Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Stem starch reserves studied by on-solid reactions coupled with reflectance detections in water stressed grapevines

Wine grape is usually grown under water deficit conditions that could negatively impact plant reserves, including the organic carbon storage in perennial organs such as woody stems. Assessing the carbohydrate status in woody organs is therefore of interest as it can influence vegetative growth in the successive season. In this study, we aimed to apply an on-solid colour reaction (using Lugol's iodine solution) coupled with reflectance spectroscopy detection to assess the grapevine canes' starch accumulation in response to short drought periods. We used two Vitis vinifera cultivars ('Cabernet Sauvignon' and 'Syrah') that were subjected to three different water conditions (well-watered; early water stress; late water stress) during the growing season as case study. We sampled woody stem tissue during winter rest. The results showed that water stress reduced the starch storage in 'Syrah', especially when imposed late and recovery time was not enough for carbon restoration, while 'Cabernet Sauvignon' was not affected. The results showed that the sensitivity of the method used here is adequate to assess starch accumulation differences due to drought treatments in grapevine canes. Moreover, the analytical approach appears fast, low cost, and promising for future physiological and agronomical research applications.
Cryopreservation of in vitro-produced bovine embryos by vitrification: In pursuit of a simplified, standardized procedure that improves pregnancy rates to promote cattle industry use

The goal of cryopreservation is to retain the original stage of gametes and embryos after they have endured cooling and warming. Slow freezing is a standard method for in vivo-derived bovine embryo cryopreservation, threefifths of such embryos being frozen by this method globally. However, it is evident that slow freezing is not efficient for cryopreserving in vitro-produced bovine embryos. Hence, only one-third of in vitro-produced bovine embryos are cryopreserved. Vitrification is a preferred method for storage of human embryos; consequently, it has been explored as a novel means to store in vitro-produced bovine embryos, for which it shows considerable promise as an alternative to slow freezing. This is due to several reasons: vitrification is often less time-consuming than slow freezing; it does not need expensive slow rate freezing machines; and it has been proven to have comparatively higher survival rates. Yet, in the cattle industry vitrification continues to present shortcomings, such as possible toxicity of vitrification solutions and failure to standardize methods, which pose a challenge for its application to in vitro-produced bovine embryos. Therefore, determining the most suitable procedure is crucial to make vitrification more practical in commercial settings.
Temperament profile and its association with the vulnerability to smartphone addiction of medical students in Indonesia

Temperament profiles of an individual with high novelty seeking and low harm avoidance have been reported to be related to substance addiction, but smartphone addiction could be different from substance addiction. Medical students have high exposure to smartphone use. Screening their risk of smartphone addiction based on the temperament profile may help in deciding best prevention approach. This research aimed to examine the temperament profile and its association with vulnerability to smartphone addiction of medical students in Jakarta, Indonesia. The research was conducted with cross sectional design and simple random sampling. The Temperament and Character Inventory and the Smartphone Addiction Scale were used to measure desired outcomes. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the relationship between demographic factors, pattern of smartphone use, temperament type, and vulnerability to smartphone addiction. Of the 185 samples, most subjects have low novelty seeking, high reward dependence, and high harm avoidance. The average smartphone usage in a day was 7.94 hours (SD 3.92) with the initial age of smartphone usage was 7.58 years (SD 2.43). The respondents used smartphone for communication and accessing social media. High harm avoidance temperament was significantly associated with risk of smartphone addiction with OR 2.035; 95% CI 1.119 to 3.701). This study shows that smartphone addiction has similarities with other behavior addictions. Harm avoidance temperament is associated with the risk of smartphone addiction. Screening on risk of smartphone addiction based on temperament type should be done on medical students.
The complete chloroplast genome of Populus xiangchengensis, an endemic species in Southwest China

Abstract The complete chloroplast genome sequence of Populus xiangchengensis C. Wang et Tung, an endemic species in southwest China, is presented in this study. The total genome size is 156,465 bp, with a typical quadripartite structure including a pair of inverted repeat (IRs, 27,570 bp) regions separated by a large single copy (LSC, 84,812 bp) region and a small single copy (SSC, 16,513 bp) region. The overall GC content of P. xiangchengensis plastid genome is 36.74%. The genome contains 130 genes, including 85 protein-coding genes, 37 transfer RNA genes, and eight ribosomal RNA genes. Among these genes, 12 genes have one intron and three genes contain two introns. The phylogenetic tree based on 26 complete plastomes of Salicaceae support close relationships among P. xiangchengensis, P. cathayana, and P. szechuanica.
Maternal Stress and Offspring Lifelong Labor Market Outcomes

This paper examines the effects of in-utero exposure to stress on lifelong labor market outcomes. We exploit a unique natural experiment that involved randomly placed Nazi raids on municipalities in Italy during WWII. We use administrative data on the universe of private sector workers in Italy and link this data to unique historical data with detailed information about war casualties and Nazi raids across space (Municipality) and time. We find that prenatal stress exposure leads to lower wage earnings when workers start their career, and that this effect persists until retirement. The earnings penalty is in large part due to the type of job that people hold and interruptions in their working career due to unemployment. We further show that workers exposed to in-utero stress face larger earnings reductions after job loss due to mass layoffs. This earnings loss deepens their relative disadvantage over time.
Anticipation of a serial transfer protocol through the evolution of fine-tuned growth dynamics

Experimental evolution of microbes often involves a serial transfer protocol with repeated dilutions and transfers to fresh media to start a new growth cycle. Here we study how in silico evolved Virtual Microbe “wild types” (WTs) adapt to such a protocol, study the generic evolutionary features, and investigate how these features depend on prior evolution. All WTs adopt a balance of growth and survival, therewith anticipating the regularity of the serial transfer. We find that this anticipation can happen by means of a single lineage, or by coexisting lineages that specialise on either the growth phase or the stationary phase. Parallel experiments of the same WT show similar trajectories with respect to growth and yield, and similar biases towards diversification. In summary, all our in silico WTs show the same anticipation effects — fitting the periodicity of serial transfer protocol — but prior adaptations determines what solution is found by subsequent evolution.
Moringa leaf extracts as biostimulants-inducing salinity tolerance in the sweet basil plant

HORTICULTURE plants are constantly exposed to salinity problems during growing. Biostimulants from plants origin known to protect plants growth and improve their productivity within a varied conditions of salt stress. To investigate Moringa plants (Moringa oleifera, MO and Moringa peregrena, MP) activity as biostimulants, sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L. cv. cispum) plants grown with/or without salt stress were irrigated using aqueous leaf extracts from both species. Two hundred grams of fresh Moringa leaves were homogenized in one liter distilled water, filtered and the dilutions: 2.5%, 5.0%, 10% and 20% were made. In stressed basil, proline and malondialdehyde had increased then decreased significantly with both Moringa extracts, particularly with MP treatment. Compared to control basil, 10% was the best concentration that caused enlargements of basil leaf area by 60% during salt stress. On applying 10% MO and MP extracts to salt-stressed basil, growth parameters like shoot length were increased by 32% and 38%, shoot fresh weight by 50% and 109%, shoot dry weight by 123% and 84%, number of branches by 75% and 87%, root length by 40% and 63% and root dry weight by 142% and 225%, respectively. MO treatment led to a significant increase in anthocyanin, total carbohydrates and superoxide dismutase in basil. Alternatively, MP increased ascorbic acid oxidase actively in basil leaf. The varied chemical composition of Moringa species underlined the resistance strategies in basil. We hypothesized that the efficacy might even become much more potent on basil with the simultaneous irrigation using the two species of Moringa.
Activity of Piperaceae extracts and fractions in the control of Phytomonas serpens

EnglishProtozoa of the genus Phytomonas are harmful parasites to several agricultural crops of economic importance. Due to their recognized biological activity, crude extracts of Piper aduncum, P. crassinervium, P. hispidum, and P. amalago leaves, were tested using the microdilution plate technique to assess the antiparasitic potential against Phytomonas serpens. Results showed that the ethanolic crude extract of P. crassinervium and P. amalago presented the best inhibitory concentration for 50% of the cells (IC50), 16.5 µg mL-1 in chloroform phase, and 18 µg mL-1 in aqueous phase, respectively, after 48 h treatment. Cytotoxicity analyses were performed using the colorimetric method of sulforhodamine-B in LLCMK2 mammalian cells. The chloroform phase of P. crassinervium was subjected to the fractionation process, in which the ethyl acetate and dichloromethane fractions obtained better IC50 values. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images showed alterations in the cell membrane of the treated parasites. The data obtained indicate a potential antiparasitic effect of the Piper species analyzed against P. serpens, being considered promising candidates for formulations of bioproducts to control the parasite portuguesProtozoarios do genero Phytomonas sao parasitas prejudiciais a varias culturas agricolas de importância economica. Devido a sua atividade biologica reconhecida, extratos brutos de folhas de Piper aduncum, P. crassinervium, P. hispidum e P. amalago, foram testadas pela tecnica de microdiluicao em placa para avaliar o seu potencial antiparasitario contra Phytomonas serpens. Os resultados mostraram que o extrato bruto etanolico de P. crassinervium e P. amalago apresentaram as melhores concentracoes inibitorias para 50% das celulas (IC50), 16,5 µg mL-1 na fase cloroformio e 18 µg mL-1 na fase aquosa, respectivamente, apos 48 h de tratamento. Analises de citotoxicidade foram realizadas atraves do metodo colorimetrico da sulforodamina-B, em celulas de mamiferos LLCMK2. A fase cloroformio de P. crassinervium foi submetida ao processo de fracionamento, no qual as fracoes acetato de etila e diclorometano obtiveram melhores valores de IC50. Imagens de microscopia eletronica de varredura (MEV) mostraram alteracoes na membrana celular dos parasitas tratados com fase aquosa de P. amalago. Os dados obtidos indicam potencial efeito antiparasitario das especies de Piper analisadas contra P. serpens, sendo consideradas candidatas promissoras para formulacoes de bioprodutos para controle do parasito
A Comparative Study of Machine Learning Algorithms in Predicting Severe Complications after Bariatric Surgery

Accurate models to predict severe postoperative complications could be of value in the preoperative assessment of potential candidates for bariatric surgery. Traditional statistical methods have so far failed to produce high accuracy. To find a useful algorithm to predict the risk for severe complication after bariatric surgery, we trained and compared 29 supervised machine learning (ML) algorithms using information from 37,811 patients operated with a bariatric surgical procedure between 2010 and 2014 in Sweden. The algorithms were then tested on 6,250 patients operated in 2015. Most ML algorithms showed high accuracy (>90%) and specificity (>0.9) in both the training and test data. However, none achieved an acceptable sensitivity in the test data. ML methods may improve accuracy of prediction but we did not yet identify one with a high enough sensitivity that can be used in clinical praxis in bariatric surgery. Further investigation on deeper neural network algorithms is needed.
Distinguishing initiation from maintenance in the Integrated Behavior Change Model

Most lifestyle interventions fail at instilling behavioral maintenance. This is likely a result of interventions being based on suboptimal theories, the majority of which focus exclusively on determinants of behavioral intentions. These theories and interventions based on them are limited in their ability to explain and promote, respectively, behavioral initiation and maintenance. First, fewer than 50% of people translate their intentions into behavior; second, only mechanisms of initiation are specified while mechanisms of maintenance are neglected. Thus, more basic, theoretical work regarding mechanisms of behavioral initiation (i.e. moderators of the intention-behavior relationship) and maintenance is required to advance health practices. The purpose of the present line of research was to (1) evaluate a contemporary theoretical framework—the Integrated Behavior Change Model (IBCM)—that claims to better account for behavioral initiation, which requires more research evidence; and (2) to propose and test the utility of an extension to the IBCM to more fully account for mechanisms of behavioral maintenance, within the context of exercise. A secondary purpose of the present study was to test whether mechanisms of behavioral engagement vary for people who are just starting to exercise (i.e., initiators) versus those who have been exercising from some time (i.e., maintainers). Results supported hypotheses that the original IBCM would be more relevant for initiators versus maintainers, but counter to hypotheses, the ICBM did not do a better job at predicting behavior than its theoretical predecessor the Theory of Planned Behavior. Assessment of the extension of the IBCM with maintainers revealed that identity was a stronger predictor of behavior than habit and that identity was particularly important when people’s routines varied from day-to-day, as expected. These results highlight the continued need for theoretical refinement and development in the field of Health Psychology applied to behavior change interventions.
Association between the prolificacy of Romanovsheep breed and fecundity gene, growthdifferentiation factor 9 gene andprolactin gene genotypes

Prolificacy data of Romanov sheep breed were retrieved from Sekhra Station (Jordan) through five parities. The data were used for studying the effect of Fecundity (FecB), Growth Differentiation Factor 9 (GDF9) and Prolactin genes on the prolificacy of Romanov ewes. GDF9, FecB and Prolactin genes genotypes were investigated in Romanov ewes by using the PCRRFLP technique. The Mixed Model of SAS software was used for analyzing the data. The different gene genotypes and the parity were inserted in the Model as fixed effects while the dams were inserted as Random. Fecundity gene was observed to be monomorphic, the wild type genotype of Fecundity gene was found in the Romanov ewes. Prolactin and GDF9 genes were observed to be polymorphic in Romanov. The results revealed non-significant differences in the prolificacy of the ewes that carry AA and BB of Prolactin gene genotypes. The GDF9 gene genotypes showed significant (P<0.0001) differences in prolificacy. The homozygous MM genotype ewes produced 0.792 more lambs born per lambing than the heterozygous NM genotype. Selection based on GDF9 mutation may help in improving the prolificacy of Romanov sheep.
Analysing linear multivariate pattern transformations in neuroimaging data

Most connectivity metrics in neuroimaging research reduce multivariate activity patterns in regions-of-interests (ROIs) to one dimension, which leads to a loss of information. Importantly, it prevents us from investigating the transformations between patterns in different ROIs. Here, we applied linear estimation theory in order to robustly estimate the linear transformations between multivariate fMRI patterns with a cross-validated Tikhonov regularisation approach. We derived three novel metrics that describe different features of these voxel-by-voxel mappings: goodness-of-fit, sparsity and pattern deformation. The goodness-of-fit describes the degree to which the patterns in an input region can be described as a linear transformation of patterns in an output region. The sparsity metric, which relies on a Monte Carlo procedure, was introduced in order to test whether the transformation mostly consists of one-to-one mappings between voxels in different regions. Furthermore, we defined a metric for pattern deformation, i.e. the degree to which the transformation rotates or rescales the input patterns. As a proof of concept, we applied these metrics to an event-related fMRI data set consisting of four subjects that has been used in previous studies. We focused on the transformations from early visual cortex (EVC) to inferior temporal cortex (ITC), fusiform face area (FFA) and parahippocampal place area (PPA). Our results suggest that the estimated linear mappings are able to explain a significant amount of variance of the three output ROIs. The transformation from EVC to ITC shows the highest goodness-of-fit, and those from EVC to FFA and PPA show the expected preference for faces and places as well as animate and inanimate objects, respectively. The pattern transformations are sparse, but sparsity is lower than would have been expected for one-to-one mappings, thus suggesting the presence of one-to-few voxel mappings. ITC, FFA and PPA patterns are not simple rotations of an EVC pattern, indicating that the corresponding transformations amplify or dampen certain dimensions of the input patterns. While our results are only based on a small number of subjects, they show that our pattern transformation metrics can describe novel aspects of multivariate functional connectivity in neuroimaging data.
Large-scale genome-wide association meta-analysis of endometriosis reveals 13 novel loci and genetically-associated comorbidity with other pain conditions

Endometriosis is a common complex inflammatory condition characterised by the presence of endometrium-like tissue outside the uterus, mainly in the pelvic area. It is associated with chronic pelvic pain and infertility, and its pathogenesis remains poorly understood. The disease is typically classified according to the revised American Fertility Society (rAFS) 4-stage surgical assessment system, although stage does not correlate well with symptomatology or prognosis. Previously identified genetic variants mainly are associated with stage III/IV disease, highlighting the need for further phenotype-stratified analysis that requires larger datasets. We conducted a meta-analysis of 15 genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and a replication analysis, including 58,115 cases and 733,480 controls in total, and sub-phenotype analyses of stage I/II, stage III/IV and infertility-associated endometriosis cases. This revealed 27 genetic loci associated with endometriosis at the genome-wide p-value threshold (P<5×10−8), 13 of which are novel and an additional 8 novel genes identified from gene-based association analyses. Of the 27 loci, 21 (78%) had greater effect sizes in stage III/IV disease compared to stage I/II, 1 (4%) had greater effect size in stage I/II compared to stage III/IV and 17 (63%) had greater effect sizes when restricted to infertility-associated endometriosis cases compared to overall endometriosis. These results suggest that specific variants may confer risk for different sub-types of endometriosis through distinct pathways. Analyses of genetic variants underlying different pain symptoms reported in the UK Biobank showed that 7/9 had positive significant (p<1.28×103) positive genetic correlations with endometriosis, suggesting a genetic basis for sensitivity to pain in general. Additional conditions with significant positive genetic correlations with endometriosis included uterine fibroids, excessive and irregular menstrual bleeding, osteoarthritis, diabetes as well as menstrual cycle length and age at menarche. These results provide a basis for fine-mapping of the causal variants at these 27 loci, and for functional follow-up to understand their contribution to endometriosis and its potential subtypes.
The A Allele of the Cholecystokinin Type A Receptor Gene g.420 C > A Polymorphism Improves Growth Traits in Amakusa Daioh Cross Chicken

Amakusa Daioh cross chickens are F1 hybrids of restored Amakusa Daioh sires and Kyushu Rhode dams. In the present study, the association between a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP; AB604331, g.420 C>A) in the cholecystokinin type A receptor gene and growth traits in Amakusa Daioh cross chicken were investigated. We used 72 male and 72 female birds that had hatched on the same day, were raised in the same chicken house, and were fed the same diet ad libitum from day 0 to 17 weeks (wks) of age. Body weight was recorded at weekly intervals and average daily gain of each week interval was calculated from body weight data. Birds were sacrificed at 17 wks and carcass traits were recorded. SNP genotyping was carried out using the mismatch amplification mutation assay. Associations between the SNP and growth traits were analyzed by a generalized linear model. Body weight from 6 to 17 wks was higher in birds with the A allele than in birds with the C allele, although significant differences in average daily gain traits between birds with A and C alleles were not detected during most of the duration of the experiment. Carcass data showed that birds with the A allele had heavier wings and a smaller proportion of the gizzard than those with the C allele. The g.420 C>A SNP will be useful as a selection marker for parent stock lines to increase the growth performance of Amakusa Daioh cross chickens.
Incidental alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency found in post-transplant liver allografts: Report of two cases

Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency is an autosomal recessive disease most commonly caused by misfolding of the Alpha-1-antitrypsin protein, which prevents its release from hepatocytes into the systemic circulation. This results in increased lifetime risk of liver and lung disease. Due to its variable penetrance, presentation and natural history, patients with alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency are often underdiagnosed. In this report, we present two cases of alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency in deceased-donor liver transplant allografts diagnosed post-transplant. There is currently no known adverse outcome directly linked to alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency in the immediate post-transplant follow-up period. Thus, these allografts should not be excluded from transplantation.