Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Control of meiotic crossing over in plant breeding

Meiotic crossing over is the main mechanism for constructing a new allelic composition of individual chromosomes and is necessary for the proper distribution of homologous chromosomes between gametes. The parameters of meiotic crossing over that have developed in the course of evolution are determined by natural selection and do not fully suit the tasks of selective breeding research. This review summarizes the results of experimental studies aimed at increasing the frequency of crossovers and redistributing their positions along chromosomes using genetic manipulations at different stages of meiotic recombination. The consequences of inactivation and/or overexpression of the SPO11 genes, the products of which generate meiotic double-strand breaks in DNA, for the redistribution of crossover positions in the genome of various organisms are discussed. The results of studies concerning the effect of inactivation or overexpression of genes encoding RecA-like recombinases on meiotic crossing over, including those in cultivated tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) and its interspecific hybrids, are summarized. The consequences of inactivation of key genes of the mismatch repair system are discussed. Their suppression made it possible to significantly increase the frequency of meiotic recombination between homeologues in the interspecific hybrid yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae × S. paradoxus and between homologues in arabidopsis plants (Arabidopsis thaliana L.). Also discussed are attempts to extrapolate these results to other plant species, in which a decrease in reproductive properties and microsatellite instability in the genome have been noted. The most significant results on the meiotic recombination frequency increase upon inactivation of the FANCM, TOP3α, RECQ4, FIGL1 crossover repressor genes and upon overexpression of the HEI10 crossover enhancer gene are separately described. In some experiments, the increase of meiotic recombination frequency by almost an order of magnitude and partial redistribution of the crossover positions along chromosomes were achieved in arabidopsis while fully preserving fecundity. Similar results have been obtained for some crops.
Assessment of the potential value of combining western medicine therapies with traditional chinese medicine in the treatment of COVID-19: Mechanistic perspectives

BACKGROUND: The pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) since early 2020 is one of the most significant global health issues in history. Although there is currently no specific treatment for COVID-19, researchers have provided a whole array of potential treatments, both from the Western medicine approach, which is molecular target and pathogenesis based, and from the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) approach, which is based on the exposure to toxins/pathogens and the balance of the body to combat them for recovery. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this research is to find combinations of Western medicine and TCM that may offer better therapeutic efficacy synergystically with a better adverse events profile. The findings of the research may provide a new insight in the development of the treatment of COVID-19. METHODS: From the Western medicine perspective, drugs target the mechanisms of viral infection, including the stages of viral entry (Arbidol, Camostat Mesylate, Convalescent Plasma therapy) and viral replication (Lopinavir/Ritonavir, Redemsivir, Ribavirin). Additional therapies target host defenses, preventing cytokine storms (Tocilizumab) and stimulating the immune system (Interferons). On the other hand, TCM also proposed a number of treatment methods for COVID-19 with new scientific approaches identifying their antiviral and immunomodulatory activities. The novel combination of Western medicine and TCM can be proposed by analyzing their respective molecular targets. RESULTS: Although TCM is not generally accepted in the Western community because of the general lack of knowledge on their detailed mechanisms, studies and clinical trials suggest that TCM could be beneficial in combating COVID-19. CONCLUSION: Based on the principle of combining TCM and Western medicine, two combinations are tested effective in clinical trials, and three possible combinations that might be effective are proposed in the paper.
FedProf: Selective Federated Learning Based on Distributional Representation Profiling

Federated Learning (FL) has shown great potential as a privacy-preserving solution to learning from decentralized data that are only accessible to end devices (i.e., clients). The data locality constraint offers strong privacy protection but also makes FL sensitive to the condition of local data. Apart from statistical heterogeneity, a large proportion of the clients, in many scenarios, are probably in possession of low-quality data that are biased, noisy or even irrelevant. As a result, they could significantly slow down the convergence of the global model we aim to build and also compromise its quality. In light of this, we first present a new view of local data by looking into the representation space and observing that they converge in distribution to Normal distributions before activation. We provide theoretical analysis to support our finding. Further, we propose FedProf, a novel algorithm for optimizing FL over non-IID data of mixed quality. The key of our approach is a distributional representation profiling and matching scheme that uses the global model to dynamically profile data representations and allows for low-cost, lightweight representation matching. Using the scheme we sample clients adaptively in FL to mitigate the impact of low-quality data on the training process. We evaluated our solution with extensive experiments on different tasks and data conditions under various FL settings. The results demonstrate that the selective behavior of our algorithm leads to a significant reduction in the number of communication rounds and the amount of time (up to 2.4× speedup) for the global model to converge and also provides accuracy gain.
Consumers’ Preferences for Chicken Fed on Different Processed Animal Proteins: A Best–Worst Analysis in Italy

The increase in meat consumption expected in the next decade will require more and more proteins for animal feeding. The recent amendments to the European “BSE Regulation” allow the use of insects and porcine-based meals in poultry farming, providing novel, sustainable substitutes for vegetable fodder. While the technological and nutritional properties of novel feeds containing processed animal proteins are widely recognized, far less is known about consumers’ acceptance of meat produced by animals fed on animal-based meals. In the present research, a best–worst survey was applied to estimate consumers’ preferences for chicken fed on plants, insects, or porcine-based meals using a sample of 205 Italian consumers. Furthermore, product price, type of farming, and “Free-from” labeling were considered in the analysis to evaluate the relative importance of feed ingredients compared to other important attributes of meats. The results show that the most relevant attributes are type of farming and “Free-from” claims, while type of feed represents the third attribute in order of importance. Notably, both insect and porcine flour are considered as negative characteristics of the product, suggesting that mandatory labeling signaling the use of these feeds would negatively impact on the value of chicken meat.
Performance and Short-Circuit Reliability of SiC MOSFETs With Enhanced JFET Doping Design

In this article, the influence of the JFET width and JFET doping concentration on the 1.2-kV planar-gate silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFETs’ static characteristics, ${C}$ – ${V}$ characteristics, and short-circuit (SC) reliability is discussed. With the increase of the JFET width, the specific ON-resistance decreases first and then increases (but the quasi-saturated current continues to increase), the blocking voltage decreases, and the reverse capacitance increases. The SC tests under 400-V dc bus voltage are carried out to compare the SC capability of the devices. With the increase of the JFET width, the SC peak current first increases and then decreases, and the SC withstanding time keeps decreasing. The increase of peak current is due to the weaker electric field shielding effect by the P-well. With the further increase of the JFET width, the peak current decreases because the depletion layer appears in the middle position of the JFET region below the gate oxide and the channel density decreases with the wider JFET width. Compared with the winner of the traditional design, the winner with enhanced JFET doping is preferred because it achieves an increased Baliga’s figure of merit (BFOM) by 15.9% and 1/high-frequency figure of merit (HF-FOM) by 84.2% without sacrificing too much SC reliability, which is more competitive.
Molecule Clustering Dynamics in the Molecular Doping Process of Si(111) with Diethyl-propyl-phosphonate

The molecular doping (MD) process is based on the deposition of dopant-containing molecules over the surface of a semiconductor substrate, followed by the thermal diffusion step. Previous studies suggest that, during the deposition, the molecules nucleate clusters, and at prolonged deposition times, they grow into self-assembled layers on the sample to be doped. Little is known about the influence of nucleation kinetics on the final properties of these layers and how they change when we modify the solution properties. In this work, we examine the nucleation rate and the molecular surface coverage kinetics of diethyl-propyl phosphonate on silicon at different solution concentrations and how these conditions influence the final electrical properties of the doped samples. We present a high-resolution morphological characterization of the as-deposited molecules together with the electrical results of the final doped samples. The experimental results show a non-obvious behavior, explained through understanding of the competition between the molecules’ physisorption and chemisorption mechanisms. As a consequence, due to the deeper knowledge of the deposition phase, a finer tuning of the conductive properties of MD-doped samples is achieved.
Initial geomagnetic field model from Magsat vector data

Magsat data from the magnetically quiet days of November 5-6, 1979, were used to derive a thirteenth degree and order spherical harmonic geomagnetic field model, MGST(6/80). The model utilized both scalar and high-accuracy vector data and fit that data with root-mean-square deviations of 8.2, 6.9, 7.6 and 7.4 nT for the scalar magnitude, Br, Bθ, and Bo, respectively. The model includes the three first-order coefficients of the external field. Comparison with averaged Dst indicates that zero Dst corresponds with 25 nT of horizontal field from external sources. When compared with earlier models, the earth's dipole moment continues to decrease at a rate of about 26 nT/yr. Evaluation of earlier models with Magsat data shows that the scalar field at the Magsat epoch is best predicted by the POGO(2/72) model but that the WC80, AWC/75 and IGS/75 are better for predicting vector fields.
Time-efficient implantable catheters for draining malignant ascites in terminal cancer patients

BACKGROUND: There is a need for an improved version of the implantable catheter for malignant ascites in the abdominal cavity. OBJECTIVE: New implantable catheters have been developed that drain ascites from the abdominal cavity to the bladder by applying pressure. Based on pigtail catheters, these newly designed catheters have silicone membranes and apertures. METHODS: Experimental instruments controlled flow rates and water level to observe changes of the activation pressure and its cycle time along flow rates and turns of catheters. Furthermore, various normality tests, difference tests and non-parametric tests were investigated to observe statistical validity. RESULTS: Cycle times were significantly affected by flow rate (3/4 cases of p< 0.05). The effects of flow rate on activation pressure, however, were not significant (1/4 case of p< 0.05). Cycle times were not significantly affected by the number of turns of the catheter (3/8 cases of p< 0.05). In contrast, the effects of the turns on activation pressure were significant (5/8 cases of p< 0.05). CONCLUSION: Overall, there was no significant difference between cycle times for 1.5 turns and 2.0 turns of catheters. In addition, catheters with 1.5 turns have a lower activation pressure than catheters with 2.0 turns. It is possible to customize catheters based on the ascites excretion and urination rates of various terminal patients.
On the Polynomial Functional Relationship

SUMMARY A method for obtaining consistent estimators of the coefficients in a polynomial functional relationship model with normal errors is proposed when the error covariance matrix is either completely known or known up to a proportionality factor. For quadratic functional relationships with possibly non-normal errors, we present a consistent estimator when the error covariance matrix is known. A large sample test of the quadratic against the linear functional relationship is also suggested in this case.
Characterisation of a turbulent module for the MITHIC high-contrast imaging testbed

Future high-contrast imagers on ground-based extremely large telescopes will have to deal with the segmentation of the primary mirrors. Residual phase errors coming from the phase steps at the edges of the segments will have to be minimized in order to reach the highest possible wavefront correction and thus the best contrast performance. To study these effects, we have developed the MITHIC high-contrast testbed, which is designed to test various strategies for wavefront sensing, including the Zernike sensor for Extremely accurate measurements of Low-level Differential Aberrations (ZELDA) and COronagraphic Focal-plane wave-Front Estimation for Exoplanet detection (COFFEE). We recently equipped the bench with a new atmospheric turbulence simulation module that offers both static phase patterns representing segmented primary mirrors and continuous phase strips representing atmospheric turbulence filtered by an AO or an XAO system. We present a characterisation of the module using different instruments and wavefront sensors, and the first coronagraphic measurements obtained on MITHIC.
Persisting and New Onset Symptomatology and Determinants of Functional Limitation of Post Acute COVID-19 Syndrome Cases- A Study from a Northern District of Kerala

Background: COVID-19 disease has a wide range of persisting and new onset clinical manifestations even long after the acute phase. This study was conducted to identify the persisting and new onset symptomatology of post-COVID-19 syndrome patients from clinics in urban and peri-urban Kozhikode, South India, as well as to grade their functional limitation; assess the determinants and predictors. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 938 subjects attending the post-COVID clinics. Symptom profile, functional assessment, and limitation grading were done using the Post-COVID-19 Functional Status (PCFS) scale. Statistical analyses were done using the SPSS ver.20. Results: Mean age was 41.50 ± 16.90 years. Fever, anosmia, dysgeusia, headache, and myalgia were the common acute COVID-19 symptoms (505,54%; 433,46.3%; 420,44.9%; 323,34.4%; 252,26.9%, respectively). Post-COVID-19, common persisting symptoms were myalgia (167,17.8%), fatigue (149,15.9%), dyspnea (113,12%), and headache (85,9.1%); the common new onset symptoms were shortness of breath and fatigue (228,24.3% and 220,23.4%, respectively). A total of 91 cases (9.7%) had post-COVID sleep disturbances; 16 (1.7%) had symptoms of anxiety and depressive thoughts. PCFS grading showed that 552 (63.8%) had negligible limitations (Grade I). Only one person had Grade IV limitation. Significant association (p < 0.05) was found between functional impairment grading by PCFS and age, gender, locality, type of family, duration of hospitalization, duration of unemployment following illness, source of infection, diabetes mellitus, and hypertension. Male gender, married status, CAD, and smoking had significant higher risks; urban locality and hospitalization decreased the risk. Conclusions: SARS-CoV-2 cases have persistent and new onset symptoms and some degree of functional impairment post-COVID. Significant association was identified for various sociodemographic and clinical variables with the PCFS functional impairment grading.
THY1 (CD90) Maintains the Adherens Junctions in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma via Inhibition of SRC Activation

Simple Summary Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is endemic to southern China and cancer metastasis remains the main cause of treatment failures. Previously we have found THY1, a cell surface glycoprotein, inhibits the invasion of NPC cells and functions as a tumor suppressor in NPC. In the present study, we further illustrated the mechanism that contributes to the tumor suppressive function of THY1. Two binding partners of THY1, PDGF-Rβ and PTPN22, were identified, and PTPN22 represents the downstream signaling molecule of THY1 to inhibit the PDGF-Rβ–induced SRC activity. The anti-metastatic effect of SRC inhibition was subsequently validated in a mice model with administration of a SRC inhibitor that has been used in clinics for other diseases. This study opens a new window to target the SRC signaling activity which is antagonized by THY1 in NPC. Abstract We had previously shown that THY1 (CD90) is a tumor suppressor in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and that its down-regulation and loss of expression are associated with tumor metastasis, yet the mechanism leading to such effects remains unknown. In this study we show that tumor invasion could be suppressed by THY1 via adherens junction formation in a few NPC cell lines, and knockdown of THY1 would disrupt this cell-cell adhesion phenotype. Mechanistically, the activity of the SRC family kinase (SFK) member, SRC, and canonical Wnt signaling were dramatically reduced when THY1 was constitutively expressed. Previous studies by others have found that high levels of SRC activity in NPCs are associated with EMT and a poor prognosis. We hypothesized that THY1 can suppress tumor invasion in NPC via inhibition of SRC. By gene silencing of SRC, we found that the in vitro NPC cell invasion was significantly reduced and adherens junctions were restored. Through proteomic analysis, we identified that platelet-derived growth factor receptor β (PDGF-Rβ) and protein tyrosine phosphatase nonreceptor type 22 (PTPN22) are novel and potential binding partners of THY1, which were subsequently verified by co-immunoprecipitation (co-IP) analysis. The ligand of PDGF-Rβ (PDGF-BB) could highly induce SRC activation and NPC cell invasion, which could be almost completely suppressed by THY1 expression. On the other hand, the PTPN22 siRNA could enhance both the SRC activities and the cell invasion and could also disrupt the adherens junctions in the THY1-expressing NPC cells; the original THY1-induced phenotypes were reverted when the PTPN22 expression was reduced. Together, our results identified that PTPN22 is essential for THY1 to suppress cell invasion and SRC activity, maintain tight adherens junctions, and prevent NPC metastasis. These results suggested that PDGF-Rβ and SRC can be used as drug targets for suppressing NPC metastasis. Indeed, our in vivo assay using the SRC inhibitor KX2-391, clearly showed that inhibition of SRC signaling can prevent the metastasis of NPC, indicating that targeting SRC can be a promising approach to control the NPC progression.
Accurate Estimate of Some Propagation Characteristics for the First Higher Order Mode in Graded Index Fiber with Simple Analytic Chebyshev Method

Abstract Using Chebyshev power series approach, accurate description for the first higher order (LP11) mode of graded index fibers having three different profile shape functions are presented in this paper and applied to predict their propagation characteristics. These characteristics include fractional power guided through the core, excitation efficiency and Petermann I and II spot sizes with their approximate analytic formulations. We have shown that where two and three Chebyshev points in LP11 mode approximation present fairly accurate results, the values based on our calculations involving four Chebyshev points match excellently with available exact numerical results.
Interplay between Inter-Subunit Rotation of the Ribosome and Binding of Translational GTPases

Translational G proteins, whose release from the ribosome is triggered by GTP hydrolysis, regulate protein synthesis. Concomitantly with binding and dissociation of protein factors, translation is accompanied by forward and reverse rotation between ribosomal subunits. Using single-molecule measurements, we explore the ways in which the binding of translational GTPases affects inter-subunit rotation of the ribosome. We demonstrate that the highly conserved translation factor LepA, whose function remains debated, shifts the equilibrium toward the non-rotated conformation of the ribosome. By contrast, the catalyst of ribosome translocation, elongation factor G (EF-G), favors the rotated conformation of the ribosome. Nevertheless, the presence of P-site peptidyl-tRNA and antibiotics, which stabilize the non-rotated conformation of the ribosome, only moderately reduces EF-G binding. These results support the model suggesting that EF-G interacts with both the non-rotated and rotated conformations of the ribosome during mRNA translocation. Our results provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms of LepA and EF-G action and underscore the role of ribosome structural dynamics in translation.
Alterations of Gut-Derived Melatonin in Neurobehavioral Impairments Caused by Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles

Purpose The widespread use of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) has raised concerns about its potential toxicity. Melatonin is a neurohormone with tremendous anti-toxic effects. The enterochromaffin cells are an essential source of melatonin in vivo. However, studies on the effects of ZnONPs on endogenous melatonin are minimal. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the effects of ZnONPs exposure on gut-derived melatonin. Methods In the present study, 64 adult male mice were randomly and equally divided into four groups, and each group was exposed to ZnONPs (0, 6.5, 13, 26 mg/kg/day) for 30 days. Subsequently, the neurobehavioral changes were observed. The effects of ZnONPs on the expression of melatonin-related genes arylalkylamine N-acetyltransferase (Aanat), melatonin receptor1A (Mt1/Mtnr1a), melatonin receptor1B (Mt2/Mtnr1b), and neuropeptide Y (Npy) on melatonin synthesis and secretion in duodenum, jejunum, ileum and colon during day and night were also assessed. Results The results revealed that oral exposure to ZnONPs induced impairments of locomotor activity and anxiety-like behavior in adult mice during the day. The transcriptional analysis of brain tissues revealed that exposure to ZnONPs caused profound effects on genes and transcriptional signaling pathways associated with melatonin synthesis and metabolic processes during the day and night. We also observed that, in the duodenum, jejunum, ileum and colon sites, ZnONPs resulted in a significant reduction in the expression of the gut-derived melatonin rate-limiting enzyme Aanat, the membrane receptors Mt1 and Mt2 and Npy during the day and night. Conclusion Taken together, this is the first study shows that oral exposure to ZnONPs interferes with melatonin synthesis and secretion in different intestinal segments of adult mice. These findings will provide novelty insights into the neurotoxic mechanisms of ZnONPs and suggest an alternative strategy for the prevention of ZnONP neurotoxicity.