Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sexual dimorphism in visual and olfactory brain centers in the perfume‐collecting orchid bee Euglossa dilemma (Hymenoptera, Apidae)

Insect mating behavior is controlled by a diverse array of sex‐specific traits and strategies that evolved to maximize mating success. Orchid bees exhibit a unique suite of perfume‐mediated mating behaviors. Male bees collect volatile compounds from their environment to concoct species‐specific perfume mixtures that are presumably used to attract conspecific females. Despite a growing understanding of the ecology and evolution of chemical signaling in orchid bees, many aspects of the functional adaptations involved, in particular regarding sensory systems, remain unknown. Here we investigated male and female brain morphology in the common orchid bee Euglossa dilemma Bembé & Eltz. Males exhibited increased relative volumes of the Medulla, a visual brain region, which correlated with larger compound eye size (area). While the overall volume of olfactory brain regions was similar between sexes, the antennal lobes exhibited several sex‐specific structures including one male‐specific macroglomerulus. These findings reveal sexual dimorphism in both the visual and the olfactory system of orchid bees. It highlights the tendency of an increased investment in the male visual system similar to that observed in other bee lineages, and suggests that visual input may play a more important role in orchid bee male mating behavior than previously thought. Furthermore, our results suggest that the evolution of perfume communication in orchid bees did not involve drastic changes in olfactory brain morphology compared to other bee lineages.
Quantitative evaluation of normal spinal osseous metabolism with 18F-NaF PET/CT

Objective The aim of this study was to describe osseous metabolic activity with respect to age and weight in the spine as expressed through fluorine-18-sodium fluoride (18F-NaF) uptake in a healthy male population. Participants and methods Whole-body 18F-NaF PET/CT scans of healthy male participants (22–71 years, 50–145 kg, n=47) were analysed using a global assessment methodology to derive the mean standardized uptake values (SUVmean). Individual regions of the spine (cervical, thoracic and lumbar) along with the aggregate whole spine were assessed and compared as potential functions of age and body weight. Results Older participants did not have higher 18F-NaF uptake than younger participants (whole spine, P=0.93; cervical, P=0.12, thoracic, P=0.93; lumbar, P=0.42), whereas increasing body weight was associated with greater tracer uptake (whole spine P=0.003; cervical P=0.01; thoracic P=0.002; lumbar P=0.004). Both the thoracic (average SUVmean=4.864±1.338) and lumbar (average SUVmean=4.939±1.284) spines had significantly elevated (P⩽0.0001) uptake compared with the cervical spine (average SUVmean=3.969±1.024). Conclusion We assessed the metabolic activity of the spine’s osseous tissues with 18F-NaF PET using a global assessment approach in healthy men. Our study provides evidence of differences in spinal metabolism as related to weight, but not age. Our study offers a foundation for future larger studies in symptomatic populations.
A Critical Look at Cryptogovernance of the Real World: Challenges for Spatial Representation and Uncertainty on the Blockchain (Short Paper)

Innovation in distributed ledger technologies-blockchains and smart contracts-has been lauded as a game-changer for environmental governance and transparency. Here we critically consider how problems related to spatial representation and uncertainty complicate the picture, focusing on two cases. The first regards the impact of uncertainty on the transfer of spatial assets, and the second regards its impact on smart contract code that relies on software oracles that report sensor measurements of the physical world. Cryptogovernance of the environment will require substantial research on both these fronts if it is to become a reality.
Mitochondrial methionyl N-formylation affects steady-state levels of oxidative phosphorylation complexes and their organization into supercomplexes

N-Formylation of the Met-tRNAMet by the nuclearly encoded mitochondrial methionyl-tRNA formyltransferase (MTFMT) has been found to be a key determinant of protein synthesis initiation in mitochondria. In humans, mutations in the MTFMT gene result in Leigh syndrome, a progressive and severe neurometabolic disorder. However, the absolute requirement of formylation of Met-tRNAMet for protein synthesis in mammalian mitochondria is still debated. Here, we generated a Mtfmt-KO mouse fibroblast cell line and demonstrated that N-formylation of the first methionine via fMet-tRNAMet by MTFMT is not an absolute requirement for initiation of protein synthesis. However, it differentially affected the efficiency of synthesis of mtDNA-coded polypeptides. Lack of methionine N-formylation did not compromise the stability of these individual subunits but had a marked effect on the assembly and stability of the OXPHOS complexes I and IV and on their supercomplexes. In summary, N-formylation is not essential for mitochondrial protein synthesis but is critical for efficient synthesis of several mitochondrially encoded peptides and for OXPHOS complex stability and assembly into supercomplexes.
A novel microtubule nucleation pathway for meiotic spindle assembly in oocytes

The meiotic spindle in oocytes is assembled in the absence of centrosomes, the major microtubule nucleation sites in mitotic and male meiotic cells. A crucial, yet unresolved question in meiosis is how spindle microtubules are generated without centrosomes and only around chromosomes in the large volume of oocytes. Here we report a novel oocyte-specific microtubule nucleation pathway that is essential for assembling most spindle microtubules complementarily with the Augmin pathway, and sufficient for triggering microtubule assembly in oocytes. This pathway is mediated by the kinesin-6 Subito/MKlp2, which recruits the γ-tubulin complex to the spindle equator to nucleate microtubules in Drosophila oocytes. Away from chromosomes, Subito interaction with the γ-tubulin complex is suppressed by its N-terminal region to prevent ectopic microtubule assembly in oocytes. We further demonstrate that the Subito complex from ovaries can nucleate microtubules from pure tubulin dimers in vitro. Taken together, microtubule nucleation regulated by Subito drives spatially restricted spindle assembly in oocytes.
Anti-Obesity Therapy: from Rainbow Pills to Polyagonists

With their ever-growing prevalence, obesity and diabetes represent major health threats of our society. Based on estimations by the World Health Organization, approximately 300 million people will be obese in 2035. In 2015 alone there were more than 1.6 million fatalities attributable to hyperglycemia and diabetes. In addition, treatment of these diseases places an enormous burden on our health care system. As a result, the development of pharmacotherapies to tackle this life-threatening pandemic is of utmost importance. Since the beginning of the 19th century, a variety of drugs have been evaluated for their ability to decrease body weight and/or to improve deranged glycemic control. The list of evaluated drugs includes, among many others, sheep-derived thyroid extracts, mitochondrial uncouplers, amphetamines, serotonergics, lipase inhibitors, and a variety of hormones produced and secreted by the gastrointestinal tract or adipose tissue. Unfortunately, when used as a single hormone therapy, most of these drugs are underwhelming in their efficacy or safety, and placebo-subtracted weight loss attributed to such therapy is typically not more than 10%. In 2009, the generation of a single molecule with agonism at the receptors for glucagon and the glucagon-like peptide 1 broke new ground in obesity pharmacology. This molecule combined the beneficial anorectic and glycemic effects of glucagon-like peptide 1 with the thermogenic effect of glucagon into a single molecule with enhanced potency and sustained action. Several other unimolecular dual agonists have subsequently been developed, and, based on their preclinical success, these molecules illuminate the path to a new and more fruitful era in obesity pharmacology. In this review, we focus on the historical pharmacological approaches to treat obesity and glucose intolerance and describe how the knowledge obtained by these studies led to the discovery of unimolecular polypharmacology.
Understanding Anosognosia for Hemiplegia After Stroke.

BACKGROUND Anosognosia for hemiplegia (AHP) after stroke is a complex cognitive behavioral disorder that removes awareness of one-sided paralysis (hemiplegia). As a result, stroke survivors afflicted with AHP may be more likely to have unrealistic expectations for stroke rehabilitation, display unsafe behaviors and experience falls, and ultimately suffer the physical and psychological consequences of frequent falling. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this article is to describe AHP by discussing anosognosia within the context of contemporary theoretical understandings, examining current imaging evidence of the disorder, and summarizing emerging interventions designed to reinstate self-awareness in anosognosic patients. METHOD Systematic review with a focus on defining and describing AHP based on human experimental studies was conducted within a 10-year period. RESULTS Eleven studies were identified. The content and foci of the 11 studies fell into one of three categories: theory testing, imaging evidence, and interventions for individuals with AHP.
Expression of acetylated tubulin in the postnatal developing mouse cochlea

Microtubules are an essential component of the cytoskeleton of a eukaryotic cell. The post-translational tubulin modifications play an important role in regulating microtubule properties, acetylation tubulin is one of the major post-translational modifications of microtubules. Acetylation tubulin has also been shown to be expressed in the cochlea. However, the detailed expression profiles of acetylation tubulin protein during development have not yet been investigated in the postnatal mammalian cochlea. Here, we first examined the spatio-temporal expression of acetylated tubulin in the mouse cochlea during postnatal development. At postnatal day 1 (P1), acetylated tubulin was localized primarily to the auditory nerve inside the cochlea and their synaptic contacts with the inner and outer hair cells (IHCs and OHCs). In the organ of Corti, acetylated tubulin occurred first at the apex of pillar cells. At P5, acetylated tubulin first appeared in the phalangeal processes of Deiters’ cells. At P8, staining was maintained in the phalangeal processes of Deiters’ cells and neural elements. At P10, labeling in Deiters’ cells extended from the apices of OHCs to the basilar membrane, acetylated tubulin was expressed throughout the cytoplasm of inner and outer pillar cells. At P12, acetylated tubulin displayed prominent and homogeneous labeling along the full length of the pillar cells. Linear labeling was present mainly in the Deiters’ cell bodies underlying OHCs. Between P14 and P17, acetylated tubulin was strongly expressed in inner and outer pillar cells and Deiters’ cells in a similar pattern as observed in the adult, and labeling in these cells were arranged in bundles. In addition, acetylated tubulin was expressed in stria vascularis, root cell bodies, and a small number of fibrocytes of the spiral ligament until the adult. In the adult mouse cochlea, immunostaining continued to predominate in Deiters’ cells and pillar cells. In Deiters’ cells, immunolabeling formed cups securing OHCs basal portions, and continued presence of acetylated tubulin-labeled nerve terminals below IHCs was shown. Our results presented here underscored the essential role played by acetylated tubulin in postnatal cochlear development, auditory neurotransmission and cochlear mechanics.
Quantum lower bounds for approximate counting via laurent polynomials

We study quantum algorithms that are given access to trusted and untrusted quantum witnesses. We establish strong limitations of such algorithms, via new techniques based on Laurent polynomials (i.e., polynomials with positive and negative integer exponents). Specifically, we resolve the complexity of approximate counting, the problem of multiplicatively estimating the size of a nonempty set S ⊆ [N], in two natural generalizations of quantum query complexity. Our first result holds in the standard Quantum Merlin-Arthur (QMA) setting, in which a quantum algorithm receives an untrusted quantum witness. We show that, if the algorithm makes T quantum queries to S, and also receives an (untrusted) m-qubit quantum witness, then either [MATH HERE]. This is optimal, matching the straightforward protocols where the witness is either empty, or specifies all the elements of S. As a corollary, this resolves the open problem of giving an oracle separation between SBP, the complexity class that captures approximate counting, and QMA. In our second result, we ask what if, in addition to a membership oracle for S, a quantum algorithm is also given "QSamples"- i.e., copies of the state [MATH HERE] - or even access to a unitary transformation that enables QSampling? We show that, even then, the algorithm needs either [MATH HERE] queries or else [MATH HERE] QSamples or accesses to the unitary. Our lower bounds in both settings make essential use of Laurent polynomials, but in different ways.
Integrating Pediatric Hypnosis with Complementary Modalities: Clinical Perspectives on Personalized Treatment

While pediatric integrative medicine (PIM) emphasizes an “evidence-based practice using multiple therapeutic modalities”; paradoxically, literature reviews examining the prevalence and/or efficacy of such mind–body approaches often address PIM modalities separately. Such contributions are relevant, yet documentation of how to deliver combined complementary approaches in children and youth are scarce. Nevertheless, integrative practitioners in clinical practice routinely mix approaches to meet the individual needs of each patient. Best practices are flexible, and include blending and augmenting services within the same session, and/or connecting modalities sequentially for an incremental effect, and/or referring to outside resources for additional interventions. Resonating with integrative medicine’s definition, this article’s goal is to demonstrate paradigms that “bring together complementary approaches in a coordinated way within clinical practice” by linking clinical hypnosis, the trail-blazer modality in PIM’s history, with mindfulness, biofeedback, acupuncture, and yoga. Following the consideration of the overlap of guided imagery with hypnosis and an abridged literature report, this clinical perspective considers the selection of modalities within a collaborative relationship with the child/teen and parents, emphasizing goodness-of-fit with patients’ contexts, e.g., symptoms, resources, interests, goals, and developmental stage. Case vignettes illustrate practical strategies for mixing approaches.
Robust Pricing With Refunds

Before purchase, a buyer of an experience good learns about the product's fit using various information sources, including some of which the seller may be unaware of. The buyer, however, can conclusively learn the fit only after purchasing and trying out the product. We show that the seller can use a simple mechanism to best take advantage of the buyer's post-purchase learning to maximize his guaranteed-profit. We show that this mechanism combines a generous refund, which performs well when the buyer is relatively informed, with non-refundable random discounts, which work well when the buyer is relatively uninformed. JEL: D82, C79, D42
Construction and validation of an Educational Content Validation Instrument in Health.

OBJECTIVE to construct and validate the Educational Content Validation Instrument in Health. METHOD methodological study that includes the establishment of the conceptual structure; definition of objectives and population; construction of items and response scale; selection and arrangement of items; instrument structuring; opinion of experts; pre-test and content validation. RESULTS an instrument with 15 items was constructed and, after expert evaluation, eighteen items were obtained, divided into three domains: objectives (four), structure/presentation (nine), and relevance (two). Six items were modified since they presented a percentage of agreement below 0.8. Items of the total instrument presented good internal consistency (0.877) regarding domains. CONCLUSION an Educational Content Validation Instrument in Health was elaborated and validated, presenting good reliability, and may contribute to the practice of researchers and health professionals in the development of educational content.
Quantum control of phase fluctuations in semiconductor lasers

Significance The semiconductor laser, arguably the most versatile member of the family of lasers, has become a technological staple of a massively interconnected, data-driven world, with its spectral purity (i.e., temporal coherence) an increasingly important figure of merit. The present work describes a conceptually fundamental “recipe” for the enhancement of coherence, predicated on direct control of the coherence-limiting process itself, the field–matter interaction. As such, it is inherently adaptable and technologically scalable. As photonic materials and fabrication techniques continue to improve, the described approach has the potential of serving as a roadmap for major and sustained improvements in coherence. With experimentally demonstrated coherence limited at 1 kHz in this work, we envision “deep” sub-kilohertz-level coherence to be soon within reach. Few laser systems allow access to the light–emitter interaction as versatile and direct as that afforded by semiconductor lasers. Such a level of access can be exploited for the control of the coherence and dynamic properties of the laser. Here, we demonstrate, theoretically and experimentally, the reduction of the quantum phase noise of a semiconductor laser through the direct control of the spontaneous emission into the laser mode, exercised via the precise and deterministic manipulation of the optical mode’s spatial field distribution. Central to the approach is the recognition of the intimate interplay between spontaneous emission and optical loss. A method of leveraging and “walking” this fine balance to its limit is described. As a result, some two orders of magnitude reduction in quantum noise over the state of the art in semiconductor lasers, corresponding to a minimum linewidth of 1 kHz, is demonstrated. Further implications, including an additional order-of-magnitude enhancement in effective coherence by way of control of the relaxation oscillation resonance frequency and enhancement of the intrinsic immunity to optical feedback, highlight the potential of the proposed concept for next-generation, integrated coherent systems.
Deep Generative Modeling for Scene Synthesis via Hybrid Representations

We present a deep generative scene modeling technique for indoor environments. Our goal is to train a generative model using a feed-forward neural network that maps a prior distribution (e.g., a normal distribution) to the distribution of primary objects in indoor scenes. We introduce a 3D object arrangement representation that models the locations and orientations of objects, based on their size and shape attributes. Moreover, our scene representation is applicable for 3D objects with different multiplicities (repetition counts), selected from a database. We show a principled way to train this model by combining discriminative losses for both a 3D object arrangement representation and a 2D image-based representation. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our scene representation and the network training method on benchmark datasets. We also show the applications of this generative model in scene interpolation and scene completion.
A bidirectional path analysis model of smoking cessation self‐efficacy and concurrent smoking status: impact on abstinence outcomes

Self‐efficacy is routinely associated with abstinence in the addictions literature, and is a major component relapse‐prevention models. The magnitude of this relationship has been brought into question following equivocal results in studies controlling for concurrent smoking status. The aim of our study was to clarify the relationship between cessation self‐efficacy, smoking status, and cessation outcomes in a cohort of treatment‐seeking smokers. Smokers participating in the FLEX trial, a randomized trial investigating the efficacy of three pharmacologic treatments for smoking cessation, completed questionnaires assessing cessation self‐efficacy at baseline and at weeks 1, 3, 5 and 10 post‐target quit date; smoking status was verified using expired carbon monoxide. Structural models were fit in order to ascertain the relationship between cessation self‐efficacy and concurrent smoking at each time‐point, and to assess the association between cessation self‐efficacy, smoking and seven‐day point prevalence smoking status at week 10. A total of 737 treatment‐seeking smokers participated. In our path model, self‐efficacy and smoking status at all time points were associated with week 10 abstinence (except week 3 self‐efficacy), after controlling these values' previous time‐points. All direct pathways between cessation self‐efficacy and smoking were also significant, supporting a bidirectional relationship. Our results support a bidirectional and reciprocal relationship between cessation self‐efficacy and concurrent smoking behavior; participants with higher confidence were more likely to be smoke‐free, and concurrent smoking status predicted levels of confidence over the ensuing weeks. Both measures were associated with week 10 abstinence. Our results indicate that while correlated, both cessation self‐efficacy and current smoking behavior during a cessation attempt are important independent markers of ultimate cessation success.
APOBEC3G/3A Expression in Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1-Infected Individuals Following Initiation of Antiretroviral Therapy Containing Cenicriviroc or Efavirenz

Apolipoprotein B mRNA editing enzyme catalytic polypeptide-like 3 (APOBEC3) family members are cytidine deaminases that play crucial roles in innate responses to retrovirus infection. The mechanisms by which some of these enzymes restrict human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) replication have been extensively investigated in vitro. However, little is known regarding how APOBEC3 proteins affect the pathogenesis of HIV-1 infection in vivo and how antiretroviral therapy influences their expression. In this work, a longitudinal analysis was performed to evaluate APOBEC3G/3A expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of antiretroviral-naive HIV-1-infected individuals treated with cenicriviroc (CVC) or efavirenz (EFV) at baseline and 4, 12, 24, and 48 weeks post-treatment follow-up. While APOBEC3G expression was unaffected by therapy, APOBEC3A levels increased in CVC but not EFV arm at week 48 of treatment. APOBEC3G expression correlated directly with CD4+ cell count and CD4+/CD8+ cell ratio, whereas APOBEC3A levels inversely correlated with plasma soluble CD14. These findings suggest that higher APOBEC3G/3A levels may be associated with protective effects against HIV-1 disease progression and chronic inflammation and warrant further studies.