Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Early maternal loss affects diurnal cortisol slopes in immature but not mature wild chimpanzees

In mammals, early life adversity negatively affects survival and reproductive success. A key causal mechanism is proposed by the biological embedding model which posits that adversity experienced early in life has deleterious consequences on individual physiology across the lifespan. In particular, early life adversity is expected to be a severe stressor leading to long-term alteration of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis activity. Here we tested this idea by assessing whether, as in humans, maternal loss had short and long-term impacts on orphan chimpanzee urinary cortisol levels and diurnal urinary cortisol slopes, as an indicator of the HPA axis functioning. We used 18 years of data on 50 immature and 28 mature male wild chimpanzees belonging to four communities in Taï National Park, Ivory Coast. Immature orphans who experienced early maternal loss had diurnal cortisol slopes characterised by higher early morning and late afternoon cortisol levels indicative of high activation of the HPA axis. Recently orphaned immatures had higher cortisol levels than other immatures, possibly reflecting social and nutritional stress. However, unlike in humans, we did not find significantly different cortisol profiles in orphan and non-orphan adult male chimpanzees. Our study highlights that long-term alteration of stress physiology related to early life adversity may not be viable in some wild animal populations and/or that chimpanzees, as humans, may have access to mechanisms that buffer this physiological stress, such as adoption. Our results suggest that biological embedding of altered HPA axis function is unlikely to be a mechanism contributing to the demonstrated long-term fitness consequences of maternal loss, such as reduced reproductive success, in wild long-lived mammals.
Health-Care Services as a Platform for Building Community Resilience among Minority Communities: An Israeli Pilot Study during the COVID-19 Outbreak

Background: Previous studies of minority groups in times of emergency have tended to focus on risk reduction or on individual resilience, overlooking the community factors that could be bolstered to promote better health and safety outcomes. The current study aimed to examine the role of health-care services in the perceived community resilience of urban and suburban Arab communities in Israel during the COVID-19 outbreak. Method: The study included 196 adults age 17–76 years, who filled out on-line questionnaires in May 2020; 112 participants lived in an urban community and 84 lived in a suburban community. Community resilience was evaluated using the Conjoint Community Resiliency Assessment Measure (CCRAM), a validated five-factor multidimensional instrument. Results: Residents of the suburban community reported higher community resilience than residents of the urban community. This difference was related to increased preparedness levels and strength of place attachment in the suburban community. Residents of suburban communities were also more satisfied and confident in health-care services than those of urban communities. Regression analysis showed that the satisfaction with primary health-care services, and not community type, significantly predicted community resilience. Conclusions: Our results support the pivotal role of primary health care in building community resilience of minority communities in times of emergency and routine.
The Orbitofrontal Cortex in Temporal Cognition

One of the most important factors in decision making is estimating the value of available options. Subregions of the prefrontal cortex, including the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), have been deemed essential for this process. Value computations require a complex integration across numerous dimensions, including, reward magnitude, effort, internal state, and time. The importance of the temporal dimension is well-illustrated by temporal discounting tasks, in which subjects select between smaller-sooner versus larger-later rewards. The specific role of OFC in telling time and integrating temporal information into decision making remains unclear. Based on the current literature, in this review we reevaluate current theories of OFC function, accounting for the influence of time. Incorporating temporal information into value estimation and decision making requires distinct, yet interrelated, forms of temporal information including the ability to tell time, represent time, create temporal expectations, and the ability to use this information for optimal decision making in a wide range of tasks, including temporal discounting and wagering. We use the term ‘temporal cognition’ to refer to the integrated use of these different aspects of temporal information. We suggest that the OFC may be a critical site for the integration of reward magnitude and delay, and thus important for temporal cognition.
The crosstalk between ABA, nitric oxide, hydrogen peroxide, and calcium in stomatal closing of Arabidopsis thaliana

Abstract Guard cells can integrate and process multiple complex signals from the environment and respond by opening and closing stomata in order to adapt to the environmental conditions changing. Over the past several years, considerable research progress has been made in our understanding of the role of calcium (Ca2+), nitric oxide (NO) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) as essential signal molecules that mediate abscisic acid (ABA)-induced stomatal closure. However, the sequence or epistasis of signaling cascade elements remains unknown. Here, we report that there are some relationships between extracellular Ca2+ induced cytosolic free Ca2+ increases (CICI) and ABA signal transduction in guard cell. ABA-induced stomatal closure in CASas mutant indicates that CAS activity is not required for ABA-induced stomatal closure, while exogenous Ca2+ failed to induce stomatal closure in CASas mutant and ABA-insensitive mutant, abi1 and abi2, indicating that extracellular Ca2+-induced stomatal closure via CAS requires some components of ABA signal pathway in guard cells. Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), as a secondary messenger in the ABA-induced stomatal closure pathway, could not induce stomatal closure in CASas guard cells, it indicates that the functional CAS is required for H2O2 to induce stomatal closure. Nitric oxide (NO), another component of ABA-induced stomatal closure pathway, could induce stomatal closure in CASas guard cells while NO overproduction mutant-nox1 did not respond to exogenous high Ca2+, this demonstrates that NO acts downstream of CAS. Our results on the analysis of various Arabidopsis mutants indicate that NO and H2O2 maybe the points of connection between CICI and ABA signaling cascade in guard cell.
The Effects of Storage Time and Repeated Freeze-Thaw Cycles on Intact Fibroblast Growth Factor 23 Levels.

Background: Fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) has become increasingly important in chronic kidney diseases (CKDs), cardiovascular calcification, and metabolic bone diseases. Fresh or stored blood samples are widely used for the FGF23 assay. Clarifying the factors influencing the FGF23 assay can help to quantify FGF23 more accurately. This study explored the effects of low-temperature storage time and repeated freeze-thaw cycles on the measurement of serum intact FGF23 (iFGF23). Materials and Methods: We selected 60 serum samples from patients with CKD stages 3-5 and hemodialysis patients. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to measure the changes in serum iFGF23 levels after 6 years of storage at -80°C. In total, 18 fresh serum samples were frozen and thawed for 0, 1, 3, and 5 cycles to explore the effects of repeated freeze-thaw cycles on serum iFGF23 levels. Results: Median serum iFGF23 concentrations were 252.17 (interquartile range [IQR] 113.82-592.38) pg/mL and 203.85 (IQR 64.76-545.39) pg/mL before and after 6 years. There were no significant differences between them. However, we found a downward trend of 48% in the samples close to the normal level of iFGF23 (<150.34 pg/mL) after 6 years of storage (p = 0.160). In addition, the iFGF23 levels of samples frozen and thawed for 0, 1, 3, and 5 cycles were 278.41 ± 39.51 (mean ± standard deviation) pg/mL, 262.84 ± 38.42 pg/mL, 252.97 ± 34.65 pg/mL and 250.49 ± 37.12 pg/mL, respectively. A slight downward trend in iFGF23 levels was observed with increasing freeze-thaw times; however, no significant differences were found among different freeze-thaw cycles. Conclusion: Serum iFGF23 levels remained stable after storage at -80°C for 6 years. In addition, five freeze-thaw cycles had no significant effects on serum iFGF23 levels.
Graph Theory Analysis Reveals Resting-State Compensatory Mechanisms in Healthy Aging and Prodromal Alzheimer’s Disease

Several theories of cognitive compensation have been suggested to explain sustained cognitive abilities in healthy brain aging and early neurodegenerative processes. The growing number of studies investigating various aspects of task-based compensation in these conditions is contrasted by the shortage of data about resting-state compensatory mechanisms. Using our proposed criterion-based framework for compensation, we investigated 45 participants in three groups: (i) patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and positive biomarkers indicative of Alzheimer’s disease (AD); (ii) cognitively normal young adults; (iii) cognitively normal older adults. To increase reliability, three sessions of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging for each participant were performed on different days (135 scans in total). To elucidate the dimensions and dynamics of resting-state compensatory mechanisms, we used graph theory analysis along with volumetric analysis. Graph theory analysis was applied based on the Brainnetome atlas, which provides a connectivity-based parcellation framework. Comprehensive neuropsychological examinations including the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) and the Trail Making Test (TMT) were performed, to relate graph measures of compensatory nodes to cognition. To avoid false-positive findings, results were corrected for multiple comparisons. First, we observed an increase of degree centrality in cognition related brain regions of the middle frontal gyrus, precentral gyrus and superior parietal lobe despite local atrophy in MCI and healthy aging, indicating a resting-state connectivity increase with positive biomarkers. When relating the degree centrality measures to cognitive performance, we observed that greater connectivity led to better RAVLT and TMT scores in MCI and, hence, might constitute a compensatory mechanism. The detection and improved understanding of the compensatory dynamics in healthy aging and prodromal AD is mandatory for implementing and tailoring preventive interventions aiming at preserved overall cognitive functioning and delayed clinical onset of dementia.
Role of MTHFR 677 C>T Polymorphism on Blood Homocysteine and Susceptibility to Hypertension

ABSTRACT Genetic polymorphism of Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase is found to associated with Stroke and other Cardiovascular diseases. This study analyzed Methylenetetrahydrofolate 677C>T polymorphism for association of blood homocysteine concentration and susceptibility to Hypertension in the Central Indian Population. This investigation has been conducted on 100 hypertensive cases and 223 healthy controls. 5 ml blood sample has been taken from case and control and analyzed for blood homocysteine concentration by enzymatic assay and genotyping. The present study found statistically significant (P < 0.0001) to establish hyperhomocystenimia is a risk factor for hypertension. The Methylenetetrahydrofolate 677C>T polymorphism is significantly (P < 0.0001) associated with blood homocysteine level. The CT and TT genotype are showing association with hypertension susceptibility.
How Investors Attitudes Shape Stock Market Participation in the Presence of Financial Self-Efficacy

The purpose of this study is to investigate how investor’s money attitudes shape their stock market participation (SMP) decisions. This study followed the theory of planned behavior (TPB), and a survey was conducted to collect the responses from active investors. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used for the analysis of proposed relationships among the constructs, and a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to check the interrelation of the variables and validity of the constructs. This research has concluded that investor’s money attitudes are significant to affect their stock market participation decisions. Further, it was found that risk attitudes partially mediate the relationship between money attitudes and stock market participation. Moreover, financial knowledge and financial self-efficacy positively moderated the relationship between money attitudes and stock market participation. This research is one of the early attempts at studying the money attitudes of investors and introduces financial self-efficacy as a moderating construct between money attitudes and stock market participation. The sample size for this study was 250 respondents which can be increased in future research, and the same relationships can be tested by using a larger sample. Moreover, this study has used money attitudes as predictors of stock market participation. Still, many other variables, like personal value, can also be taken to investigate their influence on stock market participation.
Conditioned Medium from Canine Amniotic Membrane-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells Improved Dog Sperm Post-Thaw Quality-Related Parameters

Simple Summary Mesenchymal stem cells and their derivatives are used in clinical studies for their anti-apoptotic, anti-oxidant, immunomodulatory, and regenerative properties. Their use in reproductive medicine is increasing as they have been proved to be beneficial for infertility treatment. Mesenchymal stem cells can secrete factors that influence biological processes in target tissues or cells; these factors are either directly secreted by the cells or mediated through their derivatives. Although the amniotic membrane is easy to obtain and is a good source of stem cells, clinical trials using amniotic membrane-derived mesenchymal stem cells are still uncommon, especially in reproductive medicine or artificial reproductive technologies. The objective of the present study was to demonstrate the effects of conditioned medium prepared from amniotic membrane-derived stem cells on dog sperm cryopreservation. Our results showed that 10% of the conditioned medium enhanced the quality-related parameters of frozen–thawed sperm cells because of the presence of antioxidants and growth factors in the medium, which probably protected spermatozoa during the freeze–thaw process. These results suggest that conditioned media prepared from amniotic membrane-derived mesenchymal stem cells might have clinical applications in assisted reproductive technologies. Abstract This study investigated the effects of conditioned medium (CM) from canine amniotic membrane-derived MSCs (cAMSCs) on dog sperm cryopreservation. For this purpose, flow cytometry analysis was performed to characterize cAMSCs. The CM prepared from cAMSCs was subjected to proteomic analysis for the identification of proteins present in the medium. Sperm samples were treated with freezing medium supplemented with 0%, 5%, 10%, and 15% of the CM, and kinetic parameters were evaluated after 4–6 h of chilling at 4 °C to select the best concentration before proceeding to cryopreservation. Quality-related parameters of frozen–thawed sperm were investigated, including motility; kinetic parameters; viability; integrity of the plasma membrane, chromatin, and acrosome; and mitochondrial activity. The results showed that 10% of the CM significantly enhanced motility, viability, mitochondrial activity, and membrane integrity (p < 0.05); however, the analysis of chromatin and acrosome integrity showed no significant differences between the treatment and control groups. Therefore, we concluded that the addition of 10% CM derived from cAMSC in the freezing medium protected dog sperm during the cryopreservation process.
IL-1α Is Essential for Oviduct Pathology during Genital Chlamydial Infection in Mice

Key Points IL-1α drives oviduct pathology during genital Chlamydia infection in mice. IL-1α promotes neutrophil recruitment to the genital tract. Infection increases IL-1α expression in genital tract epithelial cells. Chlamydia trachomatis infection of the female genital tract can lead to irreversible fallopian tube scarring. In the mouse model of genital infection using Chlamydia muridarum, IL-1R signaling plays a critical role in oviduct tissue damage. In this study, we investigated the pathologic role of IL-1α, one of the two proinflammatory cytokines that bind to IL-1R. Il1a−/− mice infected with C. muridarum cleared infection at their cervix at the same rate as wild-type (WT) mice, but were significantly protected from end point oviduct damage and fibrosis. The contribution of IL-1α to oviduct pathology was more dramatic than observed in mice deficient for IL-1β. Although chlamydial burden was similar in WT and Il1a−/− oviduct during peak days of infection, levels of IL-1β, IL-6, CSF3, and CXCL2 were reduced in Il1a−/− oviduct lysates. During infection, Il1a−/− oviducts and uterine horns exhibited reduced neutrophil infiltration, and this reduction persisted after the infection resolved. The absence of IL-1α did not compromise CD4 T cell recruitment or function during primary or secondary chlamydial infection. IL-1α is expressed predominantly by luminal cells of the genital tract in response to infection, and low levels of expression persisted after the infection cleared. Ab-mediated depletion of IL-1α in WT mice prevented infection-induced oviduct damage, further supporting a key role for IL-1α in oviduct pathology.
Digital psychiatry and COVID-19: the Big Bang effect for the NHS?

Summary The COVID-19 pandemic has brought untold tragedies. However, one outcome has been the dramatically rapid replacement of face-to-face consultations and other meetings, including clinical multidisciplinary team meetings, with telephone calls or videoconferencing. By and large this form of remote consultation has received a warm welcome from both patients and clinicians. To date, human, technological and institutional barriers may have held back the integration of such approaches in routine clinical practice, particularly in the UK. As we move into the post-pandemic phase, it is vital that academic, educational and clinical leadership builds on this positive legacy of the COVID crisis. Telepsychiatry may be but one component of ‘digital psychiatry’ but its seismic evolution in the pandemic offers a possible opportunity to embrace and develop ‘digital psychiatry’ as a whole.
On the Diversity of Asymmetries in Gapped Protoplanetary Disks

Protoplanetary disks with large inner dust cavities are thought to host massive planetary or substellar companions. These disks show asymmetries and rings in the millimeter continuum caused by dust trapping in pressure bumps and potentially vortices or horseshoes. The origin of the asymmetries and their diversity remains unclear. We present a comprehensive study of 16 disks for which the gas surface density profile has been constrained by CO isotopologue data. First, we compare the azimuthal extents of the dust continuum profiles with the local gas surface density in each disk and find that the asymmetries correspond to higher Stokes numbers or low gas surface density. We discuss which asymmetric structures can be explained by a horseshoe, a vortex, or spiral density waves. Second, we reassess the gas gap radii from the 13CO maps, which are about a factor of 2 smaller than the dust ring radii, suggesting that the companions in these disks are in the brown dwarf (∼15–50 MJup) or super-Jovian (∼3–15 MJup) mass regime on eccentric orbits. This is consistent with the estimates from contrast curves on companion mass limits. These curves rule out (sub)stellar companions (q > 0.05) for the majority of the sample at the gap location, but it remains possible at even smaller radii. Third, we find that spiral arms in scattered-light images are primarily detected around high-luminosity stars with disks with wide gaps, which can be understood by the dependence of the spiral arm pitch angle on disk temperature and companion mass.
Iterative Amortized Policy Optimization

Policy networks are a central feature of deep reinforcement learning (RL) algorithms for continuous control, enabling the estimation and sampling of high-value actions. From the variational inference perspective on RL, policy networks, when employed with entropy or KL regularization, are a form of amortized optimization, optimizing network parameters rather than the policy distributions directly. However, this direct amortized mapping can empirically yield suboptimal policy estimates. Given this perspective, we consider the more flexible class of iterative amortized optimizers. We demonstrate that the resulting technique, iterative amortized policy optimization, yields performance improvements over conventional direct amortization methods on benchmark continuous control tasks.
Adverse Events and Healthcare Utilization Associated With Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy Among Older Versus Younger Adults

Abstract Among older (n = 204) versus younger (n = 253) adults, there was no difference in adverse events (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 0.98; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.6–1.6) or healthcare utilization (incidence rate ratio = 1.09; 95% CI = 0.9–1.3) within 30 days after discontinuing outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy. Vancomycin (aOR = 1.92) and oxacillin (aOR = 3.12) were independently associated with adverse events.
Bioactive secondary metabolites from the culture of the marine sponge-associated fungus Talaromyces stipitatus KUFA 0207

A new ergosterol analog, talarosterone (V) and a new bis-anthraquinone derivative (XII) were isolated, together with ten known compounds including palmitic acid (I), ergosterol-5,8-endoperoxide (II), ergosta-4,6,8(14),22-tetraen-3-one (III), cyathisterone (IV), and the anthraquinones emodin (VI), questinol (VII), citreorosein (VIII), fallacinol (IX), rheoemodin (X), and secalonic acid A (XI), from the ethyl acetate extract of the culture of the marine sponge-associated fungus Talaromyces stipitatus KUFA 0207. The structures of the previously undescribed compounds were established based on extensive 1D and 2D NMR spectral analysis, and in case of talarosterone (V), the absolute configurations of its stereogenic carbons were determined by X-ray crystallographic analysis. The structures of the previously reported compounds were elucidated by H and C NMR analysis as well as by comparison of their NMR data to those reported in the literature. Moreover, the stereochemistry of cyathisterone and secalonic acid A were also confirmed by X-ray analysis. The anthraquinones VI-X and secalonic acid A (XI) were tested for their antiobesity activity using zebrafish Nile red assay. Only citreorosein (VIII) and questinol (VII) exhibited significant anti-obesity activity while fallacinol (IX) and rheoemodin (X) were not active. Emodin (VI) and secalonic acid A (XI) caused toxicity (death) for all exposed zebrafish larvae after 24h.
Eisenstein series of weight $k \geq 2$ and integral binary quadratic forms

In a recent paper arXiv:2003.12354v2, Matsusaka investigated parabolic, elliptic, and hyperbolic Eisenstein series in weight $2$. He provided the analytic continuation to $s=0$ in the elliptic case, and conjectured an expression describing the same continuation in the hyperbolic case. We extend Matsusakas setting to general weight $k \geq 2$, and embed his Eisenstein series into a framework based on discriminants of integral binary quadratic forms. Lastly, we compute the Fourier expansion of our Eisenstein series in the hyperbolic case by adapting Zagiers method, and using results of Andersen, Duke.