Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
TRPM8 Mediates Hyperosmotic Stimuli-Induced Nociception in Dental Afferents

Hyperosmolar sweet foods onto exposed tooth dentin evoke sudden and intense dental pain, called dentin hypersensitivity. However, it remains unclear how hyperosmolar stimuli excite dental primary afferent (DPA) neurons and thereby lead to dentin hypersensitivity. This study elucidated whether TRPM8, which is well known as a cold temperature– or menthol-activated receptor, additionally mediates nociception in response to hyperosmolar stimuli in adult mouse DPA neurons, which are identified by a fluorescent retrograde tracer: DiI. Single-cell reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction revealed that TRPM8 was expressed in subsets of DPA neurons and that TRPM8 was highly colocalized with TRPV1 and Piezo2. Immunohistochemical analysis also confirmed TRPM8 expression in DPA neurons. By using Fura-2-based calcium imaging, application of hyperosmolar sucrose solutions elicited calcium transients in subsets of the trigeminal ganglion neurons, which was significantly abolished by a selective TRPM8 antagonist: N-(3-Aminopropyl)-2-[(3-methylphenyl)methoxy]-N-(2-thienylmethyl)benzamide (AMTB) hydrochloride. When we further examined changes of c-fos expression (a neuronal activation marker) in the spinal trigeminal nucleus after hyperosmolar stimulation onto exposed tooth dentin, c-fos mRNA and protein expression were increased and were also significantly reduced by AMTB, especially in the spinal trigeminal interpolaris-caudalis transition zone (Vi/Vc). Taken together, our results provide strong evidence that TRPM8 expressed in DPA neurons might mediate dental pain as a hyperosmosensor in adult mice.
Flutter analysis of a morphing wing technology demonstrator: Numerical simulation and wind tunnel testing

As part of a morphing wing technology project, the flutter analysis of two finite element models and the experimental results of a morphing wing demonstrator equipped with aileron are presented. The finite element models are representing a wing section situated at the tip of the wing; the first model corresponds to a traditional aluminium upper surface skin of constant thickness and the second model corresponds to a composite optimized upper surface skin for morphing capabilities. The two models were analyzed for flutter occurrence and effects on the aeroelastic behaviour of the wing were studied by replacing the aluminium upper surface skin of the wing with a specially developed composite version. The morphing wing model with composite upper surface was manufactured and fitted with three accelerometers to record the amplitudes and frequencies during tests at the subsonic wind tunnel facility at the National Research Council. The results presented showed that no aeroelastic phenomenon occurred at the speeds, angles of attack and aileron deflections studied in the wind tunnel and confirmed the prediction of the flutter analysis on the frequencies and modal displacements.
Allelic variant in SLC6A3 rs393795 affects cerebral regional homogeneity and gait dysfunction in patients with Parkinson’s disease

Aims We sought to explore the role of the SLC6A3 rs393795 allelic variant in cerebral spontaneous activity and clinical features in Parkinson’s disease (PD) via imaging genetic approach. Methods Our study recruited 50 PD and 45 healthy control (HC) participants to provide clinical, genetic, and resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) data. All subjects were separated into 16 PD-AA, 34 PD-CA/CC, 14 HC-AA, and 31 HC-CA/CC four subgroups according to SLC6A3 rs393795 genotyping. Afterwards, main effects and interactions of groups (PD versus HC) and genotypes (AA versus CA/CC) on cerebral function reflected by regional homogeneity (ReHo) were explored using two-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) after controlling age and gender. Finally, Spearman’ s correlations were employed to investigate the relationships between significantly interactive brain regions and clinical manifestations in PD subgroups. Results Compared with HC subjects, PD patients exhibited increased ReHo signals in left middle temporal gyrus and decreased ReHo signals in left pallidum. Compared with CA/CC carriers, AA genotype individuals showed abnormal increased ReHo signals in right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and supplementary motor area (SMA). Moreover, significant interactions (affected by both disease factor and allelic variation) were detected in right inferior temporal gyrus (ITG). Furthermore, aberrant increased ReHo signals in right ITG were observed in PD-AA in comparison with PD-CA/CC. Notably, ReHo values in right ITG were negatively associated with Tinetti Mobility Test (TMT) gait subscale scores and positively related to Freezing of Gait Questionnaire (FOG-Q) scores in PD-AA subgroup. Conclusions Our findings suggested that SLC6A3 rs393795 allelic variation might have a trend to aggravate the severity of gait disorders in PD patients by altering right SMA and IFG function, and ultimately result in compensatory activation of right ITG. It could provide us with a new perspective for exploring deeply genetic mechanisms of gait disturbances in PD.
Intracranial Pressure Forecasting in Children Using Dynamic Averaging of Time Series Data

Increased Intracranial Pressure (ICP) is a serious and often life-threatening condition. If the increased pressure pushes on critical brain structures and blood vessels, it can lead to serious permanent problems or even death. In this study, we propose a novel regression model to forecast ICP episodes in children, 30 min in advance, by using the dynamic characteristics of continuous intracranial pressure, vitals and medications during the last two hours. The correlation between physiological parameters, including blood pressure, respiratory rate, heart rate and the ICP, is analyzed. Linear regression, Lasso regression, support vector machine and random forest algorithms are used to forecast the next 30 min of the recorded ICP. Finally, dynamic features are created based on vitals, medications and the ICP. The weak correlation between blood pressure and the ICP (0.2) is reported. The Root-Mean-Square Error (RMSE) of the random forest model decreased from 1.6 to 0.89% by using the given medication variables in the last two hours. The random forest regression gave an accurate model for the ICP forecast with 0.99 correlation between the forecast and experimental values.
Study of laparoscopic repair of abdominal incisional hernia

Background: An incisional hernia is defined as any abdominal wall gap with or without bulge in the area of postoperative scar perceptible or palpable by clinical examination or imaging. It occurs in about 3 to 20 percent of patients undergoing laparotomy. Open hernia repair methods have an increased incidence of wound infections and wound-related complications. These problems have been overcome by laparoscopy. The placement of a large mesh by laparoscopy allows for an even distribution of forces along the surface area of the mesh, which account for the strength of the repair and the decreased recurrence rates associated with it. The merits of the laparoscopic approach are decreased rates of recurrence, reduced risks of wound complications. The aims and objective of this study were to evaluate etiological factors of incisional hernia, various techniques of laparoscopic repair of incisional hernia, and to investigate the influence of laparoscopic approach on hospital stay, complications associated with the procedure and recurrence rates.Methods: In this hospital based prospective study, total 40 cases of incisional hernia were studied which were operated laparoscopically and followed up over period of two years.Results: Incisional hernia occurrence was common in females (80%) with commonly observed risk factor was postoperative wound related complications (28 cases) and obesity (22 cases). Infraumbilical midline incision (67.5%) and supraumbilical midline incision (27.5%) was most commonly responsible for incisional hernia occurrence. LSCS was most commonly responsible for incisional hernia occurrence (45%) followed by laparotomy for various indications (27.5%). Intraperitoneal onlay mesh repair of single defect without anatomical repair was most common modality of laparoscopic repair (70%). Early postoperative pain (20%) and prolonged ileus (17.5%) was the most common complication observed. Average hospital stay was 4.22 days.Conclusions: Postoperative wound related complications are important risk factor for incisional hernia. Laparoscopic repair of incisional hernia is better choice in view of reduced wound related complications, post-operative pain and hospitals stay.
Selectivity of Fishing Gears and Their Effects on Fisheries Diversity of Rabnabad Channel of Patuakhali District in Bangladesh

The Rabnabad is a marine channel, harbor of plentiful aquatic resources, situated at southern district of Patuakhali in Bangladesh. An investigation has been carried out on three different selected spots (S1, S2 and S3) of Rabnabad channel to identify fishing gears used for fishing and their potential effects on available fisheries diversity for a period of 8 months from February 2015 to September 2015, employing a prepared questionnaire. The study explored total 21 fishing gears under 8 major groups of net. In total, 54 species of fishes were identified belongs to 10 orders and 27 families in the catches of these gears. The order basis percentage analysis of the fish species executed the highest occurrence belongs to the order Perciformes (31.48%) and lowest for five ordersviz. , Aulopiformes, Beloniformes, Osteoglossiformes, Pleuronectiformes and Tetraodontiformes were found in the percentage as 1.85% (for each) of the total fish community. Out of 54 species, 7, 2 and 7 species was recorded as endangered, critically endangered and vulnerable, respectively. Calculated ShannonWeiner index (H), Gibson’s evenness (E), Simpson’s dominance index (D), Simpson’s index of diversity (1-D) and Margalef’s index (d) of fishes ranges between 3.22-3.30, 0.54-0.59, 0.04-0.05, 0.95-0.96 and 5.67-6.10, respectively. It is worse that numerous non-selective and restricted fishing gears are used which lead to unsorted catches, consequently, diversity of fish fauna are decreasing from the channel. For sustainability of these resources, proper management and conservation is crucial to guard the species diversity.
Polycythemia Vera-Associated Complications: Pathogenesis, Clinical Manifestations, And Effects On Outcomes

Abstract Polycythemia vera is a Philadelphia-negative chronic myeloproliferative neoplasm, characterized by erythrocytosis, which is unique, compared to essential thrombocytosis and primary myelofibrosis. Though longevity can usually be expected, vascular morbidity is associated with this condition, as well as a propensity to evolve into myelofibrosis (post-PV MF) and acute myeloid leukemia. In addition, patients can have a pronounced symptom burden. Herein, contributors to the symptomatic burden, as well as the thrombotic and transformative tendencies are reviewed. From a symptom perspective, some are explained by cytokine release, others by microvascular complications, whereas certain symptoms can herald disease evolution. Thrombosis has multifactorial contributors, including but not limited to gender, and inflammatory stress; investigators have recently hypothesized that microparticles and Neutrophil Extracellular Trap Formations may add to thrombotic burden. Finally, we examine the progression to post-PV MF as well as leukemic transformation, highlighting well-established risk factors including age and leukocytosis, certain treatments, and the presence of “non-driver” mutations.
MUSE OF ACADEMIC STAFF PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL TO ATTAIN COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF KENYAN UNIVERSITIES

Academic staff performance appraisal aims at determining work results and looks at how best to make human resource management decisions, develop staff successfully, guarantee high level of motivation, productivity and competitiveness. Notably performance appraisal as used today in universities lacks formal goals and is not used to make crucial human resource management decisions on matters of pay, training and development needs analysis and benchmarking with other universities. This study sought to establish the extent to which academic staff performance appraisal systems in Kenyan universities are used to gain competitive advantage. The study objectives were to assess the extent to which Kenyan universities use performance appraisal to determine performance related pay, identify training needs and benchmark to achieve competitive advantage and whether organizational culture acts as a moderator in these relationships. It also sought to determine whether public universities were more competitive than private universities. The methodology included descriptive research design. Universities were stratified into public and private. The target population consisted of full time lecturers numbering 1114 drawn from two public and two private universities selected using stratified purposive sampling. Respondents from various schools were then sampled using simple random method. A pilot study was carried out on a sample of 10 lecturers in order to establish the reliability of questionnaires. Data was collected using semi-structured questionnaires and analyzed using statistical analysis generated using the computer application package SPSS version 11.5. Several methods used to analyze data included descriptive statistics, bivariate correlation (spearman’s rho), linear regression and sequential moderated multiple regression analysis. For public universities the findings indicated a linear relationship between training needs analysis,
Variation for Health-Enhancing Compounds and Traits in Onion (Allium cepa L.) Germplasm

Consumption of onion has been associated with reduced incidence of chronic diseases. Phenolic, organosulfur and carbohydrate compounds present are largely responsible for these effects. This study examined compositional variation for health-enhancing compounds in a genetically diverse collection of onion cultivars. Total antioxidant activity and aroma profiles were characterized. Significant variation in bulb concentration for total and individual phenolic compounds, thiosulfinates, carbohydrates, and total and soluble solids was found. The range of variation was particularly large (>50-fold difference between the cultivars with the highest and lowest content) for fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS) and the polyphenols quercetin, epigallocatechin gallate and epicatechin gallate. Amino acid profiles varied significantly as well with substantial variation (~10 fold) observed in both total and essential amino acids. Total antioxidant activity was positively correlated with polyphenols content, and quercetin in particular (r = 0.83), suggesting a major contribution from phenolic compounds to onion antioxidant properties. Significant positive correlation was also found between solids and thiosulfinates content (r = 0.74) and between solids and FOS (r = 0.81), suggesting a dilution/concentration effect for organosulfur compounds and FOS in onion bulbs. The present study revealed broad variation for health-enhancing compounds content in onion germplasm, which can be exploited in breeding programs aiming at increasing onion nutraceutical value.
Protective effects of phenformin on zebrafish embryonic neurodevelopmental toxicity induced by X-ray radiation

Abstract Radiotherapy (RT) is a common treatment for head and neck cancers, but central nervous system function can be impaired by clinical radiation doses. This experimental study evaluated the protective efficacy of the anti-hyperglycaemic/anti-neoplastic agent phenformin against radiation-induced developmental toxicity in zebrafish embryos. Zebrafish embryos pre-treated with 25 μM phenformin 1 h before x-ray irradiation were compared to irradiation-only embryos for mortality, hatching rate, morphology, spontaneous movement, heart beat, larval swimming, activities of the antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT), malondialdehyde content (MDA, a by-product of membrane lipid oxidation), and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity. In addition, expression levels of multiple genes related to neural development and apoptosis (sod2, bdnf, ache, p53, bax, and bcl-2) were compared by RT-PCR and associated protein expression levels by western blotting. Pre-treatment with phenformin increased hatching rate, spontaneous movement, heart beat, and larval motor activity, decreased mortality and malformation rate, increased SOD, CAT, and AChE activities, and reduced MDA compared to irradiation-only embryos. The mRNA expression levels of anti-apoptotic sod2, bdnf, ache, and bcl-2 were enhanced while mRNA expression of p53 and pro-apoptotic bax were reduced in the phenformin pre-treatment group. Further, p53, Bax, and γ-H2AX (a biomarker of DNA damage) were downregulated while Bcl-2 and BDNF were upregulated by phenformin pre-treatment. Taken together, this study supports the protective efficacy of phenformin against radiation toxicity in zebrafish embryos by suppressing oxidative stress and ensuing apoptosis.
The Study of Scene Classification in the Multisensor Remote Sensing Image Fusion

We propose a scene classification method for speeding up the multisensor remote sensing image fusion by using the singular value decomposition of quaternion matrix and the kernel principal component analysis (KPCA) to extract features. At first, images are segmented to patches by a regular grid, and for each patch, we extract color features by using quaternion singular value decomposition (QSVD) method, and the grey features are extracted by Gabor filter and then by using orientation histogram to describe the grey information. After that, we combine the color features and the orientation histogram together with the same weight to obtain the descriptor for each patch. All the patch descriptors are clustered to get visual words for each category. Then we apply KPCA to the visual words to get the subspaces of the category. The descriptors of a test image then are projected to the subspaces of all categories to get the projection length to all categories for the test image. Finally, support vector machine (SVM) with linear kernel function is used to get the scene classification performance. We experiment with three classification situations on OT8 dataset and compare our method with the typical scene classification method, probabilistic latent semantic analysis (pLSA), and the results confirm the feasibility of our method.
The analysis of metal ion bonding and the identification of surface species on mineral and clay surfaces is important in understanding adsorption phenomena and in developing meth-

The analysis of metal ion bonding and the identification of surface species on mineral and clay surfaces is important in understanding adsorption phenomena and in developing methods for the preparation of materials with established surface chemistry. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is a surface-sensitive analysis technique that may provide information on metal coordination geometry and oxidation state (Koppelman and Dillard, 1979; Bancroft et al., 1979). XPS studies have been successful in describing the chemical nature of cobalt oxides and cobalt adsorbed on a variety of substrates. Tewaft and Lee (1975) and Mclntyre and Tewari (1977) identified Co(OH)2 on the surface of ZrO2 and A/203 following the interaction of Co 2+(aq) with ZrO2 and A1203. Lunsford et al. (1978) detected Co(III),on a zeolite Y sample prepared by the adsorption of Co(NH3)63§ on zeolite Y and heating the treated sample to 400~ Declerck-Grimee et al. (1978) suggested from a detailed analysis of XPS spectra that Co9S8 is the active cobalt-containing component in cobalt/molybdate hydrodesulfurization catalysts. The Co 2p XPS spectra for Co(II) adsorbed on MnOz (Murray and Dillard, 1979) were interpreted to indicate the formation of Co(III) on the surface. Recent studies of X-ray-induced Auger processes (Wagner et al., 1979; Dillard and Koppelman, 1982; Harvey and Linton, 1981) demonstrated that speciation of surface components is practical using XPS. To provide speciation information, corebinding energy data (CBE) and Auger kinetic-energy results (AKE) must be compared. Such a comparison reveals that unique values for CBE and AKE are found for a series of metal compounds. The results are then related to the electron density at the atom of interest and thus provide speciation of surface species. To demonstrate the surface analytical potential of XPS, calcined cobalt-kaolinite samples have been prepared to contain COA1204. In these samples CoA1204 has been confirmed by X-ray powder diffraction measurements, and tetrahedral Co(II) has been identified by means of visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The present study illustrates the utility of using XPS binding energy data, core-electron satellite features, and X-ray-induced Auger processes for the identification of surface species. Such results provide a powerful characterization scheme for the analysis of clay surfaces where bulk techniques such as X-ray powder diffraction are ineffectiv e .
Coaltered Ras/B-raf and TP53 Is Associated with Extremes of Survivorship and Distinct Patterns of Metastasis in Patients with Metastatic Colorectal Cancer

Purpose: We aimed to investigate genomic correlates underlying extremes of survivorship in metastatic colorectal cancer and their applicability in informing survival in distinct subsets of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. Experimental Design: We examined differences in oncogenic somatic alterations between metastatic colorectal cancer cohorts demonstrating extremes of survivorship following complete metastasectomy: ≤2-year (n = 17) and ≥10-year (n = 18) survivors. Relevant genomic findings, and their association with overall survival (OS), were validated in two independent datasets of 935 stage IV and 443 resected stage I–IV patients. Results: In the extremes-of-survivorship cohort, significant co-occurrence of KRAS hotspot mutations and TP53 alterations was observed in ≤2-year survivors (P < 0.001). When validating these findings in the independent cohort of 935 stage IV patients, incorporation of the cumulative effect of any oncogenic Ras/B-raf (i.e., either KRAS, NRAS, or BRAF) and TP53 alteration generated three prognostic clusters: (i) TP53-altered alone (median OS, 132 months); (ii) Ras/B-raf–altered alone (65 months) or Ras/B-raf- and TP53 pan-wild-type (60 months); and (iii) coaltered Ras/B-raf–TP53 (40 months; P < 0.0001). Coaltered Ras/B-raf–TP53 was independently associated with mortality (HR, 2.47; 95% confidence interval, 1.91–3.21; P < 0.001). This molecular profile predicted survival in the second independent cohort of 443 resected stage I–IV patients. Coaltered Ras/B-raf–TP53 was associated with worse OS in patients with liver (n = 490) and lung (n = 172) but not peritoneal surface (n = 149) metastases. Moreover, coaltered Ras/B-raf–TP53 tumors were significantly more likely to involve extrahepatic metastatic sites with limited salvage options. Conclusions: Genomic analysis of extremes of survivorship following colorectal cancer metastasectomy identifies a prognostic role for coaltered Ras/B-raf–TP53 and its association with distinct patterns of colorectal cancer metastasis.
Where are we heading? Challenges in evidence-based severity assessment

Evidence-based severity assessment in laboratory animals is, apart from the ethical responsibility, imperative to generate reproducible, standardized and valid data. However, the path towards a valid study design determining the degree of pain, distress and suffering experienced by the animal is lined with pitfalls and obstacles as we will elucidate in this review. Furthermore, we will ponder on the genesis of a holistic concept relying on multifactorial composite scales. These have to combine robust and reliable parameters to measure the multidimensional aspects that define the severity of animal experiments, generating a basis for the substantiation of the refinement principle.