Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
P-Limitation Promotes Carbon Accumulation and Sinking of Emiliania huxleyi Through Transcriptomic Reprogramming

Global warming is expected to cause decreases in nutrient availability, photosynthesis, and potentially carbon export in the ocean. But how, and by what molecular mechanisms, nutrient limitation affects biological pump (BP) efficiency of phytoplankton are poorly understood. Here, using transcriptomics, miRNAomics, and physiological measurements, we report that phosphorus (P)-limitation increased cellular carbon and calcium contents and sinking rate of the cosmopolitan phytoplankton Emiliania huxleyi. Under P-limitation, when photosynthesis was depressed, there were substantial increases in cellular organic (3.4-fold) and inorganic (fivefold) carbon contents due to cell division arrest and, as our transcriptomic data suggest, CO2 incorporation into C4 compounds. Furthermore, calcification was increased by 46% through transcriptional and epigenetic regulations. An increase in sinking rate by 37-44% was detected. Although calcification releases equivalent amounts of CO2, the considerable increase in cellular carbon content and sinking rate far outweighed the CO2 release, leading to an elevated efficiency of carbon export by E. huxleyi, which would partially offset the decrease in BP capacity resulting from lower growth rate under P deficiency. However, how the observed sinking rate and its increase under P limitation on the laboratory cultures will translate into BP efficiency still requires further examination using in situ or mesocosm experiments.
CHX and a Face Shield Cannot Prevent Contamination of Surgical Masks

Background Bacterial contamination on surgical masks puts a threat to medical staff and patients. The aim of the study was to investigate its contamination during dental treatments, wearing a face shield and performing a pre-procedural mouth rinsing with chlorhexidine (CHX). Methods In this prospective, randomized study, 306 treatments were included, 141 single-tooth (restorations) and 165 total dentition treatments (preventive or periodontal supportive ultrasonic application). A total of three groups (each: n = 102) were formed: participants rinsed for 60 s with 0.1 % CHX or with water before treatment, and, for control, a non-rinsing group was included. In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, a face shield covering the surgical mask enhanced personal protective equipment. After treatment, masks were imprinted on agar plates and incubated at 35°C for 48 h. Bacteria were classified by phenotypic characteristics, biochemical assay methods, and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). Colonies (CFU) were counted and mean values were compared (Kruskal–Wallis-, U test, p < 0.05). Results Chlorhexidine led to a statistically significant reduction of bacterial contamination of the surgical mask (mean: 24 CFU) in comparison with water (mean: 47 CFU) and non-rinsing (mean: 80 CFU). Furthermore, rinsing with water reduced CFU significantly in comparison with the non-rinsing group. There were no significant differences between single or total dentition treatments. Streptococcus spp. , Staphylococcus spp. , Micrococcus spp. , and Bacillus spp. dominated, representing the oral and cutaneous flora. Conclusion A pre-procedural mouth rinse is useful to reduce the bacterial load of the surgical mask. However, contamination cannot be prevented completely, even by applying a face shield. In particular, during pandemic, it is important to consider that these additional protective measures are not able to completely avoid the transmission of pathogens bearing aerosols to the facial region. If antiseptic rinsing solutions are not available, rinsing with water is also useful.
Experimental Models to Study the Pathogenesis of Malaria-Associated Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome

Malaria-associated acute respiratory distress syndrome (MA-ARDS) is increasingly gaining recognition as a severe malaria complication because of poor prognostic outcomes, high lethality rate, and limited therapeutic interventions. Unfortunately, invasive clinical studies are challenging to conduct and yields insufficient mechanistic insights. These limitations have led to the development of suitable MA-ARDS experimental mouse models. In patients and mice, MA-ARDS is characterized by edematous lung, along with marked infiltration of inflammatory cells and damage of the alveolar-capillary barriers. Although, the pathogenic pathways have yet to be fully understood, the use of different experimental mouse models is fundamental in the identification of mediators of pulmonary vascular damage. In this review, we discuss the current knowledge on endothelial activation, leukocyte recruitment, leukocyte induced-endothelial dysfunction, and other important findings, to better understand the pathogenesis pathways leading to endothelial pulmonary barrier lesions and increased vascular permeability. We also discuss how the advances in imaging techniques can contribute to a better understanding of the lung lesions induced during MA-ARDS, and how it could aid to monitor MA-ARDS severity.
Early Prediction Model for Critical Illness of Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients Based on Machine Learning Techniques

Motivation Patients with novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) worsen into critical illness suddenly is a matter of great concern. Early identification and effective triaging of patients with a high risk of developing critical illness COVID-19 upon admission can aid in improving patient care, increasing the cure rate, and mitigating the burden on the medical care system. This study proposed and extended classical least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) logistic regression to objectively identify clinical determination and risk factors for the early identification of patients at high risk of progression to critical illness at the time of hospital admission. Methods In this retrospective multicenter study, data of 1,929 patients with COVID-19 were assessed. The association between laboratory characteristics measured at admission and critical illness was screened with logistic regression. LASSO logistic regression was utilized to construct predictive models for estimating the risk that a patient with COVID-19 will develop a critical illness. Results The development cohort consisted of 1,363 patients with COVID-19 with 133 (9.7%) patients developing the critical illness. Univariate logistic regression analysis revealed 28 variables were prognosis factors for critical illness COVID-19 (p < 0.05). Elevated CK-MB, neutrophils, PCT, α-HBDH, D-dimer, LDH, glucose, PT, APTT, RDW (SD and CV), fibrinogen, and AST were predictors for the early identification of patients at high risk of progression to critical illness. Lymphopenia, a low rate of basophils, eosinophils, thrombopenia, red blood cell, hematocrit, hemoglobin concentration, blood platelet count, and decreased levels of K, Na, albumin, albumin to globulin ratio, and uric acid were clinical determinations associated with the development of critical illness at the time of hospital admission. The risk score accurately predicted critical illness in the development cohort [area under the curve (AUC) = 0.83, 95% CI: 0.78–0.86], also in the external validation cohort (n = 566, AUC = 0.84). Conclusion A risk prediction model based on laboratory findings of patients with COVID-19 was developed for the early identification of patients at high risk of progression to critical illness. This cohort study identified 28 indicators associated with critical illness of patients with COVID-19. The risk model might contribute to the treatment of critical illness disease as early as possible and allow for optimized use of medical resources.
Long-Tailed Characteristics of Neural Activity Induced by Structural Network Properties

Over the past few decades, neuroscience studies have elucidated the structural/anatomical network characteristics in the brain and their associations with functional networks and the dynamics of neural activity. These studies have been carried out at multiple spatial-temporal scale levels, including spikes at the neural microcircuit level, neural activity at the intra-brain regional level, and neural interactions at the whole-brain network level. One of the structural and functional neural characteristics widely observed among large spatial-temporal scale ranges is long-tail distribution, typified as power-low distribution, gamma distribution, and log-normal distribution. In particular, long-tailed distributions found in excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSP) induce various types of neural dynamics and functions. We reviewed recent studies on neural dynamics produced by the structural long-tailed characteristics of brain neural networks. In particular, the spiking neural network with a log-normal EPSP distribution was first introduced for the essential factors to produce spontaneous activity and was extended and utilized for studies on the association of neural dynamics with the network topology depending on EPSP amplitude. Furthermore, the characteristics of the response to a steady stimulus and its dependence on E/I balance, which are widely observed under pathological conditions, were described by the spiking neural networks with EPSP long-tailed distribution. Moreover, this spiking neural network has been utilized in modeling studies of mutual interactions among local microcircuit circuits. In future studies, the implementation of more global brain network architectures in modeling studies might reveal the mechanisms by which brain dynamics and brain functions emerge from the whole brain network architecture.
The Association of Nocturnal Blood Pressure Patterns and Other Influencing Factors With Lacunes and Enlarged Perivascular Spaces in Hypertensive Patients

Purpose Nocturnal blood pressure dipping patterns have been associated with an increased risk of Cerebral Small Vessel Disease (CSVD), which has not been well-studied. This study is aimed to explore the association of dipping patterns and other factors with lacunes and enlarged perivascular spaces (EPVS) in patients with hypertension. Methods We enrolled a total of 1,322 patients with essential hypertension in this study. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans and 24-h ambulatory blood pressure (BP) monitoring were completed. Nocturnal BP decline was calculated, and then dipping patterns were classified. Patients were classified into four groups according to the performance of lacunes and EPVS in the MRI scan for statistical analysis. Results (1) Nocturnal BP decline showed independent negative correlation with both lacunes and EPVS while mean systolic BP (mSBP) level showed an independent positive correlation with them (P < 0.05). (2) The frequency of reverse-dippers in the control group was significantly lower than that in other groups; the frequency of non-dippers in the lacunes group and EPVS group was significantly lower than that in the control group; the frequency of extreme-dippers in the EPVS group was significantly higher than that in the mixed (lacunes with EPVS) group (P < 0.05). Conclusions Both mSBP and dipping patterns might play an important role in developing lacunes and EPVS in patients with hypertension.
Effects of Intermittent Hypoxia in Training Regimes and in Obstructive Sleep Apnea on Aging Biomarkers and Age-Related Diseases: A Systematic Review

Several studies have assessed the effects of intermittent hypoxia-normoxia training (IHNT), intermittent hypoxia-hyperoxia training (IHHT), and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) on aging and age-related diseases in humans; however, the results remain contradictory. Therefore, this review aims to systematically summarize the available studies on the effects of IHNT, IHHT, and OSA on aging and age-related diseases. Relevant studies were searched from PubMed, Google Scholar, Cochrane Library databases, and through manual searching from reference lists of eligible studies. A total of 38 eligible studies were included in this systematic review. IHHT and IHNT provide positive effects on several age-related parameters including quality of life, cognitive and physical functions, plasma level of glucose and cholesterol/LDL, systolic blood pressure, red blood cells, and inflammation. Moreover, moderate intermittent hypoxia induces telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) activity and telomere stabilization, delays induction of senescence-associated markers expression and senescence-associated β-galactosidase, upregulates pluripotent marker (Oct4), activates a metabolic shift, and raises resistance to pro-apoptotic stimuli. On the contrary, intermittent hypoxia in OSA causes hypertension, metabolic syndrome, vascular function impairment, quality of life and cognitive scores reduction, advanced brain aging, increase in insulin resistance, plasma hydrogen peroxide, GSH, IL-6, hsCRP, leptin, and leukocyte telomere shortening. Thus, it can be speculated that the main factor that determines the direction of the intermittent hypoxia action is the intensity and duration of exposure. There is no direct study to prove that IHNT/IHHT actually increases life expectancy in humans. Therefore, further study is needed to investigate the actual effect of IHNT/IHHT on aging in humans. Systematic Review Registration www.crd. york.ac. uk/prospero, identifier CRD42022298499.
The Conjugated Ionospheric Anomalies Preceding the 2011 Tohoku-Oki Earthquake

We present the conjugated ionospheric total electron content (TEC) anomalies prior to the 2011 Mw9.0 Tohoku-oki earthquake, Japan, observed by the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) stations in northern Australia. The onset time of the anomaly, determined by the Akaike’s information criterion, is 41.5 min before the earthquake in Australia, which is very close to the time observed in Japan. The positive TEC anomalies in Australia emerged on the same longitude as the land area of NE Japan. This supports the model that electric fields within the ionosphere redistributed the electrons immediately before large earthquakes. However, the observed anomaly is shifted equatorward by ∼500 km reflecting the difference in physical mechanisms between the two hemispheres. We also found that the geomagnetic declination near the conjugate point simultaneously started to change ∼40 min before the earthquake, but its physical implication is yet to be explored.
Keeping Quality of Sorghum Soybean Supplemented Wheat Flour Ladoos

The present study was done to assess the keeping quality of value added ladoos developed from newly released wheat varieties (WH-1129 and HD-2967) flours supplemented with sorghum and soybean flours. The control ladoo s had mean score of overall acceptability 7.46 whereas all other types of ladoos made from combinations of wheat, sorghum and soybean flours had mean scores of overall acceptability ranging from 7.86 to 8.62, which were significantly higher (P≤0.05) than that of control ladoos . The protein and fat content in control ladoo s were 9.06 and 20.14 per cent, respectively which significantly (P≤0.05) increased in composite flour ladoo of WH-1129 wheat flour to 11.39 and 23.00 per cent, respectively and to 10.89 and 25.02 per cent, respectively in that of HD-2967 flour. The crude fibre and ash contents in control ladoos were 1.22 and 1.39 per cent, respectively which significantly (P≤0.05) increased in composite ladoos of WH-1129 flour to 4.16 and 1.77 per cent, respectively. All types of ladoos were organoleptically acceptable upto 90 days of storage and fell in the category of’ ‘liked moderately’ to ‘liked very much’. The total bacterial count of ladoo of WH-1129:SGF:SBF (60:30:10) and (40:40:20) varied from 0 to 10×10 2 and 0 to 7×10 2 cfu/g of ladoo, respectively while that of HD:SGF:SBF (60:30:10) and (40:40:20) ranged from 0 to 9×10 2 and 0 to 10×10 2 cfu/g of ladoo , respectively. The total bacterial count of ladoo was within the permissible limit upto 45 days of storage.
The new paradigm of an anti-lock braking system for a full electric vehicle: experimental investigation and benchmarking

The study presented in this paper discusses developments in the area of anti-lock braking control for full electric vehicles. The main contributions of the paper are the development and experimental validation of the combined electric and hydraulic brake system with application of a continuous anti-lock braking system, which is expected to be more effective than the existing industrial solutions. It covers the topic of high-performance braking and driving comfort under a direct slip control function. The research is related to the full electric sport utility vehicle equipped with four individual on-board motors and a decoupled electrohydraulic brake system. The brake controller architecture includes functions of the continuous anti-lock braking system strategy, a brake blending algorithm aimed at minimization of the friction brake torque and operational limitations of the electric brakes. The developed brake controller was subjected to different validation procedures but, within the framework of this paper, emergency braking tests on a wet surface with a low coefficient of friction are considered. The results obtained demonstrate significant improvements in the braking performance, the driving comfort and the control performance for continuous anti-lock braking control of the electric vehicle compared with those of diverse vehicle configurations and, in particular, with those of a sport utility vehicle of the same type equipped with an internal-combustion engine and a conventional hydraulic brake system.
CAMBRIDGE WORKING PAPERS IN ECONOMICS CAMBRIDGE-INET WORKING PAPERS Supply Network Formation and Fragility

We model the production of complex goods in a large supply network. Each firm sources several essential inputs through relationships with other firms. Individual supply relationships are at risk of idiosyncratic failure, which threatens to disrupt production. To protect against this, firms multisource inputs and strategically invest to make relationships stronger, trading off the cost of investment against the benefits of increased robustness. A supply network is called fragile if aggregate output is very sensitive to small aggregate shocks. We show that supply networks of intermediate productivity are fragile in equilibrium, even though this is always inefficient. The endogenous configuration of supply networks provides a new channel for the powerful amplification of shocks. Abstract. We model the production of complex goods in a large supply network. Each firm sources several essential inputs through relationships with other firms. Individual supply relationships are at risk of idiosyncratic failure, which threatens to disrupt production. To protect against this, firms multisource inputs and strategically invest to make relationships stronger, trading off the cost of investment against the benefits of increased robustness. A supply network is called fragile if aggregate output is very sensitive to small aggregate shocks. We show that supply networks of intermediate productivity are fragile in equilibrium, even though this is always inefficient. The endogenous configuration of supply networks provides a new channel for the powerful amplification of shocks. a in which firms insure against disruptions by strategically investing in with potential trading off private gains in the robustness of their the of maintaining strong supply relationships. Our main results examine how the resulting equilibrium supply networks respond to idiosyncratic and aggregate risk. We find that, in equilibrium, (i) the economy is robust to idiosyncratic shocks, yet (ii) small shocks that systemically affect the functioning of supply relationships are massively amplified. Moreover, (iii) the functioning of many unrelated supply chains is highly correlated, and (iv) the complexity of production is key to the nature of these effects and the level of aggregate volatility.
Electrodermal Activity for Measuring Cognitive and Emotional Stress Level

Stress can lead to harmful conditions in the body, such as anxiety disorders and depression. One of the promising noninvasive methods, which has been widely used in detecting stress and emotion, is electrodermal activity (EDA). EDA has a tonic and phasic component called skin conductance level and skin conductance response (SCR). However, the components of the EDA cannot be directly extracted and need to be deconvolved to obtain it. The EDA signals were collected from 18 healthy subjects that underwent three sessions – Stroop test with increasing stress levels. The EDA signals were then deconvoluted by using continuous deconvolution analysis (CDA) and convex optimization approach to electrodermal activity (cvxEDA). Four features from the result of the deconvolution process were collected, namely sample average, standard deviation, first absolute difference, and normalized first absolute difference. Those features were used as the input of the classification process using the extreme learning machine (ELM). The output of classification was the stress level; mild, moderate, and severe. The visual of the phasic component using cvxEDA is more precise or smoother than the CDA's result. However, both methods could separate SCR from the original skin conductivity raw and indicate the small peaks from the SCR. The classification process results showed that both CDA and cvxEDA methods with 50 hidden layers in ELM had a high accuracy in classifying the stress level, which was 95.56% and 94.45%, respectively. This study developed a stress level classification method using ELM and the statistical features of SCR. The result showed that EDA could classify the stress level with over 94% accuracy. This system could help people monitor their mental health during overworking, leading to anxiety and depression because of untreated stress.
18F-Fludeoxyglucose Absorbed Dose Estimation in Fetus during Early Pregnancy

The purpose of this study is to assess a rare case of fetal radiation absorbed dose here through 18F-Fludeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) in early pregnancy (5-week-old fetus). The fetal absorbed dose due to the radiation emitted from the mother's body, the fetus self-dose, and the dose received from CT were computed. The 35-year-old patient, weighing 85 kg, was injected with 370 MBq of 18F-FDG. Imaging started at 1 h with CT acquisition followed by PET imaging. The photon and positron self-dose was calculated by applying the Monte Carlo (MC) GATE (GEANT 4 Application for Tomographic Emission) code. The volume of absorbed dose from the mother's body organs and the absorbed dose from the CT were added to the self-dose to obtain the final dose. The volume of self-dose obtained through MC simulation for the fetus was 3.3 × 10-2 mGy/MBq, of which 2.97 × 10-2 mGy/MBq was associated with positrons and 0.33 × 10-2 mGy/MBq was associated with photons. Biologically, the absorbed dose from CT, 7.3 mGy, had to be added to the total dose. The absorbed dose by the fetus during early pregnancy was higher than the standard value of 2.2 × 10-2 mGy/MBq (MIRD DER) because, during the examinations, the mother's bladder was full. This issue was a concern during updating standards.