanced linear unmixing was used to allow histolocalization of natural autofluorescent compounds such as hydroxycinnamic acid (chlorogenic acid) and xanthone (mangiferin) in living cells and tissues (mature coffee leaves). The tested method included three complementary steps: 1/ visualization of natural autofluorescence and spectrum acquisition with a multiphoton microscope; 2/ identification of some compounds using previous information on the chemical composition of the tissue, obtained from litterature; and 3/ localization of candidate compounds by spectral imaging. The second part of the study consisted of describing the histochemical structure of leaves during their development. This revealed very fast histochemical differentiation of leaves during the first week after their emergence. Lastly, young leaves of Coffea pseudozanguebariae (PSE), C. eugenioides (EUG), C. arabica (ARA) and C. canephora (CAN) were compared. This confirmed the presence of xanthone in PSE and EUG, but especially its precise tissue localization. This also highlighted the paternal CAN origin of the leaf structure in the allotetraploid species ARA. The limits and advantages of the method without staining are discussed relative to classical epifluorescence microscopy under UV light. This non-invasive optical technique does not require pretreatment and is an effective experimental tool to differentiate multiple naturally-occuring fluorochores in living tissues.
Evidence of Decoupling Protein Structure from Spidroin Expression in Spider Dragline Silks

The exceptional strength and extensibility of spider dragline silk have been thought to be facilitated by two spidroins, major ampullate spidroin 1 (MaSp1) and major ampullate spidroin 2 (MaSp2), under the assumption that protein secondary structures are coupled with the expressed spidroins. We tested this assumption for the dragline silk of three co-existing Australian spiders, Argiope keyserlingi, Latrodectus hasselti and Nephila plumipes. We found that silk amino acid compositions did not differ among spiders collected in May. We extended these analyses temporally and found the amino acid compositions of A. keyserlingi silks to differ when collected in May compared to November, while those of L. hasselti did not. To ascertain whether their secondary structures were decoupled from spidroin expression, we performed solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) analysis on the silks of all spiders collected in May. We found the distribution of alanine toward β-sheet and 3,10helix/random coil conformations differed between species, as did their relative crystallinities, with A. keyserlingi having the greatest 3,10helix/random coil composition and N. plumipes the greatest crystallinity. The protein secondary structures correlated with the mechanical properties for each of the silks better than the amino acid compositions. Our findings suggested that a differential distribution of alanine during spinning could decouple secondary structures from spidroin expression ensuring that silks of desirable mechanical properties are consistently produced. Alternative explanations include the possibility that other spidroins were incorporated into some silks.
EVALUATION OF THE TEXTURAL PROPERTIES OF JAPANESE PEAR

The texture of Japanese pear (Pyrus serotina Rehder var. culta ‘Housui') during fruit enlargement and ripening was evaluated. From the plate compression test, only the deformation ratio, modulus of elasticity, and relaxation were the interpretable textural indices for the Japanese pear. From the puncture test, interpretable textural indices were the rupture force, deformation at the rupture point, toughness, average firmness, initial firmness, apparent modulus of elasticity, bioyield force, penetrating force and penetrating energy in the flesh. The skin of the Japanese pear contributed 70–80% of the firmness of the fruit. As the fruits enlarged, the strain decreased, the elasticity increased, the fruit skin was more prone to mechanical damage, the fruit flesh became softer, and firmness and rigidity of the whole fruit was reduced.
Fusing RFID and computer vision for fine-grained object tracking

In recent years, both the RFID and computer vision technologies have been widely employed in indoor scenarios aimed at different goals while faced with respective limitations. For example, the RFID-based EAS system is useful in quickly identifying tagged objects but the accompanying false alarm problem is troublesome and hard to tackle with except that the accurate trajectory of the target tag can be easily acquired. On the other side, the CV system performs fairly well in tracking multiple moving objects precisely while finding it difficult to screen out the specific target among them. To overcome the above limitations, we present TagVision, a hybrid RFID and computer vision system for fine-grained localization and tracking of tagged objects. A fusion algorithm is proposed to organically combine the position information given by the CV subsystem, and phase data output by the RFID subsystem. In addition, we employ the probabilistic model to eliminate the measurement error caused by thermal noise and device diversity. We have implemented TagVision with COTS camera and RFID devices and evaluated it extensively in our lab environment. Experimental results show that TagVision can achieve 98% blob matching accuracy and 10.33mm location tracking precision.
Optometric and Perceptual Issues with Head-mounted Displays

Most virtual reality (VR) systems employ head-mounted displays (HMDs). Many such systems are also designed to provide stereo depth and use head tracking to enable the virtual world to change in response to the user's movements. The current state of HMDs and other VR technology falls short of accurately simulating many aspects of the visual world. Differences between the real world, for which the human visual system had a few million years to adapt, and the novel HMD may result in degradation ofimage quality and/or cause discomfort and visual changes. Concerns about possible harmful.effects are reminiscent of similar worries that accompany the introduction of almost any new wide-use technology. Such concerns were raised with the introduction of television, computers and visual display terminals (VDTs), microwave ovens, and, most recently, cellular phones. This chapter describes a few possible mismatches between the visual system's response to the real world and its response to the virtual world of the HMD. Some of these mismatches result in unwanted perceptual effects including stress to the visual system, discomfort, and, presumably, long-term changes to the visual system. These unwanted effects mayor may not impact the acceptance of the technology. Many of the mismatches that result in these negative consequences can be
Analysis of the influence of binder properties on the mechanical response of bituminous mixtures

Abstract Asphalt mixtures are composed by a mass of aggregates (more than 90% of their total weight), which are bonded by a bituminous binder. Despite the fact that the binder is not the main component of these materials (around 5% of their total weight), it exerts a high influence on their mechanical response. In this sense, the service life of asphalt pavements will directly depend on the type of binder used, and thus an adequate choice is crucial to construct more durable roads. Because of this fact, it is necessary to know the characteristics of the bitumen in order to reduce the impact of different distresses that appear on roads. For this purpose, this paper studies the influence of the binder properties in the appearance of the main distresses that affect asphalt pavements around the world (stripping, fatigue cracking and plastic deformations). Five bitumens with different properties have been analysed during this research using diverse binder (UCL, multiple stress creep and recovery test and dynamic shear rheometer time sweep) and mixture (water sensitivity, wheel tracking and UGR-FACT) tests. The results obtained show that the properties of the binder influence the long-term performance of bituminous mixtures. In this sense, it can be said that flexible binders which are able to recover plastic deformations could extend the service life of the pavements.
Different adaptation strategies of two citrus scion/rootstock combinations in response to drought stress

Scion/rootstock interaction is important for plant development and for breeding programs. In this context, polyploid rootstocks presented several advantages, mainly in relation to biotic and abiotic stresses. Here we analyzed the response to drought of two different scion/rootstock combinations presenting different polyploidy: the diploid (2x) and autotetraploid (4x) Rangpur lime (Citrus limonia, Osbeck) rootstocks grafted with 2x Valencia Delta sweet orange (Citrus sinensis) scions, named V/2xRL and V/4xRL, respectively. Based on previous gene expression data, we developed an interactomic approach to identify proteins involved in V/2xRL and V/4xRL response to drought. A main interactomic network containing 3,830 nodes and 97,652 edges was built from V/2xRL and V/4xRL data. Exclusive proteins of the V/2xRL and V/4xRL networks (2,056 and 1,001, respectively), as well as common to both networks (773) were identified. Functional clusters were obtained and two models of drought stress response for the V/2xRL and V/4xRL genotypes were designed. Even if the V/2xRL plant implement some tolerance mechanisms, the global plant response to drought was rapid and quickly exhaustive resulting in a general tendency to dehydration avoidance, which presented some advantage in short and strong drought stress conditions, but which, in long terms, does not allow the plant survival. At the contrary, the V/4xRL plants presented a response which strong impacts on development but that present some advantages in case of prolonged drought. Finally, some specific proteins, which presented high centrality on interactomic analysis were identified as good candidates for subsequent functional analysis of citrus genes related to drought response, as well as be good markers of one or another physiological mechanism implemented by the plants.
Application of the dual-component model of working memory to ADHD:Greater secondary memory deficit despite confounded cognitive differences

ABSTRACT The dual-component model postulates that working memory capacity consists of two dissociable components: maintenance in primary memory (PM) and retrieval from secondary memory (SM). Recent application of this model to attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has revealed that the SM component is more deficient than the PM component across both verbal and spatial modalities. The present study attempts to strengthen this conclusion by addressing two weaknesses in the previous study. First, the present study shows that the SM component continues to be more deficient than the PM component across both modalities under conditions in which (1) all participants were instructed to use the same recall strategy (resulting in the exclusion of fewer participants); and, (2) individual differences in this strategy were controlled. Second, the present study also documents a group difference in word reading efficiency that is confounded with diagnostic status and that might have influenced estimates of PM and SM capacities in the verbal modality. However, although the SM component is more deficient than the PM component in the ADHD group, the magnitude of this interaction does not vary as a function task modality. These findings are interpreted to suggest that the pattern of WM deficiencies observed are part of a causal pathway that can lead to the symptoms of ADHD, as well as to impairments in reading (and intelligence) due to overlapping cue-dependent retrieval mechanisms. These findings provide additional support for the notion that the SM component of WM is an important and neglected target for treatment.
The Case for Feed-Forward Clock Synchronization

Variable latencies due to communication delays or system noise is the central challenge faced by time-keeping algorithms when synchronizing over the network. Using extensive experiments, we explore the robustness of synchronization in the face of both normal and extreme latency variability and compare the feedback approaches of ntpd and ptpd (a software implementation of IEEE-1588) to the feed-forward approach of the RADclock and advocate for the benefits of a feed-forward approach. Noting the current lack of kernel support, we present extensions to existing mechanisms in the Linux and FreeBSD kernels giving full access to all available raw counters, and then evaluate the TSC, HPET, and ACPI counters' suitability as hardware timing sources. We demonstrate how the RADclock achieves the same microsecond accuracy with each counter.
Proposal of a Risk-Stratification Platform to Address Distinct Clinical Features of Pediatric Kaposi Sarcoma in Lilongwe, Malawi

Prior studies suggest that the clinical features associated with survival in childhood KS are distinct from those in adults.6-14 In our retrospective study of factors associated with event-free survival (EFS) and overall survival (OS) in pediatric KS, multivariable analysis demonstrated that visceral disease and disseminated skin/oral presentation (defined as ≥ 20 hyperpigmented lesions in a widespread distribution) were independent risk factors for death and inability to achieve EFS with a minimally myelosuppressive regimen that contains bleomycin and vincristine (BV), which is commonly available even in low-income settings.12 Patients with woody edema had low EFS but did not experience increased mortality.12 Lymphadenopathic involvement in children was associated with the highest rates of long-term complete remission (CR). 12
A Quantitative Study on the Effects of Environment and Microstructure on Pit Initiation in Al-alloys

Potentiostatic testing was employed to examine pit initiation on AA7075-T651 exposed to chloride solutions. The influence of chloride concentration, potential, and temperature on pit initiation was studied. An automated method for counting current transients is presented, and the applicability of potentiostatic testing in Al alloys is generally discussed.
Genes co-amplified with ERBB2 or MET as novel potential cancer-promoting genes in gastric cancer

Gastric cancer (GC), one of the most common cancers worldwide, has a high mortality rate due to limited treatment options. Identifying novel and promising molecular targets is a major challenge that must be overcome if treatment of advanced GC is to be successful. Here, we used comparative genomic hybridization and gene expression microarrays to examine genome-wide DNA copy number alterations (CNAs) and global gene expression in 38 GC samples from old and young patients. We identified frequent CNAs, which included copy number gains on chromosomes 3q, 7p, 8q, 20p, and 20q and copy number losses on chromosomes 19p and 21p. The most frequently gained region was 7p21.1 (55%), whereas the most frequently deleted region was 21p11.1 (50%). Recurrent highly amplified regions 17q12 and 7q31.1-7q31.31 harbored two well-known oncogenes: ERBB2 and MET. Correlation analysis of CNAs and gene expression levels identified CAPZA2 (co-amplified with MET) and genes GRB7, MIEN1, PGAP3, and STARD3 (co-amplified with ERBB2) as potential candidate cancer-promoting genes (CPGs). Public dataset analysis confirmed co-amplification of these genes with MET or ERBB2 in GC tissue samples, and revealed that high expression (except for PGAP3) was significantly associated with shorter overall survival. Knockdown of these genes using small interfering RNA led to significant suppression of GC cell proliferation and migration. Reduced GC cell proliferation mediated by CAPZA2 knockdown was attributable to attenuated cell cycle progression and increased apoptosis. This study identified novel candidate CPGs co-amplified with MET or ERBB2, and suggests that they play a functional role in GC.
Zinc and Skin Disorders

The skin is the third most zinc (Zn)-abundant tissue in the body. The skin consists of the epidermis, dermis, and subcutaneous tissue, and each fraction is composed of various types of cells. Firstly, we review the physiological functions of Zn and Zn transporters in these cells. Several human disorders accompanied with skin manifestations are caused by mutations or dysregulation in Zn transporters; acrodermatitis enteropathica (Zrt-, Irt-like protein (ZIP)4 in the intestinal epithelium and possibly epidermal basal keratinocytes), the spondylocheiro dysplastic form of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (ZIP13 in the dermal fibroblasts), transient neonatal Zn deficiency (Zn transporter (ZnT)2 in the secretory vesicles of mammary glands), and epidermodysplasia verruciformis (ZnT1 in the epidermal keratinocytes). Additionally, acquired Zn deficiency is deeply involved in the development of some diseases related to nutritional deficiencies (acquired acrodermatitis enteropathica, necrolytic migratory erythema, pellagra, and biotin deficiency), alopecia, and delayed wound healing. Therefore, it is important to associate the existence of mutations or dysregulation in Zn transporters and Zn deficiency with skin manifestations.