Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Prevalence and Molecular Distinguishing of Brucella melitensis Rev1 Strain among Field Isolates the Brucella from Sheep and Goat Milk through PCR-RFLP Analysis of omp2 Gene Polymorphism

The present study was undertaken to characterize the prevalence and molecular distinguishing of Brucella melitensis field and vaccine Rev1 strains isolated from milk among the sheep and goat population. The study was carried out on flocks of sheep and goats suffering from Brucella infection outbreaks. A total of 171 milk samples were collected from different districts of the West Bank, part of Palestine, and isolated on Brucella agar. 86 cultures were confirmed by standard biochemical methods and screened for Brucella melitensis 16M of IS711 element by a conventional PCR technique. All these samples were also amplified for the omp2 gene to identify differences between field and Rev 1 strains in an infected flock. The results obtained from the PstI restriction enzyme pattern revealed that only 2 (4.5%) samples have specific polymorphism accomplished with the Brucella melitensis Rev1 strain. All other samples were restricted according to the Brucella melitensis 16M polymorphism pattern and originated from nonvaccinated flocks. Despite the adverse side effects of the Brucella melitensis vaccine, only a well-organized whole-flock vaccination and awareness campaign may inhibit the virulence of the field strain and, subsequently, reduce the prevalence of brucellosis infection among animals and humans in Palestine.
Serious Games for Developing Social Skills in Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review

Serious games represent a promising avenue for intervention with children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, a neurodevelopmental disorder marked by persistent challenges in social communication and the presence of restricted, repetitive behaviors. Despite this potential, comprehensive reviews on this subject are scarce. This systematic review aims to evaluate the effectiveness of serious games and their specific characteristics in enhancing social skills among children and adolescents with autism. Employing PICO strategies and adhering to PRISMA guidelines, we screened 149 studies initially identified through PubMed and EBSCOhost databases. Nine studies met inclusion criteria and found a positive influence of serious games on social skills and related domains, encompassing emotion recognition/encoding/decoding, emotional regulation, eye gaze, joint attention, and behavioral skills. Nevertheless, despite these promising results, the limited available evidence underscores the need for rigorous study designs to consolidate findings and integrate evidence-based intervention strategies.
Epidemiological profile and results of the management of diaphyseal fractures of the forearm bones in adults at Owendo University teaching Hospital (Gabon)

Introduction: Forearm bone fractures are serious fractures that often affect prono supination. Their treatment remains controversial. The aim of this work was to describe the epidemiological profile and evaluate the results obtained after their surgical treatment in the department. Patients and Methods : This was a retrospective study conducted from May 2016 to May 2018, at the Owendo University Teaching Hospital. The study included all patients admitted to the department for diaphyseal fracture of one or both bones of the forearm, treated surgically and regularly followed in outpatient consultation. Results: A total of 52 patients were collected. There were 39 men (75%) and 13 women (25%). The average age was 38.0 years with extremes of 16 and 60 years. Road traffic accidents constituted the most frequent etiology with 73.1% (n = 38). Fractures were closed in 78% (n = 41). Simultaneous damage to both bones of the forearm was noted in 78.8% (n = 41). The fracture line was transverse in 78.8% (n = 41). The middle third was the most common site with 78.8% (n = 41). The average intervention duration varied between 65 and 120 minutes. Fractures operated by screw plate consolidated at the 12 th post-operative week. The anatomical and functional result was generally satisfactory at 96.1%. Conclusion : diaphyseal fractures of the forearm bones are common in the department and are the prerogative of young adult males. Support by screwed plate or intramedullary pinning gave generally satisfactory results.
Low–interfacial toughness materials for effective large-scale deicing

Easy ice removal The accumulation of ice on a surface can lead to hazardous conditions, such as on the surface of an airplane wing or the side of a tall building. Ice adhesion, even to a surface treated to minimize the bonded force, will usually depend on the amount of surface coverage. Golovin et al. compared strength-limited deicing with toughness-limited deicing. Whereas normal deicing materials focus on minimizing the adhesion strength, the authors show that if a material is designed with low-adhesion toughness, deicing is no longer a function of the coverage area. Science, this issue p. 371 Reducing interfacial toughness allows for removal of ice over large areas using less force. Ice accretion has adverse effects on a range of commercial and residential activities. The force required to remove ice from a surface is typically considered to scale with the iced area. This imparts a scalability limit to the use of icephobic coatings for structures with large surface areas, such as power lines or ship hulls. We describe a class of materials that exhibit a low interfacial toughness with ice, resulting in systems for which the forces required to remove large areas of ice (a few square centimeters or greater) are both low and independent of the iced area. We further demonstrate that coatings made of such materials allow ice to be shed readily from large areas (~1 square meter) merely by self-weight.
Faces in Event Streams (FES): An Annotated Face Dataset for Event Cameras

The use of event-based cameras in computer vision is a growing research direction. However, despite the existing research on face detection using the event camera, a substantial gap persists in the availability of a large dataset featuring annotations for faces and facial landmarks on event streams, thus hampering the development of applications in this direction. In this work, we address this issue by publishing the first large and varied dataset (Faces in Event Streams) with a duration of 689 min for face and facial landmark detection in direct event-based camera outputs. In addition, this article presents 12 models trained on our dataset to predict bounding box and facial landmark coordinates with an mAP50 score of more than 90%. We also performed a demonstration of real-time detection with an event-based camera using our models.
Longitudinal characterization of diet-induced genetic murine models of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis with metabolic, histological, and transcriptomic hallmarks of human patients

ABSTRACT Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a fast-growing liver disease in the Western world. Currently, only a few animal models show both the metabolic and histological features of human NASH. We aimed to explore murine NASH models in a time dependent manner that exhibit metabolic, histological and transcriptomic hallmarks of human NASH. For this, the murine strains C57BL/6J, ob/ob, and KK-Ay were used and three types of nutritional regimes were administered: normal chow diet (NCD); high-fat, high-fructose, and high-cholesterol diet (fast food diet; FFD); or choline-deficient, L-amino acid-defined, high-fat diet (CDAHFD), for 2, 4, 8, 12, 18, 24, and 30 weeks. All strains under the FFD and CDAHFD regimes developed steatohepatitis. Among the strains treated with FFD, the non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) activity score, fibrosis progression and metabolic abnormalities such as hyperinsulinemia and obesity were more pronounced in ob/ob mice than in C57BL/6J and KK-Ay mice. In ob/ob mice fed FFD, the development of hepatic crown-like structures was confirmed. Furthermore, molecular pathways involved in steatohepatitis and fibrosis showed significant changes from as early as 2 weeks of starting the FFD regime. Ob/ob mice fed FFD showed metabolic, histological, and transcriptomic dysfunctions similar to human NASH, suggesting their potential as an experimental model to discover novel drugs for NASH. Summary: We revealed that ob/ob mice under fast food diet (FFD) regime develop metabolic, histological and transcriptomic dysfunctions similar to human non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).
The effects of Rituximab on Graves’orbitopathy: A retrospective study of 14 patients

Purpose: Management of Graves’ ophthalmopathy remains challenging. Over the last decade, previous studies have shown promising results for Rituximab in the treatment of Graves’ ophthalmopathy. We present the response of 14 individuals with active moderate-to-severe Graves’ ophthalmopathy to Rituximab, representing one of the largest retrospective case series reported to date. Methods: Rituximab was administered intravenously, 1000 mg twice at a 2-week interval. The primary end point was a clinical activity score reduction (improvement by ⩾ 2 points or disease inactivation: clinical activity score < 3) at 24 weeks. Secondary end points included clinical activity score improved by ⩾ 2 points or inactivation of Graves’ ophthalmopathy at 12 weeks, improvement in each item of the clinical activity score, in proptosis, in severity disease by the total eye score and in diplopia according to the Gorman score. Results: A limited improvement in clinical activity score was observed (median improvement at 24 weeks by 1 point, p = 0.002, (5/14 patients, 35.7%). Disease inactivation occurred in 50% of patients (7/14 patients). At 12 weeks, clinical activity score improved by ⩾ 2 points in 2/14 patients (14.3%) and inactivation of Graves’ ophthalmopathy occurred in four patients (28.6%). Improvement in proptosis and total eye score was observed in 3/9 patients (33%) and in 4/14 patients (28.6%) at 24 weeks, respectively. Only one patient experienced moderate adverse event. Conclusion: Rituximab is a well-tolerated treatment with a good safety profile, but offered limited and partial improvement for active moderate-to-severe Graves’ ophthalmopathy with a long duration of disease.
AgroConsultant: Intelligent Crop Recommendation System Using Machine Learning Algorithms

Agriculture is a major contributor to the Indian economy. The mainstream Indian population depends either explicitly or implicitly on agriculture for their livelihood. It is, thus, irrefutable that agriculture plays a vital role in the country. A vast majority of the Indian farmers believe in depending on their intuition to decide which crop to sow in a particular season. They find comfort in simply following the ancestral farming patterns and norms without realizing the fact that crop output is circumstantial, depending heavily on the present-day weather and soil conditions. However, a single farmer cannot be expected to take into account all the innumerable factors that contribute to crop growth before reaching a consensus about which one to grow. A single misguided or imprudent decision by the farmer can have undesirable ramifications on both himself as well as the agricultural economy of the region. A combination of Big Data Analytics and Machine Learning can effectively help alleviate this issue. In this paper, we present an intelligent system, called AgroConsultant, which intends to assist the Indian farmers in making an informed decision about which crop to grow depending on the sowing season, his farm's geographical location, soil characteristics as well as environmental factors such as temperature and rainfall.
Face Authentication and Secure Auto Sharing Using Deep Learning Algorithm

Face authentication is one of the critical unsolved problems in computer science, a lot of time and energy is spent to invent a robust solution for it. Face authentication can play a significant role in security, Biometric verification, auto detection of criminals in a crowd, etc. The paper presents a unique model that authenticates the faces in the image, and securely shares the images. Firstly, the deep learning algorithm identifies all the faces in the image, extracts the invariant features of each face. The invariant feature of the face is studied to compute the emotions. The model captures the friends list of the user and securely shares the image to the known persons in the image.
Focal infrared neural stimulation with high-field functional MRI: A rapid way to map mesoscale brain connectomes

We have developed INS-fMRI as a rapid and high-resolution method for mapping functional brain networks in vivo. We have developed a way to map brain-wide networks using focal pulsed infrared neural stimulation in ultrahigh-field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The patterns of connections revealed are similar to those of connections previously mapped with anatomical tract tracing methods. These include connections between cortex and subcortical locations and long-range cortico-cortical connections. Studies of local cortical connections reveal columnar-sized laminar activation, consistent with feed-forward and feedback projection signatures. This method is broadly applicable and can be applied to multiple areas of the brain in different species and across different MRI platforms. Systematic point-by-point application of this method may lead to fundamental advances in our understanding of brain connectomes.
GRP94 promotes muscle differentiation by inhibiting the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway

The glucose‐regulated endoplasmic reticulum chaperone protein 94 (GRP94) is required for many biological processes, such as secretion of immune factors and mesoderm induction. Here, we demonstrated that GRP94 promotes muscle differentiation in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, GRP94 inhibited the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway. Using both in vitro and in vivo approaches, in myoblasts, we found that this inhibition resulted in reduced proliferation and increased differentiation. To further investigate the mechanism of GRP94‐induced muscle differentiation, we used co‐immunoprecipitation and proximity ligation assays and found that GRP94 interacted with PI3K‐interacting protein 1 (Pik3ip1). The latter protein promoted muscle differentiation by inhibiting the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway. Furthermore, GRP94 was found to regulate Pik3ip1 expression. Finally, when Pik3ip1 expression was inhibited, GRP94‐induced promotion of muscle differentiation was diminished. Taken together, our data demonstrated that GRP94 promoted muscle differentiation, mediated by Pik3ip1‐dependent inhibition of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway.
Linkage mapping and genomic prediction of grain quality traits in tropical maize (Zea mays L.)

The suboptimal productivity of maize systems in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is a pressing issue, with far-reaching implications for food security, nutrition, and livelihood sustainability within the affected smallholder farming communities. Dissecting the genetic basis of grain protein, starch and oil content can increase our understanding of the governing genetic systems, improve the efficacy of future breeding schemes and optimize the end-use quality of tropical maize. Here, four bi-parental maize populations were evaluated in field trials in Kenya and genotyped with mid-density single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. Genotypic (G), environmental (E) and G×E variations were found to be significant for all grain quality traits. Broad sense heritabilities exhibited substantial variation (0.18–0.68). Linkage mapping identified multiple quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for the studied grain quality traits: 13, 7, 33, 8 and 2 QTLs for oil content, protein content, starch content, grain texture and kernel weight, respectively. The co-localization of QTLs identified in our research suggests the presence of shared genetic factors or pleiotropic effects, implying that specific genomic regions influence the expression of multiple grain quality traits simultaneously. Genomic prediction accuracies were moderate to high for the studied traits. Our findings highlight the polygenic nature of grain quality traits and demonstrate the potential of genomic selection to enhance genetic gains in maize breeding. Furthermore, the identified genomic regions and single nucleotide polymorphism markers can serve as the groundwork for investigating candidate genes that regulate grain quality traits in tropical maize. This, in turn, can facilitate the implementation of marker-assisted selection (MAS) in breeding programs focused on improving grain nutrient levels.
Opioid-mediated Sertoli cells apoptosis is involved in testicular homeostasis and/or reproductive dysfunction.

OBJECTIVES The opioid system may exert positive direct and/or indirect effects on spermatogenesis at multiple levels including the levels of the central nervous system and at the testes/sperm levels. However, long term opioid use could be associated with several reproductive complications that place the users at risk of hypogonadism and even infertility. There is little available information regarding the contribution of opioids and their apoptotic effects on testis Sertoli cells. Here, the effects of DAMGO (mu opioid receptor's agonist), DPDPE (delta opioid receptor's agonist) and DYN 1-9 (kappa opioid receptor's agonist) on Sertoli cell viability and apoptosis were investigated. METHODS Cultured Sertoli cells were exposed to each agonist (0.1-100 µM, for 24 or 48 hours) and their apoptotic effects were investigated. RESULTS Cell viability was decreased and apoptosis was increased in the cells exposed to DAMGO in a concentration-dependent manner, while in the cells exposed to DPDPE, no significant changes were observed. In cells exposed to DYN 1-9, the viability did not significantly change, however apoptosis increased significantly, following the exposure to the high concentration of DYN 1-9. CONCLUSION These data suggest that mu and Kappa, but not delta receptors mediated apoptosis in Sertoli cells may be involved, at least in part, in testicular homeostasis and/or reproductive dysfunction (Tab. 1, Fig. 3, Ref. 52).
Dense Residual Convolutional Neural Network based In-Loop Filter for HEVC

In-loop filtering is a key technique in the state of art video coding standard that plays a significant role in suppressing compression artifacts. Motivated by the latest advances of deep learning, in this paper, we design a dense residual convolutional neural network (DRN) based in-loop filter for High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC). Taking advantage of both dense shortcuts and residual learning, DRN efficiently exploits the multi-level features to restore the high quality image from the degraded one. Bottleneck layers are employed in DRN in order to adaptively fuse the hierarchical features and saving the computational resources at the same time. Experimental results show that the proposed DRN based in-loop filter can further boost the coding performance, which provides 6.9% BD-rate reduction on average compared to the HEVC baseline. In addition, the proposed DRN outperforms previous CNN based in-loop filters.
Pericyte transplantation improves skeletal muscle recovery following hindlimb immobilization

Conditions of extended bed rest and limb immobilization can initiate rapid and significant loss of skeletal muscle mass and function. Physical rehabilitation is standard practice following a period of disuse, yet mobility may be severely compromised, and recovery is commonly delayed or incomplete in special populations. Thus, a novel approach toward recovery of muscle mass is highly desired. Pericytes [neuron‐glial antigen 2 (NG2)+CD31−CD45−(Lineage− [Lin−]) and CD146+Lin−] demonstrate capacity to facilitate muscle repair, yet the ability to enhance myofiber growth following disuse is unknown. In the current study, 3–4‐mo‐old mice were unilaterally immobilized for 14 d (IM) or immobilized for 14 d followed by 14 d of remobilization (RE). Flow cytometry and targeted gene expression analyses were completed to assess pericyte quantity and function following IM and RE. In addition, a transplantation study was conducted to assess the impact of pericytes on recovery. Results from targeted analyses suggest minimal impact of disuse on pericyte gene expression, yet NG2+Lin− pericyte quantity is reduced following IM (P < 0.05). Remarkably, pericyte transplantation recovered losses in myofiber cross‐sectional area and the capillary‐to‐fiber ratio following RE, whereas deficits remained with vehicle alone (P = 0.01). These findings provide the first evidence that pericytes effectively rehabilitate skeletal muscle mass following disuse atrophy. —Munroe, M. , Dvoretskiy, S. , Lopez, A. , Leong, J., Dyle, M. C. , Kong, H. , Adams, C. M. , Boppart, M. D. Pericyte transplantation improves skeletal muscle recovery following hindlimb immobilization. FASEB J. 33, 7694–7706 (2019). www.fasebj. org
Smartphones as digital companions: Characterizing the relationship between users and their phones

Based on the idea of computers constituting social agents and referring to core characteristics of human–human relationships, this study introduces the concept of a digital companionship between smartphone users and their devices. Constituting characteristics (closeness, trust, preoccupation) and outcomes (stress, coping with stress) of social relationships were adapted to yield a model of human–smartphone relationships for empirical testing. A cross-national sample of participants (n = 1156) completed an online study, which included self-report measures as well as a newly developed instrument (Positioning Others and Devices [POD]) assessing the closeness to technical devices and social actors. Results showed the smartphone to be the closest device. Furthermore, structural equation modeling lent support for the theoretical model indicating that trust and preoccupation mediate the relationship between closeness to the smartphone and stress and coping. Findings support the concept of companionship as a fruitful approach to explain smartphone-related behaviors.
Capsaicin Analogues Derived from n-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids (PUFAs) Reduce Inflammatory Activity of Macrophages and Stimulate Insulin Secretion by β-Cells In Vitro

In this study, two capsaicin analogues, N-eicosapentaenoyl vanillylamine (EPVA) and N-docosahexaenoyl vanillylamine (DHVA), were enzymatically synthesized from their corresponding n-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), both dietary relevant components. The compounds significantly reduced the production of some lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammatory mediators, including nitric oxide (NO), macrophage-inflammatory protein-3α (CCL20) and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1 or CCL2), by RAW264.7 macrophages. Next to this, only EPVA increased insulin secretion by pancreatic INS-1 832/13 β-cells, while raising intracellular Ca2+ and ATP concentrations. This suggests that the stimulation of insulin release occurs through an increase in the intracellular ATP/ADP ratio in the first phase, while is calcium-mediated in the second phase. Although it is not yet known whether EPVA is endogenously produced, its potential therapeutic value for diabetes treatment merits further investigation.