Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Unlocking the Complete Chloroplast Genome of a Native Tree Species from the Amazon Basin, Capirona (Calycophyllum Spruceanum, Rubiaceae), and Its Comparative Analysis with Other Ixoroideae Species

Capirona (Calycophyllum spruceanum Benth.) belongs to subfamily Ixoroideae, one of the major lineages in the Rubiaceae family, and is an important timber tree. It originated in the Amazon Basin and has widespread distribution in Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, and Brazil. In this study, we obtained the first complete chloroplast (cp) genome of capirona from the department of Madre de Dios located in the Peruvian Amazon. High-quality genomic DNA was used to construct libraries. Pair-end clean reads were obtained by PE 150 library and the Illumina HiSeq 2500 platform. The complete cp genome of C. spruceanum has a 154,480 bp in length with typical quadripartite structure, containing a large single copy (LSC) region (84,813 bp) and a small single-copy (SSC) region (18,101 bp), separated by two inverted repeat (IR) regions (25,783 bp). The annotation of C. spruceanum cp genome predicted 87 protein-coding genes (CDS), 8 ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes, 37 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, and one pseudogene. A total of 41 simple sequence repeats (SSR) of this cp genome were divided into mononucleotides (29), dinucleotides (5), trinucleotides (3), and tetranucleotides (4). Most of these repeats were distributed in the noncoding regions. Whole chloroplast genome comparison with the other six Ixoroideae species revealed that the small single copy and large single copy regions showed more divergence than inverted regions. Finally, phylogenetic analyses resolved that C. spruceanum is a sister species to Emmenopterys henryi and confirms its position within the subfamily Ixoroideae. This study reports for the first time the genome organization, gene content, and structural features of the chloroplast genome of C. spruceanum, providing valuable information for genetic and evolutionary studies in the genus Calycophyllum and beyond.
Assessment of Functional Food Dioscorea Japonica Paste As A Thickened Liquid For Elderly With Dysphagia

Background: In the elderly, reduced mastication and swallowing functions result in malnutrition and deterioration in the quality of life. As individuals age in the society, the novel concept of dysphagia diet is essential in order to prevent lifestyle and chronic diseases and maintain nutrition intake. Recently, we reported that Dioscorea japonica, a wild yam, has preventive effects on chronic inflammation via the inhibition of proinflammatory lipid mediator synthesis. The paste of Dioscorea japonica showed conformable physical properties as a thickened liquid for patients with dysphagia in rheological analysis. In the present study, we focused on the unique physical properties of Dioscorea japonica paste and evaluated its stability and usefulness as a thickened liquid compared with commercially available thickened liquids. Methods: The paste prepared using a uniformly freeze-dried Dioscorea japonica powder could suitably modify the viscosity by altering the blending amount. Viscosities of the Dioscorea japonica paste, xanthan gum, and commercially available thickened liquids were measured using a cone and plate viscometer after 1 min by employing the following setting: temperature of 20°C and shear rate of 50 s−1. The effect of changes in temperature and pH, and addition of NaCl and α-amylase, on viscosity was compared among the thickened liquids. Results: Compared with the other commercially available agents, the Dioscorea japonica paste was stable in terms of viscosity on the addition of NaCl, and no change was observed on the addition of α-amylase as similar as the others. Although the Dioscorea japonica paste was relatively stable in terms of viscosity with change in pH, it was slightly unstable with change in temperature. Conclusion: The findings of this study indicate that the Dioscorea japonica paste is useful as a novel type of thickened liquid for patients with dysphagia.
Phylogeny and age of cockroaches: a reanalysis of mitogenomes with selective fossil calibrations

In spite of big data and new techniques, the phylogeny and timing of cockroaches remain in dispute. Apart from sequencing more species, an alternative way to improve the phylogenetic inference and time estimation is to improve the quality of data, calibrations and analytical procedure. This study emphasizes the completeness of data, the reliability of genes (judged via alignment ambiguity and substitution saturation), and the justification for fossil calibrations. Based on published mitochondrial genomes, the Bayesian phylogeny of cockroaches and termites is recovered as: Corydiinae + (((Cryptocercidae + Isoptera) + ((Anaplectidae + Lamproblattidae) + (Tryonicidae + Blattidae))) + (Pseudophyllodromiinae + (Ectobiinae + (Blattellinae + Blaberidae)))). With two fossil calibrations, namely, Valditermes brenanae and Piniblattella yixianensis, this study dates the crown Dictyoptera to early Jurassic, and crown Blattodea to middle Jurassic. Using the ambiguous ‘roachoid’ fossils to calibrate Dictyoptera+sister pushes these times back to Permian and Triassic. This study also shows that appropriate fossil calibrations are rarer than considered in previous studies.
SMIN: Semi-Supervised Multi-Modal Interaction Network for Conversational Emotion Recognition

Conversational emotion recognition is a crucial research topic in human-computer interactions. Due to the heavy annotation cost and inevitable label ambiguity, collecting large amounts of labeled data is challenging and expensive, which restricts the performance of current fully-supervised methods in this domain. To address this problem, researchers attempt to distill knowledge from unlabeled data via semi-supervised learning. However, most of these semi-supervised methods ignore multimodal interactive information, although recent works have proven that such interactive information is essential for emotion recognition. To this end, we propose a novel framework to seamlessly integrate semi-supervised learning with multimodal interactions, called “Semi-supervised Multi-modal Interaction Network (SMIN)”. SMIN contains two well-designed semi-supervised modules, “Intra-modal Interactive Module (IIM)” and “Cross-modal Interactive Module (CIM)” to learn intra- and cross-modal interactions. These two modules leverage additional unlabeled data to extract emotion-salient representations. To capture additional contextual information, we utilize the hierarchical recurrent networks followed with the hybrid fusion strategy to integrate multimodal features. These multimodal features are further utilized for conversational emotion recognition. Experimental results on four benchmark datasets (i.e., IEMOCAP, MELD, CMU-MOSI and CMU-MOSEI) demonstrate that SMIN succeeds over existing state-of-the-art strategies on emotion recognition.
Stabilized sewage sludge: Sanitary aspects and potential for conversion to biosolids

The improvement of wastewater treatment techniques is of crucial importance for effluent quality, but it also results in an increased amount of waste sludge. Dehydrated sludge contains organic matter and nutrients, and therefore it can be used in agriculture and bioremediation, but it is considered a potential source of environmental pollution. As the sludge analyzed in the research does not contain impermissible levels of organic and inorganic pollutants, the aim of the research was to examine microbiological, particularly sanitary, aspects and potential for its further use. Microbial diversity was determined by the standard serial dilution technique and selective media, and sanitary quality indicators (total coliforms, fecal coliforms, Escherichia coli and Salmonella spp.) were determined by the MPN method. The abundance of fungi, actinomycetes, and bacteria (ammonifiers, spore-forming bacteria and Pseudomonas spp.) indicate possibilities for further use of the sludge. The chemical analysis included the following parameters: total nitrogen (N), phosphorus in the form of P2O5 (available P), organic carbon (C), C/N ratio, pH, and water content. The chemical composition indicates the potential of sewage sludge to be used as a soil fertilizer, but its C/N ratio is not adequate to enable successful conversion to biosolids by the composting process. The obtained results indicate a significant level of microbiological contamination, which was most pronounced in the centre of the stabilized sludge pile. The research showed the necessity to conduct further studies on the microbial diversity and sanitary aspects of sewage sludge for proper waste sludge management.
Genetic diversity among colored cotton genotypes to obtain potential parent plants

The objective of this study was to analyze the genetic diversity among colored cotton fiber genotypes using technological characteristics of the fiber, seed cotton yield and percentage of fiber, to identify potential parents with high performance. The experiment was conducted in the Brazilian city of Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, during the 2016/2017 harvest. Twelve colored fiber genotypes were used in a randomized block design. The characteristics that were evaluated included micronaire, maturation, fiber length, length uniformity, short fiber index, fiber resistance, elongation, seed cotton yield and percentage of fiber. Genetic divergence was estimated using the Mahalanobis generalized matrix with Unweighted Pair Group with Arithmetic Mean (UPGMA) and the Tocher method. The Singh method was used to evaluate the relative contributions of the characteristics in the divergence. In detecting divergence, fiber length and maturation were observed to have contributed the most. In order to obtain segregant populations with greater genetic variability and greater productive potential, hybridizations between UFUJP-17 and UFUJP-16 with commercial cultivars could be promising. Crossing UFUJP-16 with commercial controls would have a higher chance of success of producing superior fiber quality.
Nanostructured Zn-Substituted Monetite Based Material Induces Higher Bone Regeneration Than Anorganic Bovine Bone and β-Tricalcium Phosphate in Vertical Augmentation Model in Rabbit Calvaria

The capacity of a nanostructured multicomponent material composed of Zn-substituted monetite, amorphous calcium phosphate, hydroxyapatite and silica gel (MSi) to promote vertical bone augmentation was compared with anorganic bovine bone (ABB) and synthetic β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP). The relation between biological behavior and physicochemical properties of the materials was also studied. The in vivo study was conducted in a vertical bone augmentation model in rabbit calvaria for 10 weeks. Significant differences in the biological behavior of the materials were observed. MSi showed significantly higher bone regeneration (39%) than ABB and β-TCP (24%). The filled cylinder volume was similar in MSi (92%) and ABB (91%) and significantly lower in β-TCP (81%) implants. In addition, β-TCP showed the highest amount of non-osteointegrated particles (17%). MSi was superior to the control materials because it maintains the volume of the defect almost full, with the highest bone formation, the lowest number of remaining particles, which are almost fully osteointegrated and having the lowest amount of connective tissue. Besides, the bone formed was mature, with broad trabeculae, high vascularization and osteogenic activity. MSi resorbs gradually over time with an evident increment of the porosity and simultaneous colonization for vascularized new bone. In addition, the osteoinductive behavior of MSi material was evidenced.
Oral azacitidine prolongs survival of patients with AML in remission independent of measurable residual disease status.

Measurable residual disease (MRD) in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in remission after intensive chemotherapy is predictive of early relapse and poor survival. Post-remission maintenance therapy that prolongs MRD negativity or converts MRD positive (MRD+) patients to MRD negative (MRD-) status may delay or prevent relapse and improve overall survival (OS). In the phase 3 QUAZAR AML-001 trial, oral azacitidine (Oral-AZA; formerly CC-486), a hypomethylating agent, significantly prolonged OS and relapse-free survival (RFS) compared with placebo in patients aged ≥55 years with AML in first remission after intensive chemotherapy who were not candidates for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. In this trial, MRD (≥0.1% leukemic cells in bone marrow) was assessed by multiparameter flow cytometry in serial samples collected at baseline and on day 1 of every 3 cycles. As expected, baseline MRD status was significantly associated with both OS and RFS. Multivariate analyses showed Oral-AZA significantly improved OS and RFS vs. placebo independent of baseline MRD status. Oral-AZA treatment also extended the duration of MRD negativity by 6 months vs. placebo, and resulted in a higher rate of conversion from MRD+ at baseline to MRD- during treatment: 37% vs. 19%, respectively. In the Oral-AZA arm, 24% of MRD responders achieved MRD negativity >6 months after treatment initiation. While presence or absence of MRD was a strong prognostic indicator of OS and RFS, there were added survival benefits with Oral-AZA maintenance therapy compared with placebo, independent of patients' MRD status at baseline. NCT01757535 Clinicaltrials.gov.
The Role of Altered Mitochondrial Metabolism in Thyroid Cancer Development and Mitochondria-Targeted Thyroid Cancer Treatment

Thyroid cancer (TC) is the most common type of endocrine malignancy. Tumour formation, progression, and metastasis greatly depend on the efficacy of mitochondria—primarily, the regulation of mitochondria-mediated apoptosis, Ca2+ homeostasis, dynamics, energy production, and associated reactive oxygen species generation. Recent studies have successfully confirmed the mitochondrial aetiology of thyroid carcinogenesis. In this review, we focus on the recent progress in understanding the molecular mechanisms of thyroid cancer relating to altered mitochondrial metabolism. We also discuss the repurposing of known drugs and the induction of mitochondria-mediated apoptosis as a new trend in the development of anti-TC therapy.
Tourism management for financial access in Sub-Saharan Africa: inequality thresholds

ABSTRACT The study provides insights into how tourism can be managed to improve financial access in sub-Saharan Africa. The empirical evidence is based on the generalised method of moments. To make this assessment, inequality dynamics (i.e. the Gini coefficient, the Atkinson index and Palma ratio) are interacted with tourism (tourism receipts and tourists’ arrivals) to establish inequality levels that should not be exceeded in order for tourism to promote financial access in the sampled countries. From the findings, inequality levels that should not be exceeded for tourism to promote financial access are provided: (i) 0.666 of the Atkinson index and 5.000 of the Palma ratio for tourism receipts to promote financial access and (ii) for tourist arrivals to enhance financial access, 0.586, 0.721 and 6.597 respectively, of the Gini coefficient, the Atkinson index, and the Palma ratio. Policy implications are discussed.
Inhibitory Effect of Sodium Citrate, Sodium Nitrite and Cinnamaldehyde on Biofilm-forming Escherichia coli O157:H7

The development of biofilms by the foodborne pathogens attached to surfaces in the food processing environments results in the deterioration of products, persistence of pathogenic bacteria and transmission of food-associated diseases. In addition, biofilms are more resistant to antimicrobials than their planktonic counterparts which make their elimination from food and the food processing facilities a great challenge. This study aim was to determine the inhibitory effect of food additives on biofilm forming Escherichia coli O157:H7. The isolate obtained was subjected to Gram’s staining and various biochemical identifications and later confirmed by latex agglutination test. Biofilm formation potential was done on Congo red media and the confirmed biofilm former was subjected to biofilm formation at 10℃ and 37℃ for 168hrs. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing, MIC, MBC, and antibiofilm effect was determined following CLSI 2017 guideline. The highest zone of growth inhibition of 31 mm was exhibited by cinnamaldehyde, sodium nitrite with 26 mm and sodium citrate with 13 mm. The MIC 2.5 mg/mL was recorded for sodium citrate, 0.25 mg/mL for sodium nitrite and 0.125 μl/mL for cinnamaldehyde. Strong biofilm was formed at 37 ℃ with 7.82 x 109 CFU/mL viable cells at 168hrs while 6.79 x 109 CFU/mL were obtained at 10 ℃. All the three additives showed antibiofilm effect (at 10℃ and 37℃), cinnamaldehyde exhibited 70%-90.1%, sodium nitrite; 70%-88.2% inhibition and sodium nitrite; 75%-88% inhibition respectively. This study showed that sodium citrate, sodium nitrite and cinnamaldehyde exerted strong antimicrobial and antibiofilm properties indicating their potential as good preservatives.
Recognition of Human Face Regions under Adverse Conditions—Face Masks and Glasses—In Thermographic Sanitary Barriers through Learning Transfer from an Object Detector

The COVID-19 pandemic has detrimentally affected people’s lives and the economies of many countries, causing disruption in the health, education, transport, and other sectors. Several countries have implemented sanitary barriers at airports, bus and train stations, company gates, and other shared spaces to detect patients with viral symptoms in an effort to contain the spread of the disease. As fever is one of the most recurrent disease symptoms, the demand for devices that measure skin (body surface) temperature has increased. The thermal imaging camera, also known as a thermal imager, is one such device used to measure temperature. It employs a technology known as infrared thermography and is a noninvasive, fast, and objective tool. This study employed machine learning transfer using You Only Look Once (YOLO) to detect the hottest temperatures in the regions of interest (ROIs) of the human face in thermographic images, allowing the identification of a febrile state in humans. The algorithms detect areas of interest in the thermographic images, such as the eyes, forehead, and ears, before analyzing the temperatures in these regions. The developed software achieved excellent performance in detecting the established areas of interest, adequately indicating the maximum temperature within each region of interest, and correctly choosing the maximum temperature among them.
Relativistic Electron Precipitation Near Midnight: Drivers, Distribution, and Properties

We analyze the drivers, distribution, and properties of the relativistic electron precipitation (REP) detected near midnight by the Polar Orbiting Environmental Satellites (POES) and Meteorological Operational (MetOp) satellites, critical for understanding radiation belt losses and nightside atmospheric energy input. REP is either driven by wave‐particle interactions (isolated precipitation within the outer radiation belt), or current sheet scattering (CSS; precipitation with energy dispersion), or a combination of the two. We evaluate the L‐MLT distribution for the identified REP events in which only one process evidently drove the precipitation (∼10% of the REP near midnight). We show that the two mechanisms coexist and drive precipitation in a broad L‐shell range (4–7). However, wave‐driven REP was also observed at L < 4, whereas CSS‐driven REP was also detected at L > 7. Moreover, we estimate the magnetotail stretching during each REP event using the magnetic field observations from the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES). Both wave‐particle interactions and CSS drive REP in association with a stretched magnetotail, although CSS‐driven REP potentially shows more pronounced stretching. Wave‐driven REP events are localized in L shell and often occur on spatial scales of <0.3 L. Using either proton precipitation (observed by POES/MetOp during wave‐driven REP) as a proxy for electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) wave activity or wave observations (from GOES and the Van Allen Probes) at the conjugate event location, we find that ∼73% wave‐driven REP events are associated with EMIC waves.
Street vending on Addis Ababa’s sidewalks: A sign of vibrancy and identity or a nuisance for pedestrians?

ABSTRACT Street vendors contribute to the unique identity and vibrancy of cities influencing the social, economic, and cultural landscape. Often, street vendors conduct their informal businesses on the sidewalks, which are meant to be used by pedestrians. This leads to a conflict in public space use and a question of whether street vendors are contributing to the vibrancy of a city or creating a nuisance to pedestrians. This research, based on a survey of 819 pedestrians in Addis Ababa city, discusses walking experience of pedestrians in the presence of intensive street vending activities on the sidewalk. The survey includes questions about the comfort and safety of pedestrians while walking on the sidewalk with the presence of street vendors. 49.3% of surveyed pedestrians thought that mobile street vendors impeded their ability to walk without difficulty on the sidewalk. 77.8% of those surveyed felt great discomfort as street vendors took up too much space on the sidewalk. 66.3% of respondents felt unsafe around street vendors during the day while 67.3% felt safe at night when the volume of street vending is reduced. This highlights that while street vendors have significant socioeconomic and cultural benefits, if their presence on the street is beyond the critical mass, they draw a feeling of discomfort for pedestrians more than creating liveliness for the city.
Electrospun Polycaprolactone (PCL)-Amnion Nanofibrous Membrane Promotes Nerve Repair after Neurolysis

Peripheral nerve adhesion after neurolysis leads to nerve dysfunction, limiting nerve regeneration and functional recovery. We previously developed an electrospun polycaprolactone (PCL)-amnion nanofibrous membrane for preventing adhesion formation. In this study, we investigated the effect of protective nerve wrapping and promoting nerve regeneration in a rat sciatic nerve compression model. A total of 96 SD rats after sciatic nerve chronic compression were randomly divided into three groups: the PCL-amniotic group, in which nerves were wrapped with a PCL-amniotic membrane for treatment; the chitosan group, in which nerves were wrapped with a clinically used chitosan hydrogel; the control group, which involved neurolysis alone without treatment. Twelve weeks postoperatively, the nerve regeneration was evaluated by general and ultrastructure observation, as well as the expressions of neuronal regeneration and inflammatory reaction biomarkers. The nerve functions were assessed with gastrocnemius muscle measurement, hot-plate test, and walking track analysis. Compared with the chitosan hydrogel, the PCL-amnion nanofibrous membrane significantly reduced peripheral nerve adhesion and promoted nerve regeneration. The morphological properties of axons in the nerve wrap group were preserved. Intraneural macrophage invasion, as assessed by the number of CD68-positive cells, was less severe in the PCL-amnion group than in the other groups. Additionally, the gastrocnemius muscle weight and muscle bundle area were significantly higher in the PCL-amnion group than those in the chitosan group. The abilities of sense and movement of the rats in the PCL-amnion group were significantly improved compared to the other groups. In summary, electrospun PCL-amnion nanofibrous membranes effectively prevented post-neurolysis peripheral nerves from developing adhesion, whereas promoted nerve repair and regeneration, which make PCL-amnion nanofibrous membranes a promising biomaterial for clinical application.