Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Epigenetic Regulation of Human T-Cell Leukemia Virus Gene Expression

Viral and cellular gene expression are regulated by epigenetic alterations, including DNA methylation, histone modifications, nucleosome positioning, and chromatin looping. Human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) is a pathogenic retrovirus associated with inflammatory disorders and T-cell lymphoproliferative malignancy. The transforming activity of HTLV-1 is driven by the viral oncoprotein Tax, which acts as a transcriptional activator of the cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB) and nuclear factor kappa B (NFκB) pathways. The epigenetic effects of Tax and the induction of lymphoproliferative malignancy include alterations in DNA methylation and histone modifications. In addition, alterations in nucleosome positioning and DNA looping also occur in HTLV-1-induced malignant cells. A mechanistic definition of these effects will pave the way to new therapies for HTLV-1-associated disorders.
Predicting Corrosion Delamination Failure in Active Implantable Medical Devices: Analytical Model and Validation Strategy

The ingress of body fluids or their constituents is one of the main causes of failure of active implantable medical devices (AIMDs). Progressive delamination takes its origin at the junctions where exposed electrodes and conductive pathways enter the implant interior. The description of this interface is considered challenging because electrochemically-diffusively coupled processes are involved. Furthermore, standard tests and specimens, with clearly defined 3-phase boundaries (body fluid-metal-polymer), are lacking. We focus on polymers as substrate and encapsulation and present a simple method to fabricate reliable test specimens with defined boundaries. By using silicone rubber as standard material in active implant encapsulation in combination with a metal surface, a corrosion-triggered delamination process was observed that can be universalised towards typical AIMD electrode materials. Copper was used instead of medical grade platinum since surface energies are comparable but corrosion occurs faster. The finding is that two processes are superimposed there: First, diffusion-limited chemical reactions at interfaces that undermine the layer adhesion. The second process is the influx of ions and body fluid components that leave the aqueous phase and migrate through the rubber to internal interfaces. The latter observation is new for active implants. Our mathematical description with a Stefan-model coupled to volume diffusion reproduces the experimental data in good agreement and lends itself to further generalisation.
Green behaviour: difference in recycling behaviour between the home and the workplace.

In 2008 the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency reported that commercial waste amounted to 5.75 million tonnes, compared with 2.94 million tonnes of domestic waste. Despite the fact that waste arising in commercial premises is nearly double that produced by households in the UK, the study of recycling in the workplace is less common than the study of recycling at home (Marans & Lee, 1993).
What Really Matters: The Effect of Covid-19 on the Factors of Life Satisfaction

This article investigates the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on the structure of factors of life satisfaction in the city of Usti nad Labem, Czech Republic. The dataset is based on a questionnaire survey conducted in Usti nad Labem, Czech Republic. Subsequent data analysis is conducted using ordinal logistic regression models. The results show that the emergence of the pandemic had a significant impact on life satisfaction factors. Firstly, the importance of family came to the fore: being in a relationship or being married proved to be a significant factor of life satisfaction during the pandemic but not before the pandemic. Secondly, a negative association between drinking alcohol and life satisfaction emerged during the pandemic. Alcohol probably started to be the tool for stress relief. Thirdly, sport became a significant positive factor of women’s life satisfaction. Sport most likely became an effective way of keeping oneself in balance. Results indicate that during a difficult time period there are different ways of how to deal with it. In this way doing sports and drinking alcohol seem to be substitute activities.
Genetic study of quantitative traits supports the use of Guzerá as dual-purpose cattle

Objective The aim of this study was to estimate genetic parameters for 305-day cumulative milk yield and components, growth, and reproductive traits in Guzerá cattle. Methods The evaluated traits were 305-day first-lactation cumulative yields (kg) of milk (MY305), fat (FY305), protein (PY305), lactose (LY305), and total solids (SY305); age at first calving (AFC) in days; adjusted scrotal perimeter (cm) at the ages of 365 (SP365) and 450 (SP450) days; and adjusted body weight (kg) at the ages of 210 (W210), 365 (W365), and 450 (W450) days. The (co)variance components were estimated using the restricted maximum likelihood method for single-trait, bi-trait and tri-trait analyses. Contemporary groups and additive genetic effects were included in the general mixed model. Maternal genetic and permanent environmental effects were also included for W210. Results The direct heritability estimates ranged from 0.16 (W210) to 0.32 (MY305). The maternal heritability estimate for W210 was 0.03. Genetic correlation estimates among milk production traits and growth traits ranged from 0.92 to 0.99 and from 0.92 to 0.99, respectively. For milk production and growth traits, the genetic correlations ranged from 0.33 to 0.56. The genetic correlations among AFC and all other traits were negative (−0.43 to −0.27). Scrotal perimeter traits and body weights showed genetic correlations ranging from 0.41 to 0.46, and scrotal perimeter and milk production traits showed genetic correlations ranging from 0.11 to 0.30. The phenotypic correlations were similar in direction (same sign) and lower than the corresponding genetic correlations. Conclusion These results suggest the viability and potential of joint selection for dairy and beef traits in Guzerá cattle, taking into account reproductive traits.
Effect of influenza vaccination on risk of COVID-19 – A prospective cohort study of 46,000 health care workers

Abstract The purpose of this study was to assess if influenza vaccination has an impact on the risk of COVID-19. A cohort of 46,112 health care workers were tested for antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 and filled in a survey on COVID-19 symptoms, hospitalization, and influenza vaccination. The RR of hospitalization due to SARS-CoV-2 for influenza vaccinated compared with unvaccinated participants was 1.00 for the seasonal vaccination in 2019/2020 (CI 0.56-1.78, p=1.00). Likewise, no clinical effect of influenza vaccination on development of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 was found. The present findings indicate that influenza vaccination does not affect the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection or COVID-19.
Development of Decision Support System for Optimal Site Selection of Desalination Plants

In this paper, Decision Support System (DSS)for site selection of seawater desalination plant has beendeveloped. The general methodology includes two main steps for site selection. The first stepis togenerate a list of possible locations depending on the criterion of minimizing water transportation cost. This is established by using non-linear objective function.In the second step, the location is optimized using Multicriteria analysis(MCA) taking into account important factors affecting the optimization process.Each factor is given a weight according to its importance from one to eight. As a case study,the developed DSS is applied on coastal cities of northwest of Libya. Those cities located between Ras-EJdarand Musrata.Sample results are shown in this paper in order to explain the developed DSS.
Symmetry breaking organizes the brain’s resting state manifold

Spontaneously fluctuating brain activity patterns that emerge at rest have been linked to brain’s health and cognition. Despite detailed descriptions of the spatio-temporal brain patterns, our understanding of their generative mechanism is still incomplete. Using a combination of computational modeling and dynamical systems analysis we provide a mechanistic description of the formation of a resting state manifold via the network connectivity. We demonstrate that the symmetry breaking by the connectivity creates a characteristic flow on the manifold, which produces the major data features across scales and imaging modalities. These include spontaneous high amplitude co-activations, neuronal cascades, spectral cortical gradients, multistability and characteristic functional connectivity dynamics. When aggregated across cortical hierarchies, these match the profiles from empirical data. The understanding of the brain’s resting state manifold is fundamental for the construction of task-specific flows and manifolds used in theories of brain function such as predictive coding. In addition, it shifts the focus from the single recordings towards brain’s capacity to generate certain dynamics characteristic of health and pathology.
Current status of dietary Moringa oleifera and its application in poultry nutrition

SUMMARY The increasing demand for poultry products has driven the utilisation of more conventional crops as poultry feed. To achieve economically viable and environmentally friendly poultry production, attempts have been made to incorporate medicinal plants such as Moringa oleifera in their diet. The high nutritional factor, including high protein content, the abundance of micronutrients and various phytochemicals, has contributed to the rapid use of M. oleifera in the poultry diet. Notably, its application has a significant impact on poultry health and husbandry. The following paper reviews M. oleifera on their efficacy, potential limitation and effect on target poultry species. Furthermore, recognising the impact of utilising different processing methods on this plant could offer poultry and feed producers considerable benefits.
3D Cell Culture Models as Recapitulators of the Tumor Microenvironment for the Screening of Anti-Cancer Drugs

Simple Summary Three-dimensional (3D) cell culture models have been proposed as alternatives for initial drug screening to increase drug development efficiency. In addition to their ability to reproduce key aspects of the tumor architecture and microenvironment, 3D cell culture models may help decrease the use of laboratory animals in drug testing, in accordance with the 3R principles (Replacement, Reduction, Refinement). This review aims to help researchers making a transition from two-dimensional (2D) to 3D cell culture models for drug screening, by discussing the impact of 3D models on cancer research, their advantages, limitations, and compatibility with high-throughput screenings. It also outlines the relevance of available readouts provided by such models as well as the importance of incorporating key microenvironmental cues towards improving the predictive value of drug efficacy and safety. Abstract Today, innovative three-dimensional (3D) cell culture models have been proposed as viable and biomimetic alternatives for initial drug screening, allowing the improvement of the efficiency of drug development. These models are gaining popularity, given their ability to reproduce key aspects of the tumor microenvironment, concerning the 3D tumor architecture as well as the interactions of tumor cells with the extracellular matrix and surrounding non-tumor cells. The development of accurate 3D models may become beneficial to decrease the use of laboratory animals in scientific research, in accordance with the European Union’s regulation on the 3R rule (Replacement, Reduction, Refinement). This review focuses on the impact of 3D cell culture models on cancer research, discussing their advantages, limitations, and compatibility with high-throughput screenings and automated systems. An insight is also given on the adequacy of the available readouts for the interpretation of the data obtained from the 3D cell culture models. Importantly, we also emphasize the need for the incorporation of additional and complementary microenvironment elements on the design of 3D cell culture models, towards improved predictive value of drug efficacy.
Low vision impairs implicit sensorimotor adaptation in response to small errors, but not large errors

Successful goal-directed actions require constant fine-tuning of the motor system. This fine-tuning is thought to rely on an implicit adaptation process that is driven by sensory prediction errors (i.e., where you see your hand after reaching versus where you expected it to be). Individuals with low vision experience challenges with visuomotor control, but whether they also experience challenges with implicit adaptation is unknown. To explore this question, we assessed individuals with low vision and matched controls with normal vision on a visuomotor task designed to isolate implicit adaptation. We found that low vision was associated with attenuated implicit adaptation only for small visual errors, but not large visual errors. This result not only underscores an unappreciated motor learning impairment associated with low vision, but also highlights an important constraint on how low-fidelity visual information is processed by the nervous system to enable successful implicit adaptation. New and Noteworthy Whether implicit adaptation is also impacted by visual uncertainty intrinsic to the nervous system remains unknown. To test this, we examined 20 people who live with visual uncertainty in daily life due to low vision on a visuomotor task that isolates implicit adaptation. We found that low vision attenuates adaptation in response to small errors only, paving the way for new developments in rehabilitation and assistive devices for individuals with sensory impairments.
Measurement of instability in multi-level MRP systems

Many researchers have addressed the issue of nervousness in schedules. Experimental studies dealing with this issue have focused mainly on single-level material requirements planning (MRP) systems and/or have been conducted under deterministic demand conditions. In these studies, nervousness is measured using various methods, in terms either of the frequency or the magnitude of changes in order quantity. The methods used in these studies were suitable for the particular operating environments that were being considered. Recently, a number of studies have been reported that evaluated schedule nervousness under more realistic conditions, such as in multi-level MRP systems under uncertain demand conditions. These studies have adopted some of the existing methods for measuring system nervousness. However, these methods do not capture all aspects of instability in multi-level MRP systems under uncertain demand conditions. In this article, we discuss the shortcomings of existing methods for measuring schedule n.
Design of Adaptive Distributed Secondary Control Using Double-Hidden-Layer Recurrent-Neural-Network-Inherited Total-Sliding-Mode Scheme for Islanded Micro-Grid

This study proposes an adaptive double-hidden-layer recurrent-neural-network (DRNN)-based distributed secondary control (ADRNN-SC) scheme for the voltage restoration and the optimal active power sharing in an islanded micro-grid (MG). Based on the dynamic model composed of MG network model and primary control, a total-sliding-mode (TSMC)-based distributed secondary control (TSMC-SC) scheme is firstly developed for the properties of fast convergence and overall robustness during the control process, where the issues of voltage restoration and optimal active power sharing are converted to local-neighborhood synchronization and tracking problems. Meanwhile, focused on the problems of the control chattering phenomenon and the model dependence, a model-free DRNN structure is used to mimic the designed TSMC-SC law and to inherit its robust performance. The double-hidden-layer neural network (NN) in the DRNN structure needs less neuron nodes than the one with a single hidden layer at the same control performance because of its strong presentation ability. Thus, the computational complexity of the proposed ADRNN-SC scheme can be reduced. Moreover, the recurrent loop in the DRNN structure delivers the feedback signals of the output layer to the input layer, which possesses associative memory and accelerates the convergence process. Therefore, the DRNN structure can engage with a strong approximation ability and superior dynamic performance. In addition, the network parameters are online tuned adaptively to enhance the network learning ability. Furthermore, based on the small-signal model of the proposed control method embedded with communication delays, the delay margin and the influence of control parameters are also investigated. The effectiveness of the proposed control method is verified by numerical simulations.
A Single Intranasal Dose of Bacterial Therapeutics to Calves Confers Longitudinal Modulation of the Nasopharyngeal Microbiota: a Pilot Study

Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) remains the most significant health challenge affecting the North American beef cattle industry and results in $3 billion in economic losses yearly. Current BRD control strategies mainly rely on antibiotics, with metaphylaxis commonly employed to mitigate BRD incidence in commercial feedlots. ABSTRACT To address the emergence of antimicrobial-resistant pathogens in livestock, microbiome-based strategies are increasingly being sought to reduce antimicrobial use. Here, we describe the effects of intranasal application of bacterial therapeutics (BTs) on the bovine respiratory microbiota and used structural equation modeling to investigate the causal networks after BT application. Beef cattle received (i) an intranasal cocktail of previously characterized BT strains, (ii) an injection of metaphylactic antimicrobial (tulathromycin), or (iii) intranasal saline. Despite being transient colonizers, inoculated BT strains induced longitudinal modulation of the nasopharyngeal bacterial microbiota while showing no adverse effect on animal health. The BT-mediated changes in bacteria included reduced diversity and richness and strengthened cooperative and competitive interactions. In contrast, tulathromycin increased bacterial diversity and antibiotic resistance and disrupted bacterial interactions. Overall, a single intranasal dose of BTs can modulate the bovine respiratory microbiota, highlighting that microbiome-based strategies have potential in being utilized to mitigate bovine respiratory disease in feedlot cattle. IMPORTANCE Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) remains the most significant health challenge affecting the North American beef cattle industry and results in $3 billion in economic losses yearly. Current BRD control strategies mainly rely on antibiotics, with metaphylaxis commonly employed to mitigate BRD incidence in commercial feedlots. However, the emergence of multidrug-resistant BRD pathogens threatens to reduce the efficacy of antimicrobials. Here, we investigated the potential use of novel bacterial therapeutics (BTs) to modulate the nasopharyngeal microbiota in beef calves, which are commonly administered metaphylactic antibiotics to mitigate BRD when sourced from auction markets. By direct comparison of the BTs with an antibiotic commonly used for BRD metaphylaxis in feedlots, this study conveyed the potential use of the BTs to modulate respiratory microbiome and thereby improve resistance against BRD in feedlot cattle.
Secondary Trauma and Related Concepts in Psychologists: A Systematic Review

ABSTRACT Secondary trauma, which is also often referred to as secondary traumatic stress, vicarious traumatization, and compassion fatigue are the negative consequences that occur when an individual hears about the traumatic experiences of another person. Certain professions who are exposed to hearing about traumatic experiences are at an increased risk of these difficulties. Psychologists are one such group, and the aim of the current systematic review was to investigate the prevalence of and variables associated with these concepts in psychologists. The following databases were searched as part of the review: PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, Embase, MEDLINE, and Web of Science. Inclusion criteria required that psychologists were qualified and involved in therapeutic work. Eight articles were extracted for narrative synthesis. The articles indicated that psychologists are not typically meeting the clinical threshold for the various concepts of interest, although a single representative figure could not be determined for this cohort. Potential reasons for this are discussed. An exception to this finding was observed for psychologists working directly with trauma, as difficulties resulting from the concepts of interest were indicated within this cohort. A key finding was the paucity of research that exists on this topic. Limitations and implications of the findings are outlined.
Assessing short and long‐term variations in diversity, timing and body condition of frugivorous birds

Seed dispersal by frugivorous bird species involves a fine temporal tuning between fruiting plants and birds. However, this interaction may be severely threatened by anthropogenic climate and land-use change, which may result in phenological mismatches and pervasive ecological consequences for avian communities. In this study, we evaluate changes at long (~40 years) and short-time (seasonal) spans in an avian frugivore community using a snapshot resampling. Particularly, we focus on changes in composition, abundance, migratory timing (i.e. phenology) and physical condition in relation to variations in fruit supply. We used bird and fruit data collected during 1981–1983 and 2019–2021 in a Mediterranean scrubland site in Doñana Natural Area, SW Spain. Our findings indicate a profound transformation of species composition, bird phenology and body condition: in ~40 years, the avian community showed a 66% and 18.4% decrease of the abundance of wintering and seed-disperser species, respectively. Seasonal abundance peaks were advanced for at least one month in the 9 out of 11 frugivorous bird species included in the analyses. Avian body condition during the migratory passage has worsened, with fewer individuals showing a high-fat percentage now than in the past. Finally, we report a fruit production decrease of almost half in 2019–2021 compared to 1981–1983, probably linked to habitat encroachment by pine trees and replacement of fleshy-fruited shrubs. Vegetation encroachment and climate change are the most plausible explanations for the observed changes in the avian community, but the relative importance of these factors is yet unknown. Our results at a local scale mirror the dramatic consequences of global change affecting the diversity, phenology and physical condition of frugivorous bird species reported in multiple studies across the globe. The loss of frugivores may trigger feedback mechanisms in which seed dispersal is disrupted, leading to impaired recruitment of fruiting plants and hence less food availability for the avian community. test, p = 0.05). Additionally, seed-disperser species also showed more negative shifts than expected (20 of 28 seed-dispersers, p = 0.01). Point shapes correspond to migratory categories, while colours distinguish between seed disperser (SD, n = 28) and non-seed disperser birds (NSD, n = 4).