Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Caspase activation counteracts interferon signaling after G2 checkpoint abrogation by ATR inhibition in irradiated human cancer cells

Recent studies suggest that inhibition of the ATR kinase can potentiate radiation-induced antitumor immune responses, but the extent and mechanisms of such responses in human cancers remain scarcely understood. We aimed to assess whether the ATR inhibitors VE822 and AZD6738, by abrogating the G2 checkpoint, increase cGAS-mediated type I IFN response after irradiation in human lung cancer and osteosarcoma cell lines. Supporting that the checkpoint may prevent IFN induction, radiation-induced IFN signaling declined when the G2 checkpoint arrest was prolonged at high radiation doses. G2 checkpoint abrogation after co-treatment with radiation and ATR inhibitors was accompanied by increased radiation-induced IFN signaling in four out of five cell lines tested. Consistent with the hypothesis that the cytosolic DNA sensor cGAS may detect DNA from ruptured micronuclei after G2 checkpoint abrogation, cGAS co-localized with micronuclei, and depletion of cGAS or STING abolished the IFN responses. Contrastingly, one lung cancer cell line showed no increase in IFN signaling despite irradiation and G2 checkpoint abrogation. This cell line showed a higher level of the exonuclease TREX1 than the other cell lines, but TREX1 depletion did not enhance IFN signaling. Rather, addition of a pan-caspase inhibitor restored the IFN response in this cell line and also increased the responses in the other cell lines. These results show that treatment-induced caspase activation can suppress the IFN response after co-treatment with radiation and ATR inhibitors. Caspase activation thus warrants further consideration as a possible predictive marker for lack of IFN signaling.
Work schedule flexibility and teleworking were not good together during COVID-19 when testing their effects on work overload and mental health

The COVID-19 pandemic has driven organizations to implement various flexible work arrangements. Due to a lack of longitudinal studies, there is currently no consensus in specialized literature regarding the consequences of flexible work arrangements on employee mental health, as well any long term potential impacts. Using the Job Demand-Resource Model, this study documents consequences of the implementation of two types of flexible work arrangement: work schedule flexibility and teleworking on employee mental health over time, and the mediating role played by work overload during the accelerated implementation of flexible work arrangements in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a longitudinal design and probabilistic sampling, 209 workers participated in this study, twice answering a flexible work arrangement and mental health questionnaire during the pandemic. Findings of this moderated-mediation suggest that work schedule flexibility generates positive effects on mental health over time due to decreased work overload, but only for employees not working from home. These results offer theoretical and practical implications applicable to organizations considering implementation of flexible work arrangements, particularly with regard to how these flexible practices could support a balance between demand and resources, their impact on work overload, and employee mental health over time.
Tracking CO2 emission reductions from space: A case study at Europe’s largest fossil fuel power plant

We quantify CO2 emissions from Europe’s largest fossil fuel power plant, the Bełchatόw Power Station in Poland, using CO2 observations from NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) 2 and 3 missions on 10 occasions from March 2017 to June 2022. The space-based CO2 emission estimates reveal emission changes with a trend that is consistent with the independent reported hourly power generation trend that results from both permanent and temporary unit shutdowns. OCO-2 and OCO-3 emission estimates agree with the bottom-up emission estimates within their respective 1σ uncertainties for 9 of the 10 occasions. Different methods for defining background values and corresponding uncertainties are explored in order to better understand this important potential error contribution. These results demonstrate the ability of existing space-based CO2 observations to quantify emission reductions for a large facility when adequate coverage and revisits are available. The results are informative for understanding the expected capability and potential limitations of the planned Copernicus Anthropogenic CO2 Monitoring (CO2M) and other future satellites to support monitoring and verification of CO2 emission reductions resulting from climate change mitigation efforts such as the Paris Agreement.
Hydrogen peroxide suppresses excitability of gonadotropin-releasing hormone neurons in adult mouse

It has been reported that reactive oxygen species (ROS) derived from oxygen molecule reduction can interfere with the cross-talk between the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis and other endocrine axes, thus affecting fertility. Furthermore, ROS have been linked to GnRH receptor signaling in gonadotropes involved in gonadotropin release. There has been evidence that ROS can interfere with the HPG axis and gonadotropin release at various levels. However, the direct effect of ROS on gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) neuron remains unclear. Thus, the objective of this study was to determine the effect of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), an ROS source, on GnRH neuronal excitabilities in transgenic GnRH-green fluorescent protein-tagged mice using the whole-cell patch-clamp electrophysiology. In adults, H2O2 at high concentrations (mM level) hyperpolarized most GnRH neurons tested, whereas low concentrations (pM to μM) caused slight depolarization. In immature GnRH neurons, H2O2 exposure induced excitation. The sensitivity of GnRH neurons to H2O2 was increased with postnatal development. The effect of H2O2 on adult female GnRH neurons was found to be estrous cycle-dependent. Hyperpolarization mediated by H2O2 persisted in the presence of tetrodotoxin, a voltage-gated Na+ channel blocker, and amino-acids receptor blocking cocktail containing blockers for the ionotropic glutamate receptors, glycine receptors, and GABAA receptors, indicating that H2O2 could act on GnRH neurons directly. Furthermore, glibenclamide, an ATP-sensitive K+ (KATP) channel blocker, completely blocked H2O2-mediated hyperpolarization. Increasing endogenous H2O2 by inhibiting glutathione peroxidase decreased spontaneous activities of most GnRH neurons. We conclude that ROS can act as signaling molecules for regulating GnRH neuron’s excitability and that adult GnRH neurons are sensitive to increased ROS concentration. Results of this study demonstrate that ROS have direct modulatory effects on the HPG axis at the hypothalamic level to regulate GnRH neuron’s excitabilities.
Validation and application of the Non-Verbal Behavior Analyzer: An automated tool to assess non-verbal emotional expressions in psychotherapy

Background Emotions play a key role in psychotherapy. However, a problem with examining emotional states via self-report questionnaires is that the assessment usually takes place after the actual emotion has been experienced which might lead to biases and continuous human ratings are time and cost intensive. Using the AI-based software package Non-Verbal Behavior Analyzer (NOVA), video-based emotion recognition of arousal and valence can be applied in naturalistic psychotherapeutic settings. In this study, four emotion recognition models (ERM) each based on specific feature sets (facial: OpenFace, OpenFace-Aureg; body: OpenPose-Activation, OpenPose-Energy) were developed and compared in their ability to predict arousal and valence scores correlated to PANAS emotion scores and processes of change (interpersonal experience, coping experience, affective experience) as well as symptoms (depression and anxiety in HSCL-11). Materials and methods A total of 183 patient therapy videos were divided into a training sample (55 patients), a test sample (50 patients), and a holdout sample (78 patients). The best ERM was selected for further analyses. Then, ERM based arousal and valence scores were correlated with patient and therapist estimates of emotions and processes of change. Furthermore, using regression models arousal and valence were examined as predictors of symptom severity in depression and anxiety. Results The ERM based on OpenFace produced the best agreement to the human coder rating. Arousal and valence correlated significantly with therapists’ ratings of sadness, shame, anxiety, and relaxation, but not with the patient ratings of their own emotions. Furthermore, a significant negative correlation indicates that negative valence was associated with higher affective experience. Negative valence was found to significantly predict higher anxiety but not depression scores. Conclusion This study shows that emotion recognition with NOVA can be used to generate ERMs associated with patient emotions, affective experiences and symptoms. Nevertheless, limitations were obvious. It seems necessary to improve the ERMs using larger databases of sessions and the validity of ERMs needs to be further investigated in different samples and different applications. Furthermore, future research should take ERMs to identify emotional synchrony between patient and therapists into account.
Cannabinoid CB1 receptor expression in oligodendrocyte progenitors of the hippocampus revealed by the NG2-EYFP-knockin mouse

Adult oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs) give rise to myelinating oligodendrocytes through life and play crucial roles in brain homeostasis and plasticity during health and disease. Cannabinoid compounds acting through CB1 receptors promote the proliferation and differentiation of OPCs in vitro and facilitate developmental myelination and myelin repair in vivo. However, CB1 receptor expression in adult OPCs in situ has not been corroborated by anatomical studies and the contribution of this receptor population to the (re)myelination effects of cannabinoids remains a matter of debate. Using electron microscopy methods applied to NG2-EYFP reporter mice we assessed the localization of CB1 receptors in OPCs of the adult mouse hippocampus. To control for the specificity of CB1 receptor immunostaining we generated transgenic mice bearing EYFP expression in NG2 glia and wild-type (NG2-EYFP-CB1+/+) and knockout (NG2-EYFP-CB1–/–) for CB1 receptors. Double immunogold and immunoperoxidase labeling for CB1 and EYFP, respectively, revealed that CB1 receptors are present in a low proportion of NG2 positive profiles within hippocampal stratum radiatum of NG2-EYFP-CB1+/+ mice. Quantitative analysis of immunogold particles in synaptic structures and NG2 profiles showed that CB1 receptors are expressed at lower density in adult OPCs than in glutamatergic cells of the rodent hippocampus. These results highlight the presence of CB1 receptors in adult OPCs thus providing an anatomical substrate for the remyelination promoting effects of cannabinoids and open a novel perspective on the roles of the endocannabinoid system in brain physiology through the modulation of NG2 glia.
Confirming Variability in the Secondary Eclipse Depth of the Super-Earth 55 Cancri e

We present a reanalysis of five transit and eight eclipse observations of the ultrashort-period super-Earth 55 Cancri e observed using the Spitzer Space Telescope during 2011–2013. We use pixel-level decorrelation to derive accurate transit and eclipse depths from the Spitzer data, and we perform an extensive error analysis. We focus on determining possible variability in the eclipse data, as was reported in Demory et al. From the transit data, we determine updated orbital parameters, yielding T0 = 2,455,733.0037 ± 0.0002, P = 0.7365454 ± 0.0000003 days, i = 83.5 ± 1. °3, and Rp = 1.89 ± 0.05 R⊕. Our transit results are consistent with a constant depth, and we conclude that they are not variable. We find a significant amount of variability between the eight eclipse observations and confirm agreement with Demory et al. through a correlation analysis. We convert the eclipse measurements to brightness temperatures, and generate and discuss several heuristic models that explain the evolution of the planet’s eclipse depth versus time. The eclipses are best modeled by a year-to-year variability model, but variability on shorter timescales cannot be ruled out. The derived range of brightness temperatures can be achieved by a dark planet with inefficient heat redistribution intermittently covered over a large fraction of the substellar hemisphere by reflective grains, possibly indicating volcanic activity or cloud variability. This time-variable system should be observable with future space missions, both planned (JWST) and proposed (i.e., ARIEL).
Emotion recognition and processing in patients with mild cognitive impairment: A systematic review

The purpose of this study was to investigate emotion recognition and processing in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in order to update the state of current literature on this important but undervalued topic. We identified 15 papers published between 2012 and 2022 that meet the inclusion criteria. Paper search, selection, and extraction followed the PRISMA guidelines. We used a narrative synthesis approach in order to report a summary of the main findings taken from all papers. The results collected are still ambiguous: some studies did not find any differences between MCI and healthy controls (HC) groups in emotion recognition and processing, and other results reported emotion-specific deficits in emotion recognition regarding MCI patients (both regarding negative and neutral emotions). It is essential to underline that these findings could not be generalized to the whole MCI population due to the heterogeneous use of measures and composition of the sample. This does not allow us to make a comprehensive comparison between the results. Our suggestion for future research is to align the results using the same type of tests and emotion recognition assessment.
Structure of hybrid static potential flux tubes in Lattice Yang-Mills-theory

We report about an ongoing lattice field theory project concerned with the investigation of heavy hybrid mesons. In particular we discuss our computation of the structure of hybrid static potential flux tubes in SU(2) lattice Yang-Mills theory, which is based on the squares of the chromoelectric and chromomagnetic field strength components. Our flux tube results for hybrid static potential quantum numbers $\Sigma_g^-$, $\Sigma_u^+$, $\Sigma_u^-$, $\Pi_g$, $\Pi_u$, $\Delta_g$, $\Delta_u$ are significantly different compared to the flux tube of the ordinary static potential.
A photometric study of globular clusters observed by the APOGEE survey

In this paper we describe the photometric and spectroscopic properties of multiple populations in seven northern globular clusters. In this study we employ precise ground based photometry from the private collection of Stetson, space photometry from the Hubble Space Telescope, literature abundances of Na and O, and APOGEE survey abundances for Mg, Al, C, and N. Multiple populations are identified by their position in the CU,B,I -V pseudo-CMD and confirmed with their chemical composition determined using abundances. We confirm the expectation from previous studies that the RGB in all seven clusters are split and the different branches have different chemical compositions. The Mg-Al anti-correlations were well explored by the APOGEE and Gaia-ESO surveys for most globular clusters, some clusters showing bimodal distributions, while others continuous distributions. Even though the structure (i.e., bimodal vs. continuous) of Mg-Al can greatly vary, the Al-rich and Al-poor populations do not seem to have very different photometric properties, agreeing with theoretical calculations. There is no one-to-one correspondence between the Mg-Al anticorrelation shape (bimodal vs. continuous) and the structure of the RGB seen in the HST pseudo-CMDs, with the HST photometric information usually implying more complex formation/evolution histories than the spectroscopic ones. We report on finding two second generation HB stars in M5, and five second generation AGB stars in M92, which is the most metal-poor cluster to date in which second generation AGB stars have been observed.
T3 levels and thyroid hormone signaling

The clinical availability of tissue-specific biomarkers of thyroid hormone (TH) action constitutes a “holy grail” for the field. Scientists have investigated several TH-dependent markers, including the tissue content of triiodothyronine (T3)—the active form of TH. The study of animal models and humans indicates that the T3 content varies among different tissues, mostly due to the presence of low-affinity, high-capacity cytoplasmic T3 binding proteins. Nonetheless, given that T3 levels in the plasma and tissues are in equilibrium, T3 signaling is defined by the intracellular free T3 levels. The available techniques to assess tissue T3 are invasive and not clinically applicable. However, the tracer kinetic studies revealed that serum T3 levels can accurately predict tissue T3 content and T3 signaling in most tissues, except for the brain and pituitary gland. This is true not only for normal individuals but also for patients with hypo or hyperthyroidism–but not for patients with non-thyroidal illness syndrome. Given this direct relationship between serum and tissue T3 contents and T3 signaling in most tissues, clinicians managing patients with hypothyroidism could refocus attention on monitoring serum T3 levels. Future clinical trials should aim at correlating clinical outcomes with serum T3 levels.
A buffalo rumen-derived probiotic (SN-6) could effectively increase simmental growth performance by regulating fecal microbiota and metabolism

Microorganisms play a key role in ruminal digestion, some of which can be used as probiotics to promote growth in ruminants. However, which potential bacteria are responsible for ruminant growth and how they potentiate the basic mechanism is unclear. In this study, three bacterial strains, Bacillus pumilus (SN-3), Bacillus paralicheniformis (SN-6), and Bacillus altitudinis (SN-20) with multiple digestive enzymes were isolated from the rumen of healthy buffaloes. Among these strains, SN-6 secreted cellulase, laccase, and amylase, and significantly inhibited Staphylococcus aureus ATCC25923 and Escherichia coli K99 in vitro. In addition, SN-6 exhibited strong tolerance to artificial gastric juice, intestinal juice, and high temperature. Antibiotic resistance test, virulence gene test, and mouse toxicity test confirmed the safety of SN-6. Further, SN-6 significantly increased the body weight (p < 0.01), affects the intestinal microbiota structure, and alters the metabolomic patterns of Simmental. There was a remarkable difference in the β diversity of fecal microflora between SN-6 and control groups (p < 0.05). Furthermore, SN-6 significantly increased the abundance of Clostridium_sensu_stricto_1, Bifidobacterium, Blautia, and Cellulolyticum, decreased the relative abundance of Monoglobus and norank_f_Ruminococcacea. Moreover, SN-6 feeding significantly enriched intestinal metabolites (i.e., 3-indoleacrylic acid, kynurenic acid) to maintain intestinal homeostasis. Finally, the microbial and metabolic functional analysis indicated that SN-6 could enhance amino acid metabolism (mainly tryptophan metabolism) and lipid metabolism pathways. Overall, these findings indicated that SN-6 could be used as a probiotic in ruminants.
The relationship between motor pathway damage and flexion-extension patterns of muscle co-excitation during walking

Background Mass flexion-extension co-excitation patterns during walking are often seen as a consequence of stroke, but there is limited understanding of the specific contributions of different descending motor pathways toward their control. The corticospinal tract is a major descending motor pathway influencing the production of normal sequential muscle coactivation patterns for skilled movements. However, control of walking is also influenced by non-corticospinal pathways such as the corticoreticulospinal pathway that possibly contribute toward mass flexion-extension co-excitation patterns during walking. The current study sought to investigate the associations between damage to corticospinal (CST) and corticoreticular (CRP) motor pathways following stroke and the presence of mass flexion-extension patterns during walking as evaluated using module analysis. Methods Seventeen healthy controls and 44 stroke survivors were included in the study. We used non-negative matrix factorization for module analysis of paretic leg electromyographic activity. We typically have observed four modules during walking in healthy individuals. Stroke survivors often have less independently timed modules, for example two-modules presented as mass flexion-extension pattern. We used diffusion tensor imaging-based analysis where streamlines connecting regions of interest between the cortex and brainstem were computed to evaluate CST and CRP integrity. We also used a coarse classification tree analysis to evaluate the relative CST and CRP contribution toward module control. Results Interhemispheric CST asymmetry was associated with worse lower extremity Fugl-Meyer score (p = 0.023), propulsion symmetry (p = 0.016), and fewer modules (p = 0.028). Interhemispheric CRP asymmetry was associated with worse lower extremity Fugl-Meyer score (p = 0.009), Dynamic gait index (p = 0.035), Six-minute walk test (p = 0.020), Berg balance scale (p = 0.048), self-selected walking speed (p = 0.041), and propulsion symmetry (p = 0.001). The classification tree model reveled that substantial ipsilesional CRP or CST damage leads to a two-module pattern and poor walking ability with a trend toward increased compensatory contralesional CRP based control. Conclusion Both CST and CRP are involved with control of modules during walking and damage to both may lead to greater reliance on the contralesional CRP, which may contribute to a two-module pattern and be associated with worse walking performance.
Dynamical behavior of a stochastic SICR rumor model incorporating media coverage

Rumor propagation in the new media era poses a huge threat to maintaining the normal order of social life. In this context, we put forth a nonlinear dynamics-based stochastic SICR rumor model that integrates media coverage with science education. First, the existence of a unique global positive solution is obtained. Second, sufficient conditions for extinction are constructed on the spread of rumors based on the Lyapunov function methods and Khasminskii’s theory. Finally, the theoretical analysis is verified through numerical simulations. Additionally, it demonstrates how rumor spreading can be hampered by media coverage.
Comparative Evaluation Between Experiment and Simulation for a Transverse Instability

A transverse combustion instability study composed of experimental and hybrid Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes/large eddy simulation results is described. The study is focused on gas-centered swirl coaxial injector elements like those used in the main chambers of oxidizer-rich staged-combustion engines. Experimental results are obtained from a self-excited, multi-element, high-pressure model rocket combustor. The simulation uses a velocity forcing technique to match the frequency and amplitude of the pressure oscillations that are measured in the combustor. Chemiluminescence is used to indirectly measure heat release rate in the experimental investigation. Detailed comparisons between the predicted and measured pressure field and the predicted and measured heat release modes are made. Modal decomposition is used to systematically compare the heat release modes. Results show successful computational replication of the experimental unsteady environment through the use of the velocity forcing technique and th.