Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Genome-wide identification, characterization, and functional analysis of lncRNAs in Hevea brasiliensis

Natural rubber (NR) is an essential industrial raw material widely used in our life. Hevea brasiliensis (Reyan7-33-97) is an economic plant producing natural rubber. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are emerging as crucial regulators in numerous biological processes while the characterization and analysis of lncRNAs in Hevea brasiliensis are still largely unrevealed. We integrated the transcriptome datasets from multiple tissues to identify rubber lncRNAs. As a result, 12,029 lncRNAs were found and characterized with notably distinctive features such as longer exon, lower expression levels and GC content, and more tissue specificity in comparison with mRNAs. We discovered thousands of tissue-specific lncRNAs in rubber root, latex, bark, leaf, flower, and seed tissues. The functional enrichment result reveals that tissue-specific lncRNAs are potentially referred to particular functions of tissues, while the non-tissue specific is related to the translation and metabolic processes. In the present study, a comprehensive lncRNA dataset was identified and its functional profile in Hevea brasiliensis was explored, which provides an annotation resource and important clues to understand the biological functions of lncRNAs in Hevea brasiliensis.
THE BHB STARS IN THE SURVEY FIELDS OF RODGERS ET AL. (1993): NEW OBSERVATIONS AND COMPARISONS WITH OTHER RECENT SURVEYS

We study blue horizontal branch (BHB) and RR Lyrae stars in the Rodgers et al. fields and compare their velocity and density distributions with other surveys in the same part of the sky. Photometric data are given for 176 early-type stars in the northern field. We identify fourteen BHB stars and four possible BHB stars, and determine the selection efficiency of the Century survey, the HK survey, and the SDSS survey for BHB stars. We give light curves and γ radial velocities for three type ab RR Lyrae stars in the northern field; comparison with the nearby LONEOS survey shows that there is likely to be an equal number of lower-amplitude type ab RR Lyrae stars that we do not find. There are therefore at least twice as many BHB stars as type ab RR Lyrae stars in the northern field—similar to the ratio in the solar neighborhood. The velocity distribution of the southern field shows no evidence for an anomalous thick disk that was found by Gilmore et al.; the halo velocity peaks at a slightly prograde rotational velocity but there is also a significant retrograde halo component in this field. The velocity distribution in the northern field shows no evidence of Galactic rotation for |Z| ⩾ 4 kpc and a slight prograde motion for |Z| < 4 kpc. The space densities of BHB stars in the northern field agree with an extrapolation of the power-law distribution recently derived by de Propris et al. For |Z| < 4 kpc, however, we observe an excess of BHB stars compared with this power law. We conclude that these BHB stars mostly belong to a spatially flattened, non-rotating inner halo component of the Milky Way in confirmation of the Kinman et al. analysis of Century survey BHB stars.
Comparison of some properties of star forming galaxies and active galactic nuclei between two BOSS galaxy samples from SDSS DR9

Using the LOWZ and CMASS samples of the ninth data release (DR9) from the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS), I investigate properties of star forming galaxies and active galactic nuclei (AGNs). The CMASS sample seriously suffers from the radial selection effect, even within the redshift 0.44 ≤ z ≤ 0.6, which will likely lead to statistical conclusions in the CMASS sample being less robust. In the LOWZ sample, the fraction of star-forming galaxies is nearly constant from the least dense regime to the densest regime; the AGN fraction is also insensitive to the local environment. In addition, I note that in the LOWZ sample, the distributions of stellar mass and stellar velocity dispersion for star forming galaxies and AGNs are nearly the same.
“Rogue” neutrophil-subset [DEspR+CD11b+/CD66b+] immunotype is an actionable therapeutic target for neutrophilic inflammation-mediated tissue injury – studies in human, macaque and rat LPS-inflammation models

Background and objective The correlation (Rs > 0.7) of neutrophils expressing the dual endothelin1/signal peptide receptor (DEspR+CD11b+/CD66b+) with severity of hypoxemia (SF-ratio) and multi-organ failure (SOFA-score) in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) suggest the hypothesis that the DEspR+ neutrophil-subset is an actionable therapeutic target in ARDS. To test this hypothesis, we conducted in vivo studies to validate DEspR+ neutrophil-subset as therapeutic target and test efficacy of DEspR-inhibition in acute neutrophilic hyperinflammation models. Methods We performed tests in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced acute neutrophilic inflammation in three species – human, rhesus macaque, rat – with increasing dose-dependent severity. We measured DEspR+CD66b+ neutrophils in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) in healthy volunteers (HVs) 24-hours after segmental LPS-challenge by ChipCytometry, and DEspR+CD11b+ neutrophils in whole blood and BALF in an LPS-induced transient acute lung injury (ALI) model in macaques. We determined anti-DEspR antibody efficacy in vivo in LPS-ALI macaque model and in high-mortality LPS-induced encephalopathy in hypertensive rats. Results ChipCytometry detected increased BALF total neutrophil and DEspR+CD66b+ neutrophil counts after segmental LPS-challenge compared to baseline (P =0.034), as well as increased peripheral neutrophil counts and neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) compared to pre-LPS level (P <0.05). In the LPS-ALI macaque model, flow cytometry detected increased DEspR+ and DEspR[-] neutrophils in BALF, which was associated with moderate-severe hypoxemia. After determining pharmacokinetics of single-dose anti-DEspR[hu6g8] antibody, one-time pre-LPS anti-DEspR treatment reduced hypoxemia (P =0.03) and neutrophil influx into BALF (P =0.0001) in LPS-ALI vs vehicle mock-treated LPS-ALI macaques. Ex vivo live cell imaging of macaque neutrophils detected greater “intrinsic adhesion to hard-surface” in DEspR+ vs DEspR[-] neutrophils (P <0.001). Anti-DEspR[hu6g8] antibody abrogated intrinsic high adhesion in DEspR+ neutrophils, but not in DEspR[-] neutrophils (P <0.001). In the LPS-encephalopathy rat model, anti-DEspR[10a3] antibody treatment increased median survival (P =0.0007) and exhibited brain target engagement and bioeffects. Conclusion Detection of increased DEspR+ neutrophil-subset in human BALF after segmental LPS-challenge supports the correlation of circulating DEspR+ neutrophil counts with severity measure (SOFA-score) in ARDS. Efficacy and safety of targeted inhibition of DEspR+CD11b+ neutrophil-subset in LPS-induced transient-ALI and high-mortality encephalopathy models identify a potential therapeutic target for neutrophil-mediated secondary tissue injury.
Nebulized corticosteroids versus systemic corticosteroids for patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis comparing the benefits and harms reported by observational studies and randomized controlled trials

Objective: Systematic comparison of the efficacy and safety of nebulized corticosteroids and systemic corticosteroids for treating acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease reported by high-quality, real-world observational studies and randomized controlled trials. Methods: MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library databases were searched from the database creation date to 1 April 2022. Eligible observational studies and randomized controlled trials with changes in lung function and blood gas analysis results as the primary endpoints of interest, and the numbers of deteriorations and adverse events as the secondary endpoints were sought. Results: Of the 2,837 identified studies, 22 were eligible and included in our analysis (N = 5,764 patients). Compared with systemic corticosteroids, nebulized corticosteroids resulted in comparable improvements in predicted FEV1%, FEV1, PaO2, PaCO2, and SaO2 at the treatment endpoint; however, observational studies reported more significant treatment outcomes with nebulized corticosteroids for FEV1 [mean difference, 0.26; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.17–0.35; p < 0.005]. In terms of adverse reactions, the risks of gastrointestinal symptoms were 11% [Log risk ratio (LogRR) = 0.10; 95% confidence interval, 0.05–0.15; p < 0.005] higher for systemic corticosteroids than for nebulized corticosteroids in randomized controlled trials, while the risks of hyperglycemia were 6% (LogRR = 0.06; 95% CI, 0.01–0.11; p = 0.01) and 13% (LogRR = 0.12; 95% CI, 0.09–0.16; p < 0.005) higher in observational studies and randomized controlled trials, respectively. Conclusion: According to our meta-analysis, either study type supported that nebulized corticosteroids can be used as an alternative to systemic corticosteroids for treating acute exacerbation of the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. However, more well-designed prospective studies are needed to determine the optimal dose of nebulized corticosteroids and the advantages of sequential therapy.
Evolutionary dynamics inform management interventions of a hanging garden obligate, Carex specuicola

Uncovering the historical and contemporary processes shaping rare species with complex distributions is of growing importance due to threats such as habitat destruction and climate change. Species restricted to specialized, patchy habitat may persist by virtue of life history characteristics facilitating ongoing gene flow and dispersal, but they could also reflect the remnants of formerly widespread, suitable habitat that existed during past climate regimes. If formerly widespread species did not rely upon traits facilitating high dispersibility to persist, contemporary populations could be at high risk of extirpation or extinction. Fortunately, genomic investigations provide an opportunity to illuminate such alternative scenarios while simultaneously offering guidance for future management interventions. Herein, we test the role of these mechanisms in shaping patterns of genomic diversity and differentiation across a highly restricted and rare ecosystem: desert hanging gardens. We focus on Carex specuicola (Cyperaceae), a hanging garden obligate narrowly distributed in the Four Corners region of the southwestern United States that is listed as Threatened under the United States Endangered Species Act. Population structure and diversity analyses reveal that hanging garden populations are shaped by strong genetic drift, but that individuals in gardens are occasionally more closely related to individuals at other gardens than to individuals within the same garden. Similarly, gardens separated by long geographic distances may contain individuals that are more closely related compared to individuals in gardens separated by short geographic distances. Demographic modeling supports historical gene flow between some contemporary garden pairs, which is corroborated by low estimates of inbreeding coefficients and recent divergence times. As such, multiple lines of evidence support dispersal and gene flow across C. specuicola populations at both small and large spatial scales, indicating that even if C. specuicola was formerly more widespread, it may be well suited to persist in hanging gardens so long as suitable habitat remains available. Analyses like those demonstrated herein may be broadly applicable for understanding the short- and long-term evolutionary processes influencing rare species, and especially those having complex distributions across heterogeneous landscapes.
The relationship between self-esteem and self-concept clarity is modulated by spontaneous activities of the dACC

Although it has been found that self-esteem and self-concept clarity are positively correlated, self-determination theory shows that the positive relationship might be lowered for individuals whose basic psychological needs are chronically thwarted. The exact neural mechanisms underlying the relationship between self-esteem and self-concept clarity are still not fully understood. The dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) plays an important role in monitoring basic psychological needs, considering that it is more active when some basic psychological needs are actually or potentially thwarted. To better understand the neural mechanisms underlying the relationship between self-esteem and self-concept clarity, we investigated the differences in the relationship between self-esteem and self-concept clarity among healthy adults with different levels of spontaneous activities of the dACC using rs-fMRI combined with amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF). As expected, the results showed that the positive relationship between self-esteem and self-concept clarity was modulated by the ALFF value of the right dACC, which indicated that the positive relationship was significant when the ALLF value of the right dACC was lower, but the positive relationship was not significant when the ALFF value of the right dACC was higher. The modulating roles of right dACC might also reflect that the individuals with higher ALFF value of dACC might experience chronically thwarted relatedness of basic psychological needs, which means the more disturbed by thwarting relatedness information in individuals, the lower positive relationship emerged.
Pharmacokinetics and safety of the two oral cefaclor formulations in healthy chinese subjects in the fasting and postprandial states

We conducted a phase I bioequivalence trial in healthy Chinese subjects in the fasting and postprandial states. The goal of this trial was to compare the pharmacokinetics and safety of the test preparation Cefaclor granule (Disha Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd.) and the reference preparation Cefaclor suspension (Ceclor®, Eli Lilly and Company). In this trial, 24 subjects were selected in the fasting and postprandial states, respectively. Enrolled subjects randomly accepted a single dose of 0.125 g Cefaclor granule or Cefaclor suspension. The washout period was set as 2 days. Blood samples were collected within 8 h after administration in the fasting state and within 10 h after administration in the postprandial state. Plasma concentrations were determined by Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Pharmacokinetic parameters (AUC, Cmax) were used to evaluate bioequivalence of the two drugs. In the fasting trial, the geometric mean ratios (90% confidence intervals CIs) for Cmax, AUC0-t, and AUC0-∞ were 93.01% (85.96%–100.63%), 97.92% (96.49%–99.38%) and 97.95% (96.52%–99.41%), respectively. The GMR (90% CIs) for Cmax, AUC0-t, and AUC0-∞ in postprandial state were 89.27% (81.97%–97.22%), 97.31% (95.98%–98.65%) and 97.31% (95.93%–98.71%), respectively. The 90% CIs of AUC and Cmax in the fasting and postprandial states were within the 80–125% bioequivalence range. Therefore, Cefaclor granule and Cefaclor suspension were bioequivalent and displayed similar safety profiles. Furthermore, food intake affected the pharmacokinetic parameters of both drugs.
Dynamic changes of brain networks during standing balance control under visual conflict

Stance balance control requires a very accurate tuning and combination of visual, vestibular, and proprioceptive inputs, and conflict among these sensory systems may induce posture instability and even falls. Although there are many human mechanics and psychophysical studies for this phenomenon, the effects of sensory conflict on brain networks and its underlying neural mechanisms are still unclear. Here, we combined a rotating platform and a virtual reality (VR) headset to control the participants’ physical and visual motion states, presenting them with incongruous (sensory conflict) or congruous (normal control) physical-visual stimuli. Further, to investigate the effects of sensory conflict on stance stability and brain networks, we recorded and calculated the effective connectivity of source-level electroencephalogram (EEG) and the average velocity of the plantar center of pressure (COP) in healthy subjects (18 subjects: 10 males, 8 females). First, our results showed that sensory conflict did have a detrimental effect on stance posture control [sensor F(1, 17) = 13.34, P = 0.0019], but this effect decreases over time [window*sensor F(2, 34) = 6.72, P = 0.0035]. Humans show a marked adaptation to sensory conflict. In addition, we found that human adaptation to the sensory conflict was associated with changes in the cortical network. At the stimulus onset, congruent and incongruent stimuli had similar effects on brain networks. In both cases, there was a significant increase in information interaction centered on the frontal cortices (p < 0.05). Then, after a time window, synchronized with the restoration of stance stability under conflict, the connectivity of large brain regions, including posterior parietal, visual, somatosensory, and motor cortices, was generally lower in sensory conflict than in controls (p < 0.05). But the influence of the superior temporal lobe on other cortices was significantly increased. Overall, we speculate that a posterior parietal-centered cortical network may play a key role in integrating congruous sensory information. Furthermore, the dissociation of this network may reflect a flexible multisensory interaction strategy that is critical for human posture balance control in complex and changing environments. In addition, the superior temporal lobe may play a key role in processing conflicting sensory information.
The Cold Spot in the Cosmic Microwave Background: the Shadow of a Supervoid

Standard inflationary hot big bang cosmology predicts small fluctuations in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) with isotropic Gaussian statistics. All measurements support the standard theory, except for a few anomalies discovered in the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe maps and confirmed recently by the Planck satellite. The Cold Spot is one of the most significant of such anomalies, and the leading explanation of it posits a large void that imprints this extremely cold area via the linear Integrated Sachs-Wolfe (ISW) effect due to the decay of gravitational potentials over cosmic time, or via the Rees-Sciama (RS) effect due to late-time non-linear evolution. Despite several observational campaigns targeting the Cold Spot region, to date no suitably large void was found at higher redshifts $z > 0.3$. Here we report the detection of an $R =(192 \pm 15) h^{-1}Mpc$ size supervoid of depth $\delta = -0.13 \pm 0.03$, and centred at redshift $z = 0.22$. This supervoid, possibly the largest ever found, is large enough to significantly affect the CMB via the non-linear RS effect, as shown in our Lemaitre-Tolman-Bondi framework. This discovery presents the first plausible explanation for any of the physical CMB anomalies, and raises the possibility that local large-scale structure could be responsible for other anomalies as well.
A UML approximation of a subset of the CK metrics and their ability to predict faulty classes

Design-complexity metrics, while measured from the code, have shown to be good predictors of fault-prone object-oriented programs and related to several other managerial factor such as productivity, re-work effort for reusing classes and design effort, and maintenance effort. Some of the most often used metrics are the Chidamber and Kemerer metrics (CK). Because earlier assessments of such managerial factors are desirable, prior to the code implementation, our research mainly concerns two topics. The first one concerns to the how can we approximate the code CK metrics using UML diagrams; and the second one concerns the use of such UML approximations to predict faulty object-oriented classes. First, we define our UML metrics, approximations of the Weighted Methods per Class (WMC), Response For Class (RFC) and Coupling Between Objects (CBO) CK code metrics using UML communication diagrams. Second, we evaluate our UML metrics as approximations to their corresponding code metrics. Third, in order to improve the approximations of our UML metrics, we study the application of two different data normalization techniques, and select the best one to be used in our experiments. Finally, because code CK metrics have shown repetitively their ability to predict faulty code in several previous works, we evaluate our UML CK metrics as predictors of faulty code. In order to do so, we first construct three prediction models using logistic regression with the source code of a package of an open source software project (Mylyn from Eclipse), and we test them with several other of its packages. Then, we applied these models to three different small-size software projects, using, on the one hand, their UML metrics, and on the other hand, their corresponding code metrics for comparison. The results of our empirical study lead us to conclude that the proposed UML RFC and UML CBO metrics can predict fault-proneness of code almost with the same accuracy as their respective code metrics do. The elimination of outliers and the normalization procedure used were of great utility, not only for enabling our UML metrics to predict fault-proneness of code using a code-based prediction model but also for improving the prediction results of our models across different software packages and projects. As for the WMC metrics, both the proposed UML and its respective code metric showed a poor fault-proneness prediction ability. Our plans for future work mainly concern the exploration of other areas of research in which our UML metrics can be applied and as for the topic of fault prediction the following subjects for further study have been considered: data normalization and other pre-processing techniques, the study of other metrics to be included in our prediction models (such metrics should be easily obtainable before the implementation of the system and different to design-complexity metrics), and other methodologies to predict faultproneness of code (different to logistic regression).
Underpinning Chinese international students’ stress and anxiety during the first wave of COVID-19 outbreak: The moderating role of wisdom

During the first wave of the COVID-19 outbreak, the Chinese diaspora, especially Chinese international students, were subjected to greater stress than others, because they were under pressure from both fear of infection and coping with acculturation (e.g., discrimination). Consequently, more research is needed to understand the anxiety induced by COVID-19 stresses on this specific cultural group. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between COVID-19 stress and individuals’ anxiety, and the moderating roles of Acceptance, Reframing, and Striving (ARS) coping, the family support coping strategy, and wise reasoning. To test our predictions, we collected data from 224 Chinese international students (CIS). Results indicated a strong and positive relationship between pandemic stress and anxiety. Surprisingly, both ARS and family support coping did not moderate the association between COVID-19 stress and anxiety. Instead, wise reasoning as a potential reflective coping strategy interacted with COVID-19 stress to predict anxiety. Specifically, wise reasoning predicted more anxiety when individuals perceived a low-level of COVID-19 stress, however, such a relationship disappeared when individuals perceived a high-level of COVID-19 stress. These findings about wise-reasoning extends our understanding of wisdom and how it plays a role in the context of COVID-19.