Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
ProNGF and Neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s Disease

Profound and early basal forebrain cholinergic neuron (BFCN) degeneration is a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Loss of synapses between basal forebrain and hippocampal and cortical target tissue correlates highly with the degree of dementia and is thought to be a major contributor to memory loss. BFCNs depend for their survival, connectivity and function on the neurotrophin nerve growth factor (NGF) which is retrogradely transported from its sites of synthesis in the cortex and hippocampus. The form of NGF found in human brain is proNGF. ProNGF binds to the NGF receptors TrkA and p75NTR, but it binds more strongly to p75NTR and more weakly to TrkA than does mature NGF. This renders proNGF more sensitive to receptor balance than mature NGF. In the healthy brain, where BFCNs express both TrkA and p75NTR, proNGF is neurotrophic, activating TrkA-dependent signaling pathways such as MAPK and Akt-mTOR and eliciting cell survival and neurite outgrowth. However, if TrkA is lost or if p75NTR is increased, proNGF activates p75NTR-dependent apoptotic pathways such as JNK. This receptor sensitivity serves as a neurotrophic/apoptotic switch that eliminates BFCNs that cannot maintain TrkA/p75NTR balance and therefore synaptic connections with their targets. TrkA is increasingly lost in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and AD. In addition, proNGF accumulates at BFCN terminals in cortex and hippocampus, reducing the amount of trophic factor that reaches BFCN cell bodies. The loss of TrkA and accumulation of proNGF occur early in MCI and correlate with cognitive impairment. Increased levels of proNGF and reduced levels of TrkA lead to BFCN neurodegeneration and eventual p75NTR-dependent apoptosis. In addition, in AD BFCNs suffer from reduced TrkA-dependent retrograde transport which reduces neurotrophic support. Thus, BFCNs are particularly vulnerable to AD due to their dependence upon retrograde trophic support from proNGF signaling and transport.
Real-Time Neural Signals of Disorder and Order Perception

Order and disorder are prevalent in everyday life, yet little is known about the neural real-time processing that occurs during the perception of disorder relative to order. In the present study, from a cognitive perspective, by adopting the ERP method, we aimed to examine the elicited real-time neural signals of disorder and order perception when participants processed physical environmental and basic visual disorder and order pictures in an irrelevant red or green rectangle detection task, and we attempted to test the hypothesis of cognitive disfluency in disorder perception. Generally, we observed that at each measured time interval, the ERPs elicited by order stimuli were more positive (less negative) in amplitude than those elicited by disorder stimuli at the frontal electrodes (represented by F7/F8, FT7/FT8, Fz, and FCz), whereas at the posterior electrodes (represented by P7/P8, PO7/PO8, Pz, and POz), the opposite was true. These data reveal for the first time the neural underpinnings of disorder and order perception, extending our understanding of the nature of disorder and order. This study also contributes to the cognitive fluency literature and indirectly expands the research on disorder and order stimuli in cognitive fluency.
Motivational Techniques, Communication Patterns, and Job Productivity of Non-Academic Staff in Ogun State Owned Universities

The classical economists of the 19th-century had the idea that individuals choose to maximize profits inevery relation that they ever get involved in. Both the contemporary economists and educationists haveequally held strongly to this belief (Kottak, 2005). For this reason, both individual psychologists andeconomists have shown a great concern about how best to achieve motivation (in the industrial/economic setting) in order to produce the desired results of profit maximization (Ibid, 2005). Such aconcern is, nevertheless, a worthwhile concern since productivity can be said to be the raison detre ofany management and that of any establishment built for progress. Without such motivation that suits therequirements of the individual or group employees, the subject matter of economics – economizing –which refers to rational allocation of scarce means (resources) to alternative ends (uses, results,production) cannot be achieved.
High-tide flooding disrupts local economic activity

High-tide flooding reduces customer access to businesses, and impacts are projected to increase sharply with sea level rise. Evaluation of observed sea level rise impacts to date has emphasized sea level extremes, such as those from tropical cyclones. Far less is known about the consequences of more frequent high-tide flooding. Empirical analysis of the disruption caused by high-tide floods, also called nuisance or sunny-day floods, is challenging due to the short duration of these floods and their impacts. Through a novel approach, we estimate the effects of high-tide flooding on local economic activity. High-tide flooding already measurably affects local economic activity in Annapolis, Maryland, reducing visits to the historic downtown by 1.7% (95% confidence interval, 1.0 to 2.6%). With 3 and 12 inches of additional sea level rise, high-tide floods would reduce visits by 3.6% (3.2 to 4.0%) and 24% (19 to 28%), respectively. A more comprehensive understanding of the impacts of high-tide flooding can help to guide efficient responses from local adaptations to global mitigation of climate change.
Effects of Feeding Adults of Hermetia illucens (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) on Longevity, Oviposition, and Egg Hatchability: Insights Into Optimizing Egg Production

Abstract Larvae of the black soldier fly, Hermetia illucens (L.), have been widely studied for their capacity of generating value-added products through waste bioconversion. Several efforts have been made towards optimization of rearing methods of the larval stages. Despite this, less information regarding the feeding behavior of adults and its effects on life parameters is available. We studied the impacts of subjecting adults to four diets: no diet (control); drinking water (water); a mix of sugar, bacteriological peptone, and milk powder (milk); and agar with sugar (agar). In total five replicates with 50 females and 50 males per treatment were performed. Oviposition and mortality were recorded daily. Additionally, egg hatchability and number of eggs per mass were measured. Results from this study indicate that the amount of eggs was 3 times higher for diets containing a protein source. Furthermore, milk treatment increased the oviposition period by 10 d compared with that of the standard water treatment. No significant difference was found for male longevity; however, females fed with milk diet lived 5 d longer than the control group. Egg hatchability ranged 70–85%, but was not significantly different across treatments. In terms of egg production for both industrial and research purposes, we suggest using a protein-rich diet to maximize oviposition and longevity parameters as adults do benefit from feeding.
Artemin and an Artemin-Derived Peptide, Artefin, Induce Neuronal Survival, and Differentiation Through Ret and NCAM

Artemin (ARTN) is a neurotrophic factor from the GDNF family ligands (GFLs) that is involved in development of the nervous system and neuronal differentiation and survival. ARTN signals through a complex receptor system consisting of the RET receptor tyrosine kinase and a glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored co-receptor GFL receptor α, GFRα3. We found that ARTN binds directly to neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) and that ARTN-induced neuritogenesis requires NCAM expression and activation of NCAM-associated signaling partners, thus corroborating that NCAM is an alternative receptor for ARTN. We designed a small peptide, artefin, that could interact with GFRα3 and demonstrated that this peptide agonist induces RET phosphorylation and mimics the biological functions of ARTN – neuroprotection and neurite outgrowth. Moreover, artefin mimicked the binding of ARTN to NCAM and required NCAM expression and activation for its neurite elongation effect, thereby suggesting that artefin represents a binding site for NCAM within ARTN. We showed that biological effects of ARTN and artefin can be inhibited by abrogation of both NCAM and RET, suggesting a more complex signaling mechanism that previously thought. As NCAM plays a significant role in neurodevelopment, regeneration, and synaptic plasticity we suggest that ARTN and its mimetics are promising candidates for treatment of neurological disorders and warrant further investigations.
Performing a Vanilla Self: Respectability Politics, Social Class, and the Digital World

“ Respectability politics ” describes a self-presentation strategy historically adopted by African-American women to reject White stereotypes by promoting morality while de-emphasizing sexuality. While civil rights activists and feminists criticize respectability politics as reactionary, subordinated groups frequently use these tactics to gain upward mobility. This paper analyzes how upwardly mobile young people of low socio-economic status in New York City manage impressions online by adhering to normative notions of respectability. Our participants described how they present themselves on social media by self-censoring, curating a neutral image, segmenting content by platform, and avoiding content and contacts coded as lower class. Peers who post sexual images, primarily women, were considered unrespectable and subject to sexual shaming. These strategies reinforce racist and sexist notions of appropriate behavior, simultaneously enabling and limiting participants ’ ability to succeed. We extend the impression management literature to examine how digital media mediates the intersection of class, gender, and race.
Personal Identification Based on Brain Networks of EEG Signals

Abstract Personal identification is particularly important in information security. There are numerous advantages of using electroencephalogram (EEG) signals for personal identification, such as uniqueness and anti-deceptiveness. Currently, many researchers focus on single-dataset personal identification, instead of the cross-dataset. In this paper, we propose a method for cross-dataset personal identification based on a brain network of EEG signals. First, brain functional networks are constructed from the phase synchronization values between EEG channels. Then, some attributes of the brain networks including the degree of a node, the clustering coefficient and global efficiency are computed to form a new feature vector. Lastly, we utilize linear discriminant analysis (LDA) to classify the extracted features for personal identification. The performance of the method is quantitatively evaluated on four datasets involving different cognitive tasks: (i) a four-class motor imagery task dataset in BCI Competition IV (2008), (ii) a two-class motor imagery dataset in the BNCI Horizon 2020 project, (iii) a neuromarketing dataset recorded by our laboratory, (iv) a fatigue driving dataset recorded by our laboratory. Empirical results of this paper show that the average identification accuracy of each data set was higher than 0.95 and the best one achieved was 0.99, indicating a promising application in personal identification.
Individualized ctDNA Fingerprints to Monitor Treatment Response and Recurrence in Multiple Cancer Types

Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) panels hold high promise of accurately predicting the therapeutic response of tumors while being minimally invasive and cost-efficient. However, their use has been limited to a small number of tumor types and patients. Here, we developed individualized ctDNA fingerprints suitable for most patients with multiple cancer types. The panels were designed based on individual whole-exome sequencing data in 521 Chinese patients and targeting high clonal population clusters of somatic mutations. Together, these patients represent 12 types of cancers and seven different treatments. The customized ctDNA panels have a median somatic mutation number of 19, most of which are patient-specific rather than cancer hotspot mutations; 66.8% of the patients were ctDNA-positive. We further evaluated the ctDNA content fraction (CCF) of the mutations, and analyzed the association between the change of ctDNA concentration and therapeutic response. We followed up 106 patients for clinical evaluation, demonstrating a significant correlation of changes in ctDNA with clinical outcomes, with a consistency rate of 93.4%. In particular, the median CCF increased by 204.6% in patients with progressive disease, decreased by 82.5% in patients with remission, and was relatively stable in patients with stable disease. Overall, 85% of the patients with a ctDNA-positive status experienced metastasis or relapse long before imaging detection, except for two patients who developed recurrence and metastasis almost simultaneously. The average lead time between the first ctDNA-positive finding and radiological diagnosis was 76 days in three patients that changed from a ctDNA-negative to -positive status. Our individualized ctDNA analysis can effectively monitor the treatment response, metastasis, and recurrence in multiple cancer types in patients with multiple treatment options, therefore offering great clinical applicability for improving personalized treatment in cancer. One Sentence Summary ctDNA fingerprint panels were customized to predict the treatment response for multiple cancer types from individual whole-exome sequencing data.
Comparison of lipid profile and de-ritis ratio in ultrasound diagnosed non-alcoholic and alcoholic fatty liver disease

Introduction: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), is a major cause of chronic liver disease. NAFLD can progress to fibrosis, cirrhosis, liver failure and hepatocellular carcinoma, like alcoholic fatty liver disease (AFLD). However there are only few studies regarding lipid profile in NAFLD and AFLD that have been undertaken. Recently AST/ALT Ratio (also known as De-ritis Ratio), has been used as a marker of alcoholic liver disease. Hence this study was conducted to study the biochemical markers in NAFLD and AFLD. Objectives: 1. To compare lipid profile and De-ritis ratio in ultrasound diagnosed NAFLD and AFLD 2. To assess the usefulness of these parameters to differentiate NAFLD from AFLD and also to monitor their prognosis. Materials and Methods: 30 cases of USG diagnosed NAFLD and 30 cases of USG diagnosed alcoholic liver disease aged between 25 to 60 years, from MCH, VIMS, Ballari were studied and compared with 30 healthy age and sex matched healthy controls. After obtaining informed consent from all the patients, 5ml of fasting blood was collected and lipid profile, AST, ALT levels were estimated and De-ritis ratio was calculated. Results: There was significant increase in the total cholesterol, LDL and Triglycerides levels in NAFLD patients (p=0.0001) when compared to AFLD patients. De-ritis ratio was significantly increased in AFLD patients (p=0.0001). Conclusion: Hence it was concluded from our study that, NAFLD patients showed atherogenic dyslipidemia when compared to AFLD. De-ritis ratio can be used as parameter to differentiate between NAFLD from AFLD.
An approach to linking education, social care and electronic health records for children and young people in South London: a linkage study of child and adolescent mental health service data

Objectives Creation of linked mental health, social and education records for research to support evidence-based practice for regional mental health services. Setting The Clinical Record Interactive Search (CRIS) system was used to extract personal identifiers who accessed psychiatric services between September 2007 and August 2013. Participants A clinical cohort of 35 509 children and young people (aged 4–17 years). Design Multiple government and ethical committees approved the link of clinical mental health service data to Department for Education (DfE) data on education and social care services. Under robust governance protocols, fuzzy and deterministic approaches were used by the DfE to match personal identifiers (names, date of birth and postcode) from National Pupil Database (NPD) and CRIS data sources. Outcome measures Risk factors for non-matching to NPD were identified, and the potential impact of non-match biases on International Statistical Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision (ICD-10) classifications of mental disorder, and persistent school absence (<80% attendance) were examined. Probability weighting and adjustment methods were explored as methods to mitigate the impact of non-match biases. Results Governance challenges included developing a research protocol for data linkage, which met the legislative requirements for both National Health Service and DfE. From CRIS, 29 278 (82.5%) were matched to NPD school attendance records. Presenting to services in late adolescence (adjusted OR (aOR) 0.67, 95% CI 0.59 to 0.75) or outside of school census timeframes (aOR 0.15, 95% CI 0.14 to 0.17) reduced likelihood of matching. After adjustments for linkage error, ICD-10 mental disorder remained significantly associated with persistent school absence (aOR 1.13, 95% CI 1.07 to 1.22). Conclusions The work described sets a precedent for education data being used for medical benefit in England. Linkage between health and education records offers a powerful tool for evaluating the impact of mental health on school function, but biases due to linkage error may produce misleading results. Collaborative research with data providers is needed to develop linkage methods that minimise potential biases in analyses of linked data.
Effect of outgroup on phylogeny reconstruction: a case study of family Solanaceae

In phylogenetic analysis, direction of ingroup evolution depends on outgroup, therefore, the determination of correct outgroup is very critical. In the current study, effect of different outgroups on tree topology within Solanaceae was examined using Bayesian analysis. Different outgroups were selected from closely related families of Solanaceae (Convolvulaceae, Hydrolaceae and Montiniaceae), distantly related families (Acantaceae, Scrophularaceae and Boraginaceae) and more distantly related group (Gymnospermic families; Cycadaceae and Pinaceae). Single taxa from each family, multiple taxa from a single genus and multiple taxa from different genera of the same sister family were selected to evaluate their resolving power. The single taxa of a genus belong to Convolvulaceae produced more consistent result as compared to the multiple taxa of the single genus. In addition, single taxa produced similar tree topology as produced by multiple taxa of different genera. Among single taxa, Evolvulus pilosus, observed to be the best outgroup because it resolved the associations between genus, tribes, and subfamilies within Solanaceae followed by Humbertiama dagascariensis. The lineages established by the successful outgroups suggest the evolutionary pattern within Solanaceae is Cestroideae to Petunoideae to Solanoideae. Distantly related outgroup was unable to resolved the tree topology. It may be suggested that for lower level taxonomical relationships of Solanaceae, Evolvulus pilosus could be used as outgroup to infer true associations.
Comparative efficacy of biotic and abiotic agro-commercial products against Rotylenchulus reniformis under field conditions.

In a field experiment, twelve commercial agro-products were applied as soil drench and 14 as foliar spray as recommended method of application and dose. The results indicated that Biofertile product was the best which had the highest suppressive effects followed by Algeferet and Perfect applied as a soil drench compared to nematode check. The most effective one of products applied as a foliar spray was Indole buteric acid then Feedchem and Amino strong with no significant differences. The experiments indicated that the SAR commercial materials (Nemakill, Indole-3 butyric acid, Gibirilic acid, Indole-acetic acid, Salicylic acid, Citric acid and Glutamic acid) applied as foliar spray reduced nematode counts and reproduction under all conditions. The Mega NPK recorded the best improvement in plant fresh and dry weights and yield criteria. Our results concerning plant growth and yield were highly significant in foliar application treatments more than soil application and the compounds used to induce systemic acquired resistance exhibited more enhancements in plant growth criteria and yield.
A Reliability Game for Source Factors and Situational Awareness Experimentation

Systems to support Situational Awareness take increasingly advantage of data and information fusion techniques. Due to the rise in the variety of information sources (e.g., sensors, open-source, intelligence, historical databases) and their possible lack of veracity those techniques should account for source reliability. Although the appropriate mathematical instruments exist, it still needs to be fully understood what are the factors that contribute to source reliability and what is their relative and total impact on Situation Assessment, which is the process that builds up Situational Awareness. In order to characterise source factors impact on human belief assessment the Reliability Game has been developed. This is a data exchange game in which the players are requested to perform Situational Assessment tasks by mentally processing incoming information and meta-information, abstracted and provided through cards. This paper presents the method, the design choices and shows through a qualitative analysis that the proposed approach is indeed able to capture elements of source factors impact on players’ belief changes. Data collected through the game will be further analysed to inform and improve the design of information correction methods in multi-source information fusion systems.