Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Exploring late Paleolithic and Mesolithic diet in the Eastern Alpine region of Italy through multiple proxies.

OBJECTIVES The analysis of prehistoric human dietary habits is key for understanding the effects of paleoenvironmental changes on the evolution of cultural and social human behaviors. In this study, we compare results from zooarchaeological, stable isotope and dental calculus analyses as well as lower second molar macrowear patterns to gain a broader understanding of the diet of three individuals who lived between the end of the Late Pleistocene and the Early Holocene (ca., 17-8 ky cal BP) in the Eastern Alpine region of Italy. MATERIALS AND METHODS We analyze individuals buried at the sites of Riparo Tagliente (Verona), Riparo Villabruna, and Mondeval de Sora (Belluno). The three burials provide a unique dataset for diachronically exploring the influence of climatic changes on human subsistence strategies. RESULTS Isotopic results indicate that all individuals likely relied on both terrestrial and freshwater animal proteins. Even though dental calculus analysis was, in part, hindered by the amount of mineral deposit available on the teeth, tooth macrowear study suggests that the dietary habits of the individuals included plant foods. Moreover, differences in macrowear patterns of lower second molars have been documented between Neanderthals and modern humans in the present sample, due to a prevalence of Buccal wear among the former as opposed to higher values of Lingual wear in modern human teeth. DISCUSSION Isotopic analyses have emphasized the contribution of animal proteins in the diet of the three foragers from the Eastern Alpine region. The possible intake of carbohydrate-rich plant foods, suggested by the retrieval of plant remains in dental calculus, is supported by the signal of macrowear analysis. Moreover, the latter method indicates that the distribution of macrowear in lower second molars (M2 s) allows us to discriminate between Neanderthals and modern humans within the present reference sample. Overall, our results show these three prehistoric hunter-gatherers were well adapted to the environment in which they lived exploiting many natural resources.
Neural variability determines coding strategies for natural self-motion in macaque monkeys

We have previously reported that central neurons mediating vestibulo-spinal reflexes and self-motion perception optimally encode natural self-motion (Mitchell et al., 2018). Importantly however, the vestibular nuclei also comprise other neuronal classes that mediate essential functions such as the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) and its adaptation. Here we show that heterogeneities in resting discharge variability mediate a trade-off between faithful encoding and optimal coding via temporal whitening. Specifically, neurons displaying lower variability did not whiten naturalistic self-motion but instead faithfully represented the stimulus’ detailed time course, while neurons displaying higher variability displayed temporal whitening. Using a well-established model of VOR pathways, we demonstrate that faithful stimulus encoding is necessary to generate the compensatory eye movements found experimentally during naturalistic self-motion. Our findings suggest a novel functional role for variability toward establishing different coding strategies: (1) faithful stimulus encoding for generating the VOR; (2) optimized coding via temporal whitening for other vestibular functions.
LvYY1 Activates WSSV ie1 Promoter for Enhanced Vaccine Production and Efficacy

The baculovirus expression vector system (BEVS) has been used as a preferred platform for the production of recombinant protein complexes and efficacious vaccines. However, limited protein yield hinders the application of BEVS. It is well accepted that transcription enhancers are capable of increasing translational efficiency of mRNAs, thereby achieving better protein production. In this study, the ability of LvYY1 as a transcription enhancer was assessed. LvYY1 could interact with the WSSV ie1 promoter via binding to special DNA sites in BEVS. The effects of LvYY1 on protein expression mediated by WSSV ie1 promoter of BEVS was investigated using eGFP as a reporter gene. Enhanced eGFP expression was observed in Sf-9 cells with LvYY1. On this basis, a modified vector combining ie1 promoter and LvYY1 was developed to express either secreting CSFV E2 or baculovirus surface displayed H5 HA of AIVs. Compared to control groups without LvYY1, E2 protein yield increases to 1.6-fold, while H5 production improves as revealed by an upregulated hemagglutination titer of 8-fold at least. Moreover, with LvYY1, H5 displaying baculovirus driven by WSSV ie1 promoter (BV-LvYY1-ie1-HA) sustains the transduction activity in CEF cells. In chicken, BV-LvYY1-ie1-HA elicits a robust immune response against H5 AIVs in the absence of adjuvant, as indicated by specific antibody and cytokine responses. The findings suggest its potential function as both a vectored and subunit vaccine. These results demonstrate that the coexpression with LvYY1 serves as a promising strategy to extensively improve the efficiency of BEVS for efficacious vaccine production.
Effect of psychosocial safety climate on psychological distress via job resources, work engagement and workaholism: a multilevel longitudinal study

Objective. Our innovation was to propose a multilevel model to explain how an organizational factor, psychosocial safety climate (PSC) – the climate for worker psychological health – related to work investment (work engagement and workaholism) and, in turn, psychological distress. Methods. Longitudinal data were collected in Peninsular Malaysia across 26 police departments from 392 police personnel, matched across 4 months, and were tested using hierarchical linear modeling. Results. The analysis revealed between-group effects linking PSC to job resources, to work engagement and to workaholism. When PSC operated by improving job resources, aside from increased work engagement, it could unwittingly boost workaholism. However, this only existed under low PSC conditions. The secondary function of PSC buffered the impact of job resources on workaholism and psychological distress. When PSC was high, job resources reduced both workaholism and psychological distress, suggesting that PSC enabled resources to do their job of mitigating unfavorable conditions. Conclusions. Results support a multilevel PSC-extended job demands–resources motivational path with cross-links, and PSC’s moderation function, as an explanation of worker psychological health. Confirming PSC as a leading indicator and the importance of a motivational path, this article presents new evidence in support of targeting PSC to improve worker psychological health.
Trait Variation in Moths Mirrors Small-Scaled Ecological Gradients in A Tropical Forest Landscape

Simple Summary Tropical rainforests are still lost at alarming rates due to timber extraction or conversion into plantations. While losses of species diversity are well documented, less is known about how the functional integrity of insect communities changes with such interventions. Using light-trap samples taken from species-rich moth assemblages in one region in SW Costa Rica, we asked whether the body size of moths and the contribution of warningly colored species change from old-growth forest across disturbed forest toward oil palm plantations. Across three topographic types of old-growth forest, differences were small. Moth species occurring in plantations were substantially smaller than their relatives thriving in natural forest. Similarly, the incidence of warning coloration dropped massively in plantations. Two different types of mimicry (moths imitating wasps or poisonous beetles, respectively) showed their own patterns of variation across ecosystems, yet both color types were very rare in plantations. These results confirm that not only insect species diversity becomes greatly diminished when tropical forests are destroyed: the functional composition and integrity of the insect fauna that remains in plantations is eroding as well. Abstract Along environmental gradients, communities are expected to be filtered from the regional species pool by physical constraints, resource availability, and biotic interactions. This should be reflected in species trait composition. Using data on species-rich moth assemblages sampled by light traps in a lowland rainforest landscape in Costa Rica, we show that moths in two unrelated clades (Erebidae-Arctiinae; Geometridae) are much smaller-sized in oil palm plantations than in nearby old-growth forest, with intermediate values at disturbed forest sites. In old-growth forest, Arctiinae predominantly show aposematic coloration as a means of anti-predator defense, whereas this trait is much reduced in the prevalence in plantations. Similarly, participation in Müllerian mimicry rings with Hymenoptera and Lycidae beetles, respectively, is rare in plantations. Across three topographic types of old-growth forests, community-weighted means of moth traits showed little variation, but in creek forest, both types of mimicry were surprisingly rare. Our results emphasize that despite their mobility, moth assemblages are strongly shaped by local environmental conditions through the interplay of bottom–up and top–down processes. Assemblages in oil palm plantations are highly degraded not only in their biodiversity, but also in terms of trait expression.
Knowledge, behavior and precautionary measures related to COVID-19 pandemic among the general public of Punjab province, Pakistan.

INTRODUCTION The world is facing a formidable challenge to prevent the COVID-19 global outbreak, and health care systems are under pressure globally. The governments alone cannot prevent the spread of this pandemic without creating a sensitive public opinion and cooperation. Therefore, this study analyzed the knowledge, behavior, and precautionary measures taken by the general public to protect themselves from COVID-19 pandemic. METHODOLOGY For this purpose, snowball sampling technique was used to collect data from 401 respondents through an online survey in the Punjab province of Pakistan. A Multivariate Probit Model was used to determine the factors affecting the choice of precautionary measures to avoid COVID-19 infection. RESULTS Majority of the respondents (58.1%) belonged to urban areas in this study. The urban respondents had higher knowledge about Coronavirus disease as compared to rural respondents. Similarly, the hygienic behavior of urban respondents was better than rural respondents. But unavailability of hygienic material (mask and hand sanitizer) was the main problem faced by the general public. Public transportation was considered the most risk-prone place to COVID-19 by the respondents. Majority of the respondents perceived medium to highest risk from COVID-19, and it was found one of the most influential factors affecting the adoption of precautionary measures along with knowledge of this pandemic. CONCLUSIONS Government needs to start a comprehensive awareness campaign on social media along with the mainstream media create awareness about the importance of social distancing, washing hands and wearing masks among the general public to enhance knowledge and improve the behavior of the general public about COVID-19.
Alogliptin: a novel approach against cyclophosphamide-induced hepatic injury via modulating SIRT1/FoxO1 pathway.

Cyclophosphamide (CP) is one of the most potent alkylating agents and is widely used in the treatment of numerous neoplastic conditions, autoimmune diseases and following organ transplantation. Due to its ability to induce oxidative stress and subsequent apoptosis, CP is affiliated with many adverse effects with special emphasis on the highly prevalent hepatotoxicity. Dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DDP-IV) inhibitors are being rediscovered for new biological effects due to their ability to target multiple pathways, among which is the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) and protein kinase B (Akt) axis. This could offer protection to multiple organs against reactive oxygen species (ROS) through modulating sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) expression and, in turn, inactivation of forkhead box transcription factor of the O class 1 (FoxO1), thus inhibiting apoptosis. Accordingly, the current study aimed to investigate the potential therapeutic benefit of alogliptin (Alo), a DPP-IV inhibitor, against CP-induced hepatotoxicity through enhancing PI3K/Akt/SIRT1 pathway. Forty male Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups. The CP-treated group received a single dose of CP (200 mg/kg; i.p.). The Alo-treated group received Alo (20 mg/kg; p.o.) for 7 days with single CP injection on Day 2. Alo successfully reduced hepatic injury as witnessed through decreased liver function enzymes, increased phospho (p)-PI3K, p-Akt, superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels, SIRT1 expression, p-FoxO1 and anti-apoptotic B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2). This resulted in decreased apoptosis, as witnessed through decreased caspase-3 levels and improved histopathological picture. In conclusion, the current study succeeded to elaborate, for the first time, the promising impact of Alo in ameliorating chemotherapy-induced liver injury.
Mindfulness and shooting performance in biathlon. A prospective study

ABSTRACT The aim of the study was to examine the temporal relationship between facets of sport-specific dispositional mindfulness (i e., Awareness, Refocusing, Nonjudgemental attitude) and shooting performance in actual competitions, in a population of 25 elite biathlon athletes. Findings indicated that mindfulness facets were positively associated with shooting performance, with higher levels of Awareness, Refocusing, and Awareness being related to better shooting performance in competitions. In spite of the fact that the explained variance was quite small, even a minor shooting performance enhancement may increase an athlete’s chance of winning a biathlon competition.
Photosynthetic Induction and Stomatal Oscillations in Relation to the Light Environment of Two Dipterocarp Rain Forest Tree Species

1 This paper reports on changes in photosynthetic induction and stomatal conductance (g,) in response to (i) continuous saturating light and (ii) darkness, for seedlings of two climax tree species (Shorea leprosula and Dryobalanops lanceolata, Dipterocarpaceae) growing in three differing rain forest light environments (ranging from 2 4 to 21 8 mol photon m-2 day-') in Malaysian Borneo. 2 For some species in understorey environments, a high proportion of diurnal carbon gain is attained during sunflecks (transient periods of high light), and D. lanceolata is slower growing than S. leprosula but its seedlings can survive under deeper shade conditions. Our aim was to determine whether interspecific differences in dynamic photosynthetic responses to light could further explain observed differences in seedling ecology. 3 In contrast to the expected trend for shade-tolerant species, D. lanceolata showed faster induction in higher light environments and S. leprosula showed no relationship between light environment and induction rate. However, both species showed greater potential sunfleck utilization efficiency in low light environments through slower rates of both induction loss and stomatal closure. 4 Shorea leprosula attained greater rates of maximal photosynthesis and gs, had faster rates of induction and retained a higher level of induction in prolonged darkness (> 30 min) than D. lanceolata in all light environments. However, S. keprosula showed faster induction loss and stomatal closure in the short term (10 min) than D. lanceolata, which, together with a potentially negative carbon balance between sunflecks, may limit its distribution to microsites of higher sunfleck frequency. 5 The balance between photosynthesis (A) and gs during induction resulted in a constant intercellular CO2 concentration of c. 270 p.p.m. after c. 11 min, which may represent a physiological optimum for both species. 6 In some circumstances transient peaks in A and ga were observed during induction, rather than a rise to a stable maximum, which we attribute to overcompensation of the stomatal response to light. In some cases for S. leprosula this initiated synchronized damped oscillations in gs and A that continued for c. 1 h in both continuous and discontinuous (80-s light/80-s dark) light. 7 Shorea leprosula plants with the ability to 'peak' or oscillate had the potential to increase both the rate and magnitude of response to sunflecks in comparison with simple sigmoidal induction.
Estimating rate of gene-centromere recombination at eleven isozyme loci in the Salvelinus species

The present paper describes the successful induction of gynogenetic diploid and triploid animals in the brook trout Salvelinus fontinalis and the hybrid between the brook trout and the Japanese charr S. leucomaenis by application of hydrostatic pressure shock to eggs after fertilization with genetically inert sperm or normal sperm. Analyses on isozyme genotypic compositions in the parents and their gynogentetic and/or triploid offsprings made it possible to estimate the rates of gene-centromere recombination (x, 0≤x≤0.5) at eleven loci, indicating 0.341 at Alcohol dehydrogenase, 0.457 at α-Glycerophosphate dehydrogenase-A, 0.398 at Isocitrate dehydrogenase-C, 0.049 at Lactate dehydrogenase-A1, 0.023 at Lactate dehydrogenase-A2, 0.011 at Lactate dehydrogenase-B2, 0.439 at Malate dehydrogenase-C/D, 0.465 at Malic enzyme-A, 0.443 at Phosphoglucose isomerase-A, 0.045 at Phosphoglucomutase-B and 0.489 at Superoxide dismutase. Map distance thus obtained in the present work revealed the value close to that reported in the other species of the genus Salvelinus and Salmo at each locus of probable homology.
MicroRNAs in Chronic Kidney Disease: Four Candidates for Clinical Application

There are still major challenges regarding the early diagnosis and treatment of chronic kidney disease (CKD), which is in part due to the fact that its pathophysiology is very complex and not clarified in detail. The diagnosis of CKD commonly is made after kidney damage has occurred. This highlights the need for better mechanistic insight into CKD as well as improved clinical tools for both diagnosis and treatment. In the last decade, many studies have focused on microRNAs (miRs) as novel diagnostic tools or clinical targets. MiRs are small non-coding RNA molecules that are involved in post-transcriptional gene regulation and many have been studied in CKD. A wide array of pre-clinical and clinical studies have highlighted the potential role for miRs in the pathogenesis of hypertensive nephropathy, diabetic nephropathy, glomerulonephritis, kidney tubulointerstitial fibrosis, and some of the associated cardiovascular complications. In this review, we will provide an overview of the miRs studied in CKD, especially highlighting miR-103a-3p, miR-192-5p, the miR-29 family and miR-21-5p as these have the greatest potential to result in novel therapeutic and diagnostic strategies.
Echo-Tracking Technique in Ultrasonography Can Monitor Changes in Carotid Artery Elastic Function at Early Stage of Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy for Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

Background We used echo-tracking (ET) technique to observe short-term dynamic changes of the carotid artery in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients after intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). Material/Methods Sixty-one NPC patients received IMRT. In the irradiation group, the carotid artery was examined by ultrasonography before radiotherapy, at 2, 4, and 6 weeks after the start of radiotherapy, and at 3 and 6 months after the end of radiotherapy. In the control group, the carotid artery was examined by ultrasonography before radiotherapy of patients in the irradiation group, and at 3 and 6 months after the end of radiotherapy of patients in the irradiation group. Results During radiotherapy for the 61 patients, the maximum dose on the carotid artery was 65.14±4.35 Gy, the average dose was 57.46±4.12 Gy, and the 50% volume dose was 51.80±5.32 Gy. At the end of irradiation, Ep (kPa) and β values were significantly different from those before treatment. Conclusions The present study demonstrates that the elastic function of the carotid artery can be significantly affected when the irradiation dose exceeds 45 Gy.
Neurofascin and Kv7.3 are delivered to somatic and axon terminal surface membranes en route to the axon initial segment

Ion channel complexes promote action potential initiation at the mammalian axon initial segment (AIS), and modulation of AIS size by recruitment or loss of proteins can influence neuron excitability. Although endocytosis contributes to AIS turnover, how membrane proteins traffic to this proximal axonal domain is incompletely understood. Neurofascin186 (Nfasc186) has an essential role in stabilising the AIS complex to the proximal axon, and the AIS channel protein Kv7.3 regulates neuron excitability. Therefore, we have studied how these proteins reach the AIS. Vesicles transport Nfasc186 to the soma and axon terminal where they fuse with the neuronal plasma membrane. Nfasc186 is highly mobile after insertion in the axonal membrane and diffuses bidirectionally until immobilised at the AIS through its interaction with AnkyrinG. Kv7.3 is similarly recruited to the AIS. This study reveals how key proteins are delivered to the AIS and thereby how they may contribute to its functional plasticity.
A Comprehensive Study of Cutaneous Fibropapillomatosis in Free-Ranging Roe Deer (Capreolus capreolus) and Red Deer (Cervus elaphus): from Clinical Manifestations to Whole-Genome Sequencing of Papillomaviruses

Papillomaviruses (PVs) are an extremely large group of viruses that cause skin and mucosa infections in humans and various animals. In roe deer and red deer, most PVs belong to the Deltapapillomavirus genus and cause neoplastic changes that are generally described as fibropapillomas. Despite the wide distribution of roe and red deer throughout Europe and beyond, the data in the scientific literature regarding the widespread distribution of PVs and the genetic variability of PV genomes in these species are rather scarce. This study describes cutaneous fibropapillomatosis cases in roe and red deer with clinical manifestations that are typical of infections with PVs. In all cases, the presence of PV DNA was confirmed using PCR, followed by Sanger sequencing of the partial L1 gene. The complete PV genomes were determined in all the investigated samples using next-generation sequencing technology, revealing infections of roe deer with the CcaPV1-type and red deer with the CePV1v-type variant. A comparison of the complete CcaPV1-type and CePV1v-type variant genome sequences reported here with already available complete genome sequences in GenBank revealed their great genetic stability across time and space.
Yap/Taz promote the scavenging of extracellular nutrients through macropinocytosis

In this study, King et al. identified additional effectors that enable cell growth dependent on the uptake of extracellular proteins, and used pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) cells selected for growth in medium where extracellular albumin was the obligate source of the essential amino acid leucine. Their results indicate that the Hippo pathway effectors Yap and Taz are important transcriptional regulators of endocytic nutrient uptake.