Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Orange Leafhopper Cicadulina bipunctata Feeding Induces Gall Formation Nitrogen Dependently and Regulates Gibberellin Signaling

Orange leafhopper Cicadulina bipunctata feeding induces wallaby ear symptoms, namely growth suppression and gall formation characterized by severe swelling of leaf veins, on various Poaceae, thereby leading to low crop yields. Here, we investigated the development of wallaby ear symptoms on rice seedlings due to C. bipunctata feeding. After confirming that C. bipunctata feeding induces growth suppression and gall formation on rice seedlings, we further demonstrated that gall formation score decreased with decreasing levels of nitrogen in the medium and that C. bipunctata feeding induces the expression levels of nitrogen transporter genes. These gene expression changes may participate in the nutrient accumulation observed in galled tissues and in gall formation. In addition, these expression changes should induce growth promotion but the inhibition of gibberellin signaling by C. bipunctata feeding might be the reason why growth is suppressed. Treatment with plant growth regulators did not affect gall formation, suggesting the existence of a complex gall formation mechanism by C. bipunctata feeding.
Efficacy and safety of paravertebral block versus intercostal nerve block in thoracic surgery and breast surgery: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective To evaluate the analgesic efficacy and safety of paravertebral block (PVB) versus intercostal nerve block (INB) in thoracic surgery and breast surgery. Methods The PubMed, Web of Science, Embase and the Cochrane Library were searched up to February 2020 for all available randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that evaluated the analgesic efficacy and safety of PVB compared with INB after thoracic surgery and breast surgery. For binary variables, odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) was used. For continuous variables, weighted mean difference (WMD) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were used. RevMan5. 3 and Stata/MP 14.0 were used for performing the meta-analysis. Results A total of 9 trials including 440 patients (PVB block:222 patients; INB: 218 patients) met the inclusion criteria. In the primary outcome, there was no significant differences between the two groups with respect to postoperative visual analogue scale (VAS) at 1h (Std. MD = -0. 20; 95% CI = -1. 11to 0. 71; P = 0. 66), 2h (Std. MD = -0. 71; 95% CI = -2. 32to 0. 91; P = 0. 39), 24h (Std. MD = -0. 36; 95% CI = -0. 73 to -0. 00; P = 0. 05) and 48h (Std. MD = -0. 04; 95% CI = -0. 20 to 0. 11; P = 0. 57). However, there was significant difference in VAS of non Chinese subgroup at 1h (Std. MD = 0. 33; 95% CI = 0. 25to 0. 41; P<0. 00001) and VAS of Chinese subgroup at 24h (Std. MD = -0.32; 95% CI = -0.49 to-0.14; P = 0.0003). In the secondary outcome, the analysis also showed no significant difference between the groups according to the rates of postoperative nausea and vomit (OR = 0. 63; 95% CI = 0. 38 to 1. 03; P = 0. 06) and the rates of postoperative additional analgesia (OR = 0. 57; 95% CI = 0. 21 to 1. 55; P = 0. 27). There was significant difference in postoperative consumption of morphine (Std. MD = -14. 57; 95% CI = -26. 63 to -0.25; P = 0. 02). Conclusion Compared with INB, PVB can provide better analgesia efficacy and cause lower consumption of morphine after thoracic surgery and breast surgery.
A Comprehensive Study on Light Signals of Opportunity for Subdecimetre Unmodulated Visible Light Positioning

Currently, visible light positioning (VLP) enabling an illumination infrastructure requires a costly retrofit. Intensity modulation systems not only necessitate changes to the internal LED driving module, but decrease the LEDs’ radiant flux as well. This hinders the infrastructure’s ability to meet the maintained illuminance standards. Ideally, the LEDs could be left unmodulated, i.e., unmodulated VLP (uVLP). uVLP systems, inherently low-cost, exploit the characteristics of the light signals of opportunity (LSOOP) to infer a position. In this paper, it is shown that proper signal processing allows using the LED’s characteristic frequency (CF) as a discriminative feature in photodiode (PD)-based received signal strength (RSS) uVLP. This manuscript investigates and compares the aptitude of (future) RSS-based uVLP and VLP systems in terms of their feasibility, cost and accuracy. It demonstrates that CF-based uVLP exhibits an acceptable loss of accuracy compared to (regular) VLP. For point source-like LEDs, uVLP only worsens the trilateration-based median p50 and 90th percentile root-mean-square error p90 from 5.3cm to 7.9cm (+50%) and from 9.6cm to 15.6cm (+62%), in the 4m × 4m room under consideration. A large experimental validation shows that employing a robust model-based fingerprinting localisation procedure, instead of trilateration, further boosts uVLP’s p50 and p90 accuracy to 5.0cm and 10.6cm. When collating with VLP’s p50=3.5cm and p90=6.8cm, uVLP exhibits a comparable positioning performance at a significantly lower cost and at a higher maintained illuminance, all of which underline uVLP’s high adoption potential. With this work, a significant step is taken towards the development of an accurate and low-cost tracking system.
MLH1 focus mapping in the guinea fowl (Numida meleagris) give insights into the crossover landscapes in birds

Crossover rates and localization are not homogeneous throughout the genomes. Along the chromosomes of almost all species, domains with high crossover rates alternate with domains where crossover rates are significantly lower than the genome-wide average. The distribution of crossovers along chromosomes constitutes the recombination landscape of a given species and can be analyzed at broadscale using immunostaining of the MLH1 protein, a component of mature recombination nodules found on synaptonemal complexes during pachytene. We scored the MLH1 foci in oocytes of the chicken and the guinea fowl and compared their frequencies in the largest bivalents. The average autosomal number of foci is 62 in the chicken and 44 in the guinea fowl. The lower number in the guinea fowl responds to the occurrence of fewer crossovers in the six largest bivalents, where most MLH1 foci occur within one-fifth of the chromosome length with high polarization towards opposite ends. The skewed distribution of foci in the guinea fowl contrast with the more uniform distribution of numerous foci in the chicken, especially in the four largest bivalents. The crossover distribution observed in the guinea fowl is unusual among Galloanserae and also differs from other, more distantly related birds. We discussed the current evidence showing that the shift towards crossover localization, as observed in the guinea fowl, was not a unique event but also occurred at different moments of bird evolution. A comparative analysis of genome-wide average recombination rates in birds shows variations within narrower limits compared to mammals and the absence of a phylogenetic trend.
Intervention Fidelity of a Volunteer-Led Montessori-Based Intervention in a Canadian Long-Term Care Home

ABSTRACT Montessori-based interventions (MBIs) were developed to promote guided participation in meaningful activities by people with dementia patients. In this study, we assessed nursing home volunteers’ fidelity to an MBI, relying primarily on a qualitative descriptive design. We completed a deductive content analysis of eight volunteer interviews using the Conceptual Framework for Intervention Fidelity. We also calculated average volunteer and resident scores on the Visiting Quality Questionnaire (VQQ), which assesses volunteers’ and residents’ perceptions of visits. We found good evidence that volunteers attended scheduled visits, made use of pre-designed activities, and attended to training recommendations. Most reported enjoying the visits (VQQ $ \overline{x} $ = 6.12, standard deviation [SD] = 0.75) and receiving a positive response from residents (VQQ $ \overline{x} $ = 5.46, SD = 0.88). Nevertheless, use of pre-designed activities and response to the MBI was lower for volunteers working with residents who had late-stage dementia. Therefore, overall, fidelity depended on the cognitive status of the resident.
Clinical Characteristics of Myofascial Pain Syndrome with Psychological Stress in Patients with Cancer.

Background: Despite the suggestion of a relationship between development or progression of myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) and psychological stress, few studies have reported its proportion or association with treatment efficacy. Objective: We aimed to investigate the proportion of MPS with psychological stress among cancer patients and to compare the efficacy of trigger point injection (TPI) in the same patients with/without psychological stress. Design: This was a prospective observational study. Setting/Patients: Participants were 205 patients with cancer who received TPIs for MPS at a hospital in Japan. Results: The proportion of patients with MPS and psychological stress was 0.57 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.50-0.64). The TPI efficacy rate at seven days after treatment was 0.55 (95% CI 0.46-0.64) for patients with MPS and psychological stress and 0.82 (95% CI 0.74-0.90) for their counterparts without psychological stress (p < 0.004). The odds ratio for TPI efficacy seven days after treatment with psychological stress versus without psychological stress was 0.25 (95% CI 0.13-0.49). Conclusions: MPS was a clinical symptom of psychosomatic disorder in approximately half of our patients. The TPI efficacy for patients with MPS who had psychological stress was lower than for their counterparts without psychological stress. Trial registration: UMIN000041210. Registered 27 July 2020 (retrospectively registered).
Proposed Individual Risk Score for Educational Institutions Utilizing Risk of Morbidity/Mortality by SARS-CoV-2, Occupational Exposure, and Type of Transportation.

ht © 2020 American Colle The authors report no conflicts o Clinical significance: In the conte COVID-19, a risk score for per institutions is proposed, whic probability of contagion, dete of the occupational exposure portation, as well as the pr severe COVID-19 illness outco Address correspondence to: Pedr maD, PhD, Street 67 # 53 University of Antioquia, M Colombia (pedro.amariles@u Copyright 2020 American Co tional and Environmental Me DOI: 10.1097/JOM.00000000000
Ocean acidification induces distinct transcriptomic responses across life history stages of the sea urchin Heliocidaris erythrogramma

Ocean acidification (OA) from seawater uptake of rising carbon dioxide emissions impairs development in marine invertebrates, particularly in calcifying species. Plasticity in gene expression is thought to mediate many of these physiological effects, but how these responses change across life history stages remains unclear. The abbreviated lecithotrophic development of the sea urchin Heliocidaris erythrogramma provides a valuable opportunity to analyse gene expression responses across a wide range of life history stages, including the benthic, post‐metamorphic juvenile. We measured the transcriptional response to OA in H. erythrogramma at three stages of the life cycle (embryo, larva, and juvenile) in a controlled breeding design. The results reveal a broad range of strikingly stage‐specific impacts of OA on transcription, including changes in the number and identity of affected genes; the magnitude, sign, and variance of their expression response; and the developmental trajectory of expression. The impact of OA on transcription was notably modest in relation to gene expression changes during unperturbed development and much smaller than genetic contributions from parentage. The latter result suggests that natural populations may provide an extensive genetic reservoir of resilience to OA. Taken together, these results highlight the complexity of the molecular response to OA, its substantial life history stage specificity, and the importance of contextualizing the transcriptional response to pH stress in light of normal development and standing genetic variation to better understand the capacity for marine invertebrates to adapt to OA.
Studies on effectiveness and efficiency of gamma rays in green gram (Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek).

The aim of this study was undertaken to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of gamma rays on 2 different varieties of green gram. Genetically pure, uniform and dry seeds of green gram [Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek] varieties Sujata and TARM-1 were treated with 5 different doses (20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 kR) of gamma rays. The biological damage based on lethality and injury was estimated in the M1 generation. Both chlorophyll and morphological mutations were studied in the M2 generation to calculate the effectiveness and efficiency of gamma rays based on biological damage in M1. Differential response of varieties and doses of mutagenic treatment in induction of macromutation in M2 generation was observed in both varieties. The degree of effectiveness and efficiency varied among different mutagenic doses and between 2 varieties. Higher degree of effectiveness and efficiency at lower and intermediate doses of mutagens were observed in both the varieties which may be due to less biological damage (lethality and sterility).
Effects of time and dose of organic fertilizers on soil fertility, nutrient content and yield of vegetables

SUMMARY A comparative study of the effect of organic fertilization at different times and doses on soil fertility and crop yield was performed over 3 years in a calcareous loamy soil. Nutrient availability in the soil and macronutrient concentration in leaves and in the edible part of the plants was examined in plots that were previously handled conventionally and ecologically for several years. The organic fertilizers used were manure compost at two doses in plots after 4 years of organic management treatment, and green residues of previous crops in plots with 10 years of organic management. In general, soil organic carbon (C), nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P) and magnesium (Mg) contents were found to be considerably greater in organically fertilized soils in comparison with soil receiving mineral fertilizer (conventional treatment (CT)). For C and N, the highest contents were observed in the long-term organic treatment (OR). However, few differences were found for potassium (K) and sodium (Na). The results obtained for electrical conductivity and pH indicated that, in general, there were no significant differences between treatments. The differences in the values of EC and pH occurred among cultivation cycles irrespective of the type of fertilization, but there was a contradictory trend for each of the above parameters. The results obtained for leaves and the edible part of the plant indicated that, in general, there were no significant differences between treatments, except for P with a trend for higher P content in organic crops. The nitrate values in leaves showed great variability, making it difficult to draw conclusions. The associations of fertilization and the chemical properties of soil with nutrient content in crops were checked by principal component analysis (PCA). For soil data, different clusters were observed between CT and OR treatments. However, PCA showed that the influence of crop type on plant nutrient concentrations was greater than type of fertilization. The effect of fertilization on crop yield was variable depending on plant species. The results indicated that organic fertilization did not cause deficiencies in the nutrient content and yield of vegetables when compared with conventional fertilization, showing that ecological management can be used effectively.
Spent Hen Protein Hydrolysate with Good Gastrointestinal Stability and Permeability in Caco-2 Cells Shows Antihypertensive Activity in SHR

Spent hens are a major byproduct of the egg industry but are rich in muscle proteins that can be enzymatically transformed into bioactive peptides. The present study aimed to develop a spent hen muscle protein hydrolysate (SPH) with antihypertensive activity. Spent hen muscle proteins were hydrolyzed by nine enzymes, either individually or in combination; 18 SPHs were assessed initially for their in vitro angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activity, and three SPHs, prepared by Protex 26L (SPH-26L), pepsin (SPH-P), and thermoase (SPH-T), showed promising activity and peptide yield. These three hydrolysates were further assessed for their angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) upregulating, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory activities; only SPH-T upregulated ACE2 expression, while all three SPHs showed antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. During simulated gastrointestinal digestion, ACE2 upregulating, ACE inhibitory and antioxidant activities of SPH-T were not affected, but those of SPH-26L and SPH-P were reduced. ACE inhibitory activity of gastrointestinal-digested SPH-T was not affected after the permeability study in Caco-2 cells, while ACE2 upregulating, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities were improved; nine novel peptides with five–eight amino acid residues were identified from the Caco-2 permeate. Among these three hydrolysates, only SPH-T reduced blood pressure significantly when given orally at a daily dose of 1000 mg/kg body weight to spontaneously hypertensive rats. SPH-T can be developed into a promising functional food ingredient against hypertension, contributing to a more sustainable utilization for spent hens while generating extra revenue for the egg industry.
An Integrated Analysis of mRNAs and miRNAs Microarray Profiles to Screen miRNA Signatures Involved in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

Objective: We aim to identify several microRNAs (miRNAs/miRs)-messenger RNAs (mRNAs) biomarkers correlated to nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) based on an integrated analysis of miRNA and mRNAs microarray expression profiles. Methods: The available mRNA and miRNA microarray datasets were retrieved from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database according to pre-determined screening criteria. Differentially expressed miRNA and mRNAs (DEmiRNAs and DEmRNAs) were extracted between NPC and noncancerous nasopharyngeal tissues. The target genes of DEmiRNAs were predicted with miRTarBase followed by the construction of DEmiRNAs-target DEmRNAs network, and functional analyses were performed. The DEmiRNAs expressions were validated and the performance of these DEmiRNAs was assessed by the area under the curve (AUC) values. Finally, the correlations between DEmiRNAs and specific clinical factors were analyzed. Results: There were 1140 interaction pairs (including let-7d/f-MYC/HMGA2 and miR-452-ITGA9) in DEmiRNAs-target DEmRNAs network. The GO annotation analysis showed that several genes such as MYC, HMGA2 and ITGA9 primarily participated in cellular process. KEGG analysis showed that these targets were associated with cell cycle and cancer-related pathways. Down-regulated let-7(-d and –f) and up-regulated miR-452 were verified in datasets. The AUC values of these 3 DEmiRNAs (let-7d, let-7-f and miR-452) was 0.803, 0.835 and 0.735, respectively. Besides, miR-452 was significantly related to survival rate of NPC patients. Conclusion: The findings implied let-7d/f-MYC/HMGA2 and miR-452-ITGA9 might be promising targets for the detection and treatment of NPC.
Acute and Chronic Catabolic Responses to CrossFit® and Resistance Training in Young Males

Given the wide variety of conditioning program trainings employed, the present study compared the catabolic effects induced by CrossFit® and resistance training in moderately trained subjects. Twenty males joined either the CrossFit® group (n = 10; 30 min/day of “workout of the day”) or the resistance training (RT) group (n = 10; 30 min/day of resistance exercises) thrice a week, for 8 weeks. Salivary levels of cortisol, interleukin 1-beta (IL-1β), and uric acid were assessed via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays before (PRE) and 30-min after (POST) SESSION 1 and SESSION 24. Variables’ percentual changes were computed as (POST-PRE)/PRE*100 in each session (Δ%). CrossFit® acutely increased cortisol levels in both sessions, with a significant decrease in Δ%cortisol from SESSION 1 to 24. In the RT group, cortisol values decreased in both sessions, only acutely. A significant decrease in IL-1β levels was registered acutely in both groups, in both sessions, whereas Δ%IL-1β was not different between the two groups. While uric acid levels increased in both groups acutely, a chronic downregulation of Δ%uric acid, from SESSION 1 to 24, was appreciated for the RT group only. Overall, CrossFit® appeared to induce more intense effects than the RT program as to the investigated catabolic responses.
Improvement of P300-Based Brain–Computer Interfaces for Home Appliances Control by Data Balancing Techniques

The oddball paradigm used in P300-based brain–computer interfaces (BCIs) intrinsically poses the issue of data imbalance between target stimuli and nontarget stimuli. Data imbalance can cause overfitting problems and, consequently, poor classification performance. The purpose of this study is to improve BCI performance by solving this data imbalance problem with sampling techniques. The sampling techniques were applied to BCI data in 15 subjects controlling a door lock, 15 subjects an electric light, and 14 subjects a Bluetooth speaker. We explored two categories of sampling techniques: oversampling and undersampling. Oversampling techniques, including random oversampling, synthetic minority oversampling technique (SMOTE), borderline-SMOTE, support vector machine (SVM) SMOTE, and adaptive synthetic sampling, were used to increase the number of samples for the class of target stimuli. Undersampling techniques, including random undersampling, neighborhood cleaning rule, Tomek’s links, and weighted undersampling bagging, were used to reduce the class size of nontarget stimuli. The over- or undersampled data were classified by an SVM classifier. Overall, some oversampling techniques improved BCI performance while undersampling techniques often degraded performance. Particularly, using borderline-SMOTE yielded the highest accuracy (87.27%) and information transfer rate (8.82 bpm) across all three appliances. Moreover, borderline-SMOTE led to performance improvement, especially for poor performers. A further analysis showed that borderline-SMOTE improved SVM by generating more support vectors within the target class and enlarging margins. However, there was no difference in the accuracy between borderline-SMOTE and the method of applying the weighted regularization parameter of the SVM. Our results suggest that although oversampling improves performance of P300-based BCIs, it is not just the effect of the oversampling techniques, but rather the effect of solving the data imbalance problem.