Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Long Term Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Social Concerns

While some local, temporary past crises have boosted overall charitable donations, there have been concerns about potential substitution effects that the Covid-19 pandemic might have on other social objectives, such as tackling climate change and reducing inequality. We present results from a donation experiment (n = 1, 762), with data collected between April 2020 and January 2021. We combine data from (i) an online donation experiment, (ii) an extended questionnaire including perceptions, actions, and motives on the Covid-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, and poverty, as well as charitable behavior and (iii) epidemiological data. The experimental results show that donations to diverse social concerns are partially substituted by donations to the Covid-19 fund; yet, this substitution does not fully replace all other social concerns. Over time we observe no systematic trend in charitable donations. In regards to the determinants of individual donations, we observe that women donate more, people taking actions against Covid-19 and against poverty donate more, while those fearing risks from poverty donate less. In addition, we observe that the population under consideration is sensitive to the needs of others, enhancing total donations for higher Covid-19 incidence. For donations to each charity, we find that trusting a given charitable organization is the strongest explanatory factor of donations. JEL: L3, D64, Q54, I3, D9
A Microbial World: Could Metagenomic Next-Generation Sequencing Be Involved in Acute Respiratory Failure?

Background The usefulness of metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) in identifying pathogens is being investigated. We aimed to compare the power of microbial identification between mNGS and various methods in patients with acute respiratory failure. Methods We reviewed 130 patients with respiratory failure, and 184 specimens including blood, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), sputum, pleural effusion, ascitic fluid, and urine were tested by mNGS and conventional methods (culture, PCR). We also enrolled 13 patients to evaluate the power of mNGS and pathogen targets NGS (ptNGS) in microbial identifications. Clinical features and microbes detected were analyzed. Results mNGS outperformed the conventional method in the positive detection rate of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) (OR, ∞; 95% CI, 1–∞; P < 0.05), bacteria (OR, 3.7; 95% CI, 2.4–5.8; P < 0.0001), fungi (OR, 4.37; 95% CI, 2.7–7.2; P < 0.0001), mycoplasma (OR, 10.5; 95% CI, 31.8–115; P = 0.005), and virus (OR, ∞; 95% CI, 180.7–∞; P < 0.0001). We showed that 20 patients (28 samples) were detected with Pneumocystis jirovecii (P. jirovecii) by mNGS, but not by the conventional method, and most of those patients were immunocompromised. Read numbers of Klebsiella pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae), Acinetobacter baumannii (A. baumannii), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa), P. jirovecii, cytomegalovirus (CMV), and Herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV1) in BALF were higher than those in other sample types, and the read number of Candida albicans (C. albicans) in blood was higher than that in BALF. We found that orotracheal intubation and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) were associated with a higher detection rate of bacteria and virus by mNGS, immunosuppression was associated with a higher detection rate of fungi and virus by mNGS, and inflammatory markers were associated with mNGS-positive detection rate of bacteria. In addition, we observed preliminary results of ptNGS. Conclusion mNGS outperformed the conventional method in the detection of MTB, bacteria, fungi, mycoplasma, and virus. Orotracheal intubation, T2DM, immunosuppression, and inflammatory markers were associated with a higher detection rate of bacteria, fungi, and virus by mNGS. In addition, ptNGS results were consistent with the detection of abundant bacteria, fungi, and mycoplasma in our specimens.
Teriflunomide Treatment of Multiple Sclerosis Selectively Modulates CD8 Memory T Cells

Background and Objectives Inhibition of de novo pyrimidine synthesis in proliferating T and B lymphocytes by teriflunomide, a pharmacological inhibitor of dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH), has been shown to be an effective therapy to treat patients with MS in placebo-controlled phase 3 trials. Nevertheless, the underlying mechanism contributing to the efficacy of DHODH inhibition has been only partially elucidated. Here, we aimed to determine the impact of teriflunomide on the immune compartment in a longitudinal high-dimensional follow-up of patients with relapse-remitting MS (RRMS) treated with teriflunomide. Methods High-dimensional spectral flow cytometry was used to analyze the phenotype and the function of innate and adaptive immune system of patients with RRMS before and 12 months after teriflunomide treatment. In addition, we assessed the impact of teriflunomide on the migration of memory CD8 T cells in patients with RRMS, and we defined patient immune metabolic profiles. Results We found that 12 months of treatment with teriflunomide in patients with RRMS does not affect the B cell or CD4 T cell compartments, including regulatory TREG follicular helper TFH cell and helper TH cell subsets. In contrast, we observed a specific impact of teriflunomide on the CD8 T cell compartment, which was characterized by decreased homeostatic proliferation and reduced production of TNFα and IFNγ. Furthermore, we showed that DHODH inhibition also had a negative impact on the migratory velocity of memory CD8 T cells in patients with RRMS. Finally, we showed that the susceptibility of memory CD8 T cells to DHODH inhibition was not related to impaired metabolism. Discussion Overall, these findings demonstrate that the clinical efficacy of teriflunomide results partially in the specific susceptibility of memory CD8 T cells to DHODH inhibition in patients with RRMS and strengthens active roles for these T cells in the pathophysiological process of MS.
Relative Risk Assessment of Ecological Areas with the Highest Potential Impact of Underwater Released Exhaust CO2 from Innovative Ships

Applying underwater released exhaust gas as ‘air lubrication’ along the ship’s hull to reduce the energy consumption is under development. However, this direct emission to the water could pose a risk to the local marine environment, especially in shipping-dense areas. Specifically, CO2, a dominant component in the exhaust gas, has the potency to enhance algal blooms and cause acidification. This study provides the first relative risk assessment of ships with underwater release exhaust gas systems on a global scale, taking into account local water conditions and shipping intensity. Risk was characterized for 262 marine ecoregions by plotting the expected CO2 emission from ships to water against the estimated vulnerability to acidification and algal blooms. The vulnerability of each ecoregion was assessed based on background dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) level, chlorophyll-a concentrations and total alkalinity. The results reveal that areas with relatively high vulnerability are mainly located above 30° N latitude. The Yellow Sea, Southern China Sea, and North Sea come out as relatively high risk areas. Looking in more detail to European high-risk ecoregions, the highest risk levels are found in areas with dense shipping lanes and maritime chokepoints, e.g. the Strait of Dover and the Strait of Gibraltar. This was the first attempt to make such a risk assessment and the outcome is only indicative. In a next phase additional parameters, such as water currents and biological composition of the ecosystem should be included. Key Points The first global environmental risk assessment was made for innovative ships that apply underwater released exhaust gas as ‘air lubrication’ Ecoregions with relatively high vulnerability to acidification and algal blooms are mainly located above 30° N latitude The risk for the marine ecosystem of the underwater released exhaust CO2 from ships is limited to specific shipping-dense areas
Helminth infection is associated with dampened cytokine responses to viral and bacterial stimulations in Tsimane hunter-horticulturalists

Background Soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections can catalyze immunological changes that affect the response to subsequent infections, particularly those that elicit strong inflammatory responses. As globalization heightens the risk that remote communities with high STH prevalence will encounter novel pathogens, understanding how STHs shape immune responses to these downstream infections becomes increasingly crucial. Methodology We worked with Tsimane forager-horticulturalists in the Bolivian Amazon, where STHs are prevalent. We tested whether STHs and eosinophil levels—most likely indicative of infection in this population—are associated with dampened immune responses to in vitro stimulation with H1N1 and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) antigens. Whole blood samples (n = 179) were treated with H1N1 vaccine and LPS and assayed for 13 cytokines (interferon gamma [INF-γ], interleukin [IL]-1β, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-7, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12p70, IL-13, Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor [GM-CSF], and Tumor necrosis factor-alpha [TNF-α]). We evaluated how STHs and eosinophil levels affected cytokine responses and T helper (Th) 1 and Th2-cytokine suite responses to stimulation. Results Infection with Ascaris lumbricoides was significantly (p ≤ 0.05) associated with lower response of some cytokines to H1N1 and LPS in women. Eosinophils were significantly negatively associated with some cytokine responses to H1N1 and LPS, with the strongest effects in women, and associated with a reduced Th1- and Th2-cytokine response to H1N1 and LPS in women and men. Conclusions and implications We find that STHs were associated with dampened cytokine responses to certain viral and bacterial antigens, and suggest that this mitigation of host-induced damage may reduce the incidence of cytokine storms in populations with high STH prevalence.
Host phylogeny and ecological associations best explain Wolbachia host shifts in scale insects

Wolbachia are among the most prevalent and widespread endosymbiotic bacteria on earth. Wolbachia’ s success in infecting an enormous number of arthropod species is attributed to two features: the range of phenotypes they induce in their hosts, and their ability to switch to new host species. Whilst much progress has been made in elucidating the phenotypes induced by Wolbachia, our understanding of Wolbachia host shifting is still very limited: we lack answers to even fundamental questions concerning Wolbachia’s routes of transfer and the importance of factors influencing host shifts. Here, we investigate the diversity and host-shift patterns of Wolbachia in scale insects, a group of arthropods with intimate associations with other insects that make them well-suited to studying host shifts. Using Illumina pooled amplicon sequencing of Wolbachia-infected scale insects and their direct associates we determined the identity of all Wolbachia strains, revealing that 32% of samples were multiply infected (with up to five distinct strains per species). We then fitted a Generalised Additive Mixed Model (GAMM) to our data to estimate the influence of factors such as the host phylogeny and the geographic distribution of each species on Wolbachia strain sharing among scale insect species. The model predicts no significant contribution of host geography but strong effects of host phylogeny, with high rates of Wolbachia sharing among closely related species and a sudden drop-off in sharing with increasing phylogenetic distance. We also detected the same Wolbachia strain in scale insects and several intimately associated species (ants, wasps, beetles, and flies). This indicates putative host shifts and potential routes of transfers via these associates and highlights the importance of ecological connectivity in Wolbachia host-shifting.
Commonalities Between ARDS, Pulmonary Fibrosis and COVID-19: The Potential of Autotaxin as a Therapeutic Target

Severe COVID-19 is characterized by acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS)-like hyperinflammation and endothelial dysfunction, that can lead to respiratory and multi organ failure and death. Interstitial lung diseases (ILD) and pulmonary fibrosis confer an increased risk for severe disease, while a subset of COVID-19-related ARDS surviving patients will develop a fibroproliferative response that can persist post hospitalization. Autotaxin (ATX) is a secreted lysophospholipase D, largely responsible for the extracellular production of lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), a pleiotropic signaling lysophospholipid with multiple effects in pulmonary and immune cells. In this review, we discuss the similarities of COVID-19, ARDS and ILDs, and suggest ATX as a possible pathologic link and a potential common therapeutic target.
Olfaction in the Multisensory Processing of Faces: A Narrative Review of the Influence of Human Body Odors

A recent body of research has emerged regarding the interactions between olfaction and other sensory channels to process social information. The current review examines the influence of body odors on face perception, a core component of human social cognition. First, we review studies reporting how body odors interact with the perception of invariant facial information (i.e., identity, sex, attractiveness, trustworthiness, and dominance). Although we mainly focus on the influence of body odors based on axillary odor, we also review findings about specific steroids present in axillary sweat (i.e., androstenone, androstenol, androstadienone, and estratetraenol). We next survey the literature showing body odor influences on the perception of transient face properties, notably in discussing the role of body odors in facilitating or hindering the perception of emotional facial expression, in relation to competing frameworks of emotions. Finally, we discuss the developmental origins of these olfaction-to-vision influences, as an emerging literature indicates that odor cues strongly influence face perception in infants. Body odors with a high social relevance such as the odor emanating from the mother have a widespread influence on various aspects of face perception in infancy, including categorization of faces among other objects, face scanning behavior, or facial expression perception. We conclude by suggesting that the weight of olfaction might be especially strong in infancy, shaping social perception, especially in slow-maturing senses such as vision, and that this early tutoring function of olfaction spans all developmental stages to disambiguate a complex social environment by conveying key information for social interactions until adulthood.
Comparing the Psychometric Properties of Two Japanese-Translated Scales of the Free Will and Determinism-Plus Scale

The free will and determinism-plus scale (FAD-Plus) is one of the most widely used scales to assess the lay belief of people in the existence of free will and deterministic world views. Past research has translated FAD-Plus into various languages for non-English speaking populations, and there exist two Japanese translations of FAD-Plus: the FAD+ and the FAD-J. This study aimed to compare the psychometric properties of FAD+ and FAD-J. Results revealed that while both FAD+ and FAD-J consist of the same four subscales as the original FAD-Plus, some differences exist in the item-level psychometric characteristics. In general, as for the construct validity, although results supported that both scales can assess almost the same construct in terms of the functionalities, FAD-J tends to be slightly more likely to replicate the correlations obtained in the previous research.
Topological Alterations of Working Memory Impairment in Aged Patients With Vascular Dementia

Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) is a common disease causing vascular dementia. Survivors often suffer from cognitive impairment especially working memory deficit. Currently, lack of theoretical support limits the improvement of cognitive intervention or rehabilitation. It is unclear how the large-scale network differs and to what extent is the brain network affected? Our study aims to provide novel information about the topological characteristics of brain organization, especially “small-world” property. A total of 62 aSAH patients are enrolled in this study. They are divided into two groups according to the syndrome of working memory deficit. Their working memory function is evaluated by TMT-B and AVLT (Chinese version). Functional MRI scan is also performed for detecting resting-state cortical plasticity. We utilized ICA to extract functional sub-networks including working memory network from imaging data. And then we establish binarized network and calculate the small-worldness property as well as local and global efficiency of networks. aSAH group with working memory deficit shows no significant difference of clustering coefficient with control group. Our study discovered significant decrease of characteristic path length indicating an increase of overall routing efficiency. We reason that patients with working memory deficit have to recruit more neuronal resources and thus develops higher overall routing efficiency of local network. This study provides novel information about the neural alterations of aSAH patients with working memory deficit. It might contribute to the understanding of neural mechanism and the improvement of current intervention for vascular dementia.
Major Reorganization of Chromosome Conformation During Muscle Development in Pig

The spatial organization of the genome in the nucleus plays a crucial role in eukaryotic cell functions, yet little is known about chromatin structure variations during late fetal development in mammals. We performed in situ high-throughput chromosome conformation capture (Hi-C) sequencing of DNA from muscle samples of pig fetuses at two late stages of gestation. Comparative analysis of the resulting Hi-C interaction matrices between both groups showed widespread differences of different types. First, we discovered a complex landscape of stable and group-specific Topologically Associating Domains (TADs). Investigating the nuclear partition of the chromatin into transcriptionally active and inactive compartments, we observed a genome-wide fragmentation of these compartments between 90 and 110 days of gestation. Also, we identified and characterized the distribution of differential cis- and trans-pairwise interactions. In particular, trans-interactions at chromosome extremities revealed a mechanism of telomere clustering further confirmed by 3D Fluorescence in situ Hybridization (FISH). Altogether, we report major variations of the three-dimensional genome conformation during muscle development in pig, involving several levels of chromatin remodeling and structural regulation.
Genetically Predicted Longer Telomere Length May Reduce Risk of Hip Osteoarthritis

Objective: This two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) study aimed to examine the potential causal association of telomere length (TL) with the risk of osteoarthritis (OA). Method: The summary-level data for OA was derived from the United Kingdom Biobank cohort, including 50,508 individuals of European descent. Eighteen single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with TL were identified as instrumental variables from the most up-to-date TL genome-wide association study (GWAS) involving over 78,592 individuals of European descent. Based on the GWASs data, MR was performed using established statistical analysis methods including the inverse variance weighted, weighted median, MR-Egger, and MR pleiotropy residual sum and outlier. Results: Genetically determined TL was not associated with the risk of total OA (IVW odds ratio [OR] = 1.00, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.83, 1.21). In subgroup analyses stratified by OA site, no evidence in favor of association between genetically determined TL and knee OA was found (IVW OR = 1.18, 95% CI = 0.89, 1.58). However, using WM method, we observed a limited protective effect of longer TL on the risk of hip OA (OR = 0.60, 95% CI = 0.36–0.99), whereas the results of the IVW (p = 0.931) and MR-PRESSO (p = 0.932) showed that TL had no effect on hip OA. Conclusions: This study does not support a causal association between TL and total OA. A potential protective association between longer TL and hip OA, though possible, remains less certain.
Altered Volume and Structural Connectivity of the Hippocampus in Alzheimer’s Disease and Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment

Background: Hippocampal atrophy is a characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, alterations in structural connectivity (number of connecting fibers) between the hippocampus and whole brain regions due to hippocampal atrophy remain largely unknown in AD and its prodromal stage, amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI). Methods: We collected high-resolution structural MRI (sMRI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data from 36 AD patients, 30 aMCI patients, and 41 normal control (NC) subjects. First, the volume and structural connectivity of the bilateral hippocampi were compared among the three groups. Second, correlations between volume and structural connectivity in the ipsilateral hippocampus were further analyzed. Finally, classification ability by hippocampal volume, its structural connectivity, and their combination were evaluated. Results: Although the volume and structural connectivity of the bilateral hippocampi were decreased in patients with AD and aMCI, only hippocampal volume correlated with neuropsychological test scores. However, positive correlations between hippocampal volume and ipsilateral structural connectivity were displayed in patients with AD and aMCI. Furthermore, classification accuracy (ACC) was higher in AD vs. aMCI and aMCI vs. NC by the combination of hippocampal volume and structural connectivity than by a single parameter. The highest values of the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) in every two groups were all obtained by combining hippocampal volume and structural connectivity. Conclusions: Our results showed that the combination of hippocampal volume and structural connectivity (number of connecting fibers) is a new perspective for the discrimination of AD and aMCI.
Endothelial Function and Arterial Stiffness Should Be Measured to Comprehensively Assess Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Clinical Practice

Objective: An effective clinical tool to assess endothelial function and arterial stiffness in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is lacking. This study evaluated the clinical significance of subclinical markers for OSA management in males without serious complications. Patients/Methods: Males without serious complications were consecutively recruited. Clinical data, biomarker tests, reactive hyperemia index (RHI), and augmentation index at 75 beats/min (AIx75) measured by peripheral arterial tonometry were collected. An apnea hypopnea index (AHI) cutoff of ≥15 events/h divided the patients into two groups. Results: Of the 75 subjects, 42 had an AHI ≥15 events/h. Patients with an AHI ≥15 events/h had higher high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), vascular endothelial growth factor, and AIx75 values than the control group but no statistical difference in RHI was observed. After controlling for confounders, TNF-α was negatively correlated with the average oxygen saturation (r = −0.258, P = 0.043). RHI was correlated with the rapid eye movement (REM) stage percentage (r = 0.306, P = 0.016) but not with AHI (P > 0.05). AIx75 was positively correlated with the arousal index (r = 0.289, P = 0.023) but not with AHI (r = 0.248, P = 0.052). Conclusions: In males with OSA without severe complications, TNF-α and AIx75 are independently related to OSA. The role of RHI in OSA management requires further elucidation. These markers combined can comprehensively evaluate OSA patients to provide more evidence for the primary prevention of coronary heart disease and treatment response assessment.