Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The effects of sacubitril/valsartan and ramipril on the male fertility in hypertensive rats

OBJECTIVE: Renin angiotensinogen system (RAS) inhibitors, ramipril and sacubitril/valsartan are frequently used in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Although they are known as contraindicated during pregnancy in hypertensive women, there is not any outcome of their safety in male fertility after exposure to ramipril or sacubitril/valsartan. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effects of ramipril and sacubitril/valsartan to highlight their safety in the male fertility in normotensive and hypertensive rats. METHODS: Adult male normotensive and dexamethasone-induced hypertensive rats were treated with sacubitril/valsartan, ramipril and saline for 18 days. Arterial blood pressures were verified using carotid artery cannulation. Male fertility parameters, including the testis weights, histopathologic scoring of the testis, sperm count, sperm motility, morphology, and serum testosterone levels, were analyzed in treated and nontreated normotensive/hypertensive rats. RESULTS: Sacubitril/valsartan or ramipril treatments did not reveal a significant difference in sperm production, testicular morphology, and radioimmunoassay of serum testosterone levels compared to the control group. However, sperm motility was significantly reduced in rats under RAS inhibition. CONCLUSION: This finding was likely mediated by the identification of Ang receptors in the tails of rat sperm given that Ang receptors may play a role in the modulation of sperm motility. Identification of RAS-related proteins involved in sperm motility may help to explain their roles in motility. Our data provide general safety evidence for the male fertilization ability after paternal sacubitril/valsartan and ramipril exposure.
Gradient Adsorption of Methylene Blue and Crystal Violet onto Compound Microporous Silica from Aqueous Medium

Microporous silica (MS) materials are a kind of an emerging and promising adsorbent precursor. MS prepared from vermiculite has the advantages of easy preparation, low cost, and low layer charge. In this study, organo-MS (OMS) modified by a typical gemini surfactant 1,2-bis(hexadecyldimethylammonio)ethane dibromide (G16) is first synthesized and proved to have effective retention capacity toward cationic dyes. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, TG-DTG, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller are used to explore the structural characters of adsorbents. Gradient adsorption of compound MS (MS and OMS) in a binary dye system [methylene blue (MB) and crystal violet (CV)] was investigated. In a single system, the relationship between the adsorption capacity and influencing factors (dye concentration, contact time, temperature, and pH), adsorption kinetics, isotherms, as well as thermodynamics was comprehensively compared to reveal the adsorption mechanism. The adsorption values of MB and CV on MS and OMS are 308 mg g–1 (R = 77.0%, 15 min) and 250 mg g–1 (R = 83.3%), respectively, which may be caused by various intermolecular interactions (electrostatic or hydrophobic interactions) between the dye and adsorbent surface. In a binary system, the improved first spectroscopy method is used to calculate the individual concentration of the dye in the binary system. The total removal efficiency of gradient adsorption reaches as high as 89.5% (MB) and 86.4% (CV). In addition, compound MS can be effectively regenerated by HCl solution for several cycles.
A comparative analysis of the COVID-19 pandemic response: The case of Turkey

OBJECTIVE: COVID-19 has spread worldwide and leads to an increased risk of mortality. We aimed to analyze what actions have been effective in fighting COVID-19 in Turkey with a comparison to pandemic-affected countries. METHODS: This was a retrospective observational cross-sectional study. The Republic of Turkey Ministry of Health official web page includes data reported daily from 11 March to 26 April. Global COVID-19 data were recorded daily from https://www.worldometers. info/coronavirus/country/. Data were analyzed for 31 days according to Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admission, intubation and mortality rates. Segmented regression analysis was used. The results from COVID-19-affected countries were compared with the results from Turkey for the first 65 days. RESULTS: In total, 889.742 tests were performed (positive=110.130 [12.37%]). The mortality rate was 2.55% (n=2805) on 27 April 2020. The annual percent change (APC) values of the cases showed 5 segments ([23.1], [14.7] [11.4], [3.7], [0.7]; each p=0.001). ICU admission showed 4 segments (APC: [3.1, p=0.001], [-2.2, p=0.10], [-7.6, p=0.001], [-4.5, p=0.001]). The decline of APC for intubation rates showed 5 segments (APC: [1.1, p=0.10], [-1.1,p=0.001], [-2.0, p=0.001], [-0.4, p=0.40], [-2.7, p=0.001]). The mortality rates showed 4 segments (APC: [-6.3, p=0.001], [8.4, p=0.001], [0.2, p=0.30], [1.4, p=0.001]). Deaths were reported per 1 million individuals for the first 65 days: Spain 11.6%, Italy 11.4%, UK 11.3%, France 11.1%, USA 10.3%, Germany 8.4%, Iran 8.2%, Turkey 7.5%, South Korea 4.1% and China 2.4%. CONCLUSION: Public health policies and protocols to combat COVID-19 helped control the spread and decrease positive cases and mortality rates in Turkey. Turkey managed COVID-19 better than Spain, Italy, UK, France, USA and Turkey managed COVID-19 similarly to Germany and Iran. China and South Korea were best at managing COVID-19.
‘This is the plan’: mature women’s vocational education choices and decisions about Honours degrees

ABSTRACT This paper discusses a piece of qualitative research that explored the narratives of a group of mature women when they discussed influences on their post-16 educational decisions. This encompasses their initial vocational education and training (VET) and their choice to study higher education (HE) programmes in England. The research draws on Nancy Fraser’s dual-perspectival notion of social justice to analyse how gender may have affected their educational choices. The research also explores some of the tension experienced in feminist research practice. Data collection was undertaken primarily via semi-structured individual interviews with six female Foundation degree graduates who decided to study an Honours top-up degree. In addition, a research journal was also used to explore a feminist standpoint approach and the research relationships. A thematic analysis of the data found that gender plays a crucial and complicated role in vocational choices. The findings also highlight that although VET is not a second choice, the low pay and misrecognition of ‘pink collar’ work leads the women into HE study. HE is used to gain credibility and employment security. The research concludes that top-up degrees offer the women individualised solutions to the low status and economic precarity vocational education provides.
Transcriptional priming as a conserved mechanism of lineage diversification in the developing mouse and human neocortex

Mouse and human cortical progenitors share marked similarities; crucial differences instruct species-specific differentiation. How the rich variety of neurons in the nervous system arises from neural stem cells is not well understood. Using single-cell RNA-sequencing and in vivo confirmation, we uncover previously unrecognized neural stem and progenitor cell diversity within the fetal mouse and human neocortex, including multiple types of radial glia and intermediate progenitors. We also observed that transcriptional priming underlies the diversification of a subset of ventricular radial glial cells in both species; genetic fate mapping confirms that the primed radial glial cells generate specific types of basal progenitors and neurons. The different precursor lineages therefore diversify streams of cell production in the developing murine and human neocortex. These data show that transcriptional priming is likely a conserved mechanism of mammalian neural precursor lineage specialization.
Dynamic light scattering imaging

Nature of red blood cell dynamics and light scattering interactions unraveled to accurately probe cerebral blood flow. We introduce dynamic light scattering imaging (DLSI) to enable the wide-field measurement of the speckle temporal intensity autocorrelation function. DLSI uses the full temporal sampling of speckle fluctuations and a comprehensive model to identify the dynamic scattering regime and obtain a quantitative image of the scatterer dynamics. It reveals errors in the traditional theory of laser Doppler flowmetry and laser speckle contrast imaging and provides guidance on the best model to use in cerebral blood flow imaging.
The mammalian circadian pacemaker regulates wakefulness via CRF neurons in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus

A hypothalamic neuronal circuit mediates circadian-regulated wakefulness in mice. In mammals, the daily rhythms of physiological functions are timed by the central circadian clock located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the hypothalamus. Although the importance of the SCN for the regulation of sleep/wakefulness has been suggested, little is known about the neuronal projections from the SCN, which regulate sleep/wakefulness. Here, we show that corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) neurons in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus mediate circadian rhythms in the SCN and regulate wakefulness. Optogenetic activation of CRF neurons promoted wakefulness through orexin/hypocretin neurons in the lateral hypothalamus. In vivo Ca2+ recording showed that CRF neurons were active at the initiation of wakefulness. Furthermore, chemogenetic suppression and ablation of CRF neurons decreased locomotor activity and time in wakefulness. Last, a combination of optical manipulation and Ca2+ imaging revealed that neuronal activity of CRF neurons was negatively regulated by GABAergic neurons in the SCN. Our findings provide notable insights into circadian regulation of sleep/wakefulness in mammals.
Sex- and Age-Specific Effects are Superimposed on Seasonal Variation in Mite Parasitism in Eastern Fence Lizards (Sceloporus undulatus)

Abstract. The natural histories of parasites and their hosts are intertwined, and intensity of parasitism depends on parasite abundance and host behavior as well as potential effects of sex/age. To characterize potential effects of parasite abundance and host sex/ age on chigger mite (Eutrombicula alfreddugesi) ectoparasitism on Eastern Fence Lizards (Sceloporus undulatus), we measured 1) the abundance of mites in the environment as well as mite load and prevalence on lizards throughout the activity season, 2) sex- and age-specific patterns of ectoparasitism, and 3) week-to-week consistency of mite loads on lizards. Environmental mite abundance varied seasonally in close association with mean monthly temperatures and was the main driver of pronounced seasonal variation in mite loads on lizards. Mite loads were almost always higher on yearlings than on adults and, somewhat unexpectedly, were never higher on adult males than any of the other age-sex classes. As adults, females had higher mite loads than did males in June–July, but as yearlings, males had higher mite loads than did females in July–September. Despite considerable week-to-week variation, rank-ordering of lizard mite loads was highly consistent. These findings indicate that 1) consistent, age-specific sex biases are superimposed on strong seasonal variation in mite loads, and 2) detrimental effects of mites are expected to be consistently stronger in some individuals than in others.
Biodiversity enhances the multitrophic control of arthropod herbivory

Increasing plant diversity controls herbivory by limiting energetic gains and enhancing predation of arthropod herbivores. Arthropod herbivores cause substantial economic costs that drive an increasing need to develop environmentally sustainable approaches to herbivore control. Increasing plant diversity is expected to limit herbivory by altering plant-herbivore and predator-herbivore interactions, but the simultaneous influence of these interactions on herbivore impacts remains unexplored. We compiled 487 arthropod food webs in two long-running grassland biodiversity experiments in Europe and North America to investigate whether and how increasing plant diversity can reduce the impacts of herbivores on plants. We show that plants lose just under half as much energy to arthropod herbivores when in high-diversity mixtures versus monocultures and reveal that plant diversity decreases effects of herbivores on plants by simultaneously benefiting predators and reducing average herbivore food quality. These findings demonstrate that conserving plant diversity is crucial for maintaining interactions in food webs that provide natural control of herbivore pests.
Magnetizing lead-free halide double perovskites

Alloying magnetic ions into halide double perovskites brings new opportunities for spintronics. Spintronics holds great potential for next-generation high-speed and low–power consumption information technology. Recently, lead halide perovskites (LHPs), which have gained great success in optoelectronics, also show interesting magnetic properties. However, the spin-related properties in LHPs originate from the spin-orbit coupling of Pb, limiting further development of these materials in spintronics. Here, we demonstrate a new generation of halide perovskites, by alloying magnetic elements into optoelectronic double perovskites, which provide rich chemical and structural diversities to host different magnetic elements. In our iron-alloyed double perovskite, Cs2Ag(Bi:Fe)Br6, Fe3+ replaces Bi3+ and forms FeBr6 clusters that homogenously distribute throughout the double perovskite crystals. We observe a strong temperature-dependent magnetic response at temperatures below 30 K, which is tentatively attributed to a weak ferromagnetic or antiferromagnetic response from localized regions. We anticipate that this work will stimulate future efforts in exploring this simple yet efficient approach to develop new spintronic materials based on lead-free double perovskites.
Carcinogen Switching NQO1 Gene Polymorphism Study to Find Out the Risk Population in Vindhyan Region

The NQO1 is an important carcinogen metabolizing gene, as responsible for the metabolism of highly ubiquitous environmental carcinogen like Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) which is also the most lethal constituent of cigarette smoke. The genotype and allelic frequencies of three Polycyclic aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) metabolizing genes were determined in a sample of typical population, which were stratified into three groups (Hindu, Muslim and Tribal) based on their ethnicity. DTdiphorase is an enzyme which has known because of its ability to detoxify a number of natural and Synthetic Compounds and also to activate certain anticancer factors [1]. Among Northern Europeans and Caucasian Americans, the gene frequency is 0.79 for the wild-type allele and 0.21 for the mutated allele [2,3]. DT-diphorase (NQO1) converts toxic benzoquinone into hydroquinone in an obligate two electron reduction [4].
Dynamic Android Malware Analysis with De-Identification of Personal Identifiable Information

The rapid performance improvement and versatility of Android smartphone make people's lives more and more dependent on it. Not only making smartphone carry more personal privacy information, but also making it a target for hackers. Many security-prevent tools collect application information from smartphones for application analysis, but this information may cause privacy concerns. This paper proposes a system called ShadowDroid, which uses dynamic analysis technology for Android applications. ShadowDroid establishes a VPN on the smartphone to intercept all the network traffic to collect the data needed for analysis. At the same time, through the method of string matching to find out the private information from the data, and then de-identify it to make sure that the uploaded analysis data does not contain any personal identifiable information. ShadowDroid classifies malicious applications into three types: spyware, botware, and ransomware. Knowing the type of malicious application allows users to find the right response strategy. In addition, for malicious applications that mix multiple malicious behaviors, ShadowDroid calculates the similarity between the uploaded analytical data and the standard feature set of each type, thereby helping the user to determine which malicious behaviors the malicious application may contain. The experiment confirmed that the accuracy of the classification result of ShadowDroid without the privacy information leakage of smartphone users is 90%, only slightly lower than the accuracy of 92% of [1].
Mutagenesis and homology modeling reveal a predicted pocket of lysophosphatidylcholine acyltransferase 2 to catch Acyl-CoA

Platelet-activating factor (PAF) is a potent proinflammatory phospholipid mediator that elicits various cellular functions and promotes several pathological conditions, including anaphylaxis and neuropathic pain. PAF is biosynthesized by two types of lyso-PAF acetyltransferases: lysophosphatidylcholine acyltransferase 1 (LPCAT1) and LPCAT2, which are constitutive and inducible forms of lyso-PAF acetyltransferase, respectively. Because LPCAT2 mainly produces PAF under inflammatory conditions, understanding the structure of LPCAT2 is important for developing specific drugs against PAF-related inflammatory diseases. Although the structure of LPCAT2 has not been determined, the crystal structure was reported for Thermotoga maritima PlsC, an enzyme in the same enzyme family as LPCAT2. In this study, we identified residues in mouse LPCAT2 essential for its enzymatic activity and a potential acyl-coenzyme A (CoA)-binding pocket, based on homology modeling of mouse LPCAT2 with PlsC. We also found that Ala115 of mouse LPCAT2 was important for acyl-CoA selectivity. In conclusion, these results predict the structure of mouse LPCAT2. Our findings have implications for the future development of new drugs against PAF-related diseases.
Triblock copolymer micelle model of spherical paraspeckles

Paraspeckles are nuclear bodies composed of architectural RNA (arcRNA) and RNA-binding proteins. In the wild type, the blocks at the two terminal regions of arcRNAs compose the shell of paraspeckles and the middle region between the two terminal blocks composes the core, analogous to micelles of ABC triblock copolymers. We here use an extension of the theory of polymer micelles to predict the structure and size of paraspeckles as one decreases the length of one of the terminal blocks of arcRNA by CRISPR/Cas9, assuming that paraspeckles are spherical. Our theory predicts that when the length of the edited terminal blocks is larger than a critical value, paraspeckles show discontinuous transitions between the structure in which all the edited terminal blocks are localized in the shell and the structure in which all the edited terminal blocks are localized in the core at a threshold value of the transcription rate of arcRNA. In contrast, when the length of the edited terminal blocks is smaller than the critical value, the population of edited terminal blocks in the shell decreases continuously as one increases the transcription rate of arcRNA. The size of paraspeckles increases as one decreases the length of the edited terminal blocks. These predictions are consistent with our experiments.
A biophysical limit for quorum sensing in biofilms

Significance Biofilms are a ubiquitous form of bacterial community. Within biofilms, bacteria communicate via chemical signals in a process called quorum sensing (QS). However, if signal production is nutrient-limited, then the nutrient-deficient interior of a biofilm cannot contribute to QS, which limits the ability of bacteria to assess their own population and behave accordingly. Numerical simulations of competitions among biofilm bacteria led us to discover a biophysical limit on the efficacy of nutrient-limited QS. In view of this limit, we conclude that to be most effective QS signal production should be a prized function that is not metabolically slaved. Bacteria grow on surfaces in complex immobile communities known as biofilms, which are composed of cells embedded in an extracellular matrix. Within biofilms, bacteria often interact with members of their own species and cooperate or compete with members of other species via quorum sensing (QS). QS is a process by which microbes produce, secrete, and subsequently detect small molecules called autoinducers (AIs) to assess their local population density. We explore the competitive advantage of QS through agent-based simulations of a spatial model in which colony expansion via extracellular matrix production provides greater access to a limiting diffusible nutrient. We note a significant difference in results based on whether AI production is constitutive or limited by nutrient availability: If AI production is constitutive, simple QS-based matrix-production strategies can be far superior to any fixed strategy. However, if AI production is limited by nutrient availability, QS-based strategies fail to provide a significant advantage over fixed strategies. To explain this dichotomy, we derive a biophysical limit for the dynamic range of nutrient-limited AI concentrations in biofilms. This range is remarkably small (less than 10-fold) for the realistic case in which a growth-limiting diffusible nutrient is taken up within a narrow active growth layer. This biophysical limit implies that for QS to be most effective in biofilms AI production should be a protected function not directly tied to metabolism.
Elucidating dynamics and regulation of alternative splicing in osteogenic differentiation

Nearly all human multi-exonic genes undergo alternative splicing (AS) via regulation by RNA-binding proteins (RBPs), but few studies have examined the temporal dynamics of AS and its regulation during cell differentiation in the bone niche. We sought to evaluate how AS, under the control of RBPs, affects cell fate commitment during induced osteogenic differentiation of human bone marrow-derived multipotent stem/stromal progenitor cells (MSPCs). We generated a time-course RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) dataset representative of induced MSPC differentiation to osteoblasts. Our analysis revealed widespread AS changes, coordinated with differential RBP expression, at multiple time points, including many AS changes in non-differentially expressed genes. We also developed a computational approach to profile the dynamics and regulation of AS by RBPs using time-course RNA-seq data, by combining temporal patterns of exon skipping and RBP expression with RBP binding sites in the vicinity of regulated exons. In total we identified nine RBPs as potential key splicing regulators during MSPC osteogenic differentiation. Perturbation of one candidate, KHDRBS3, inhibited osteogenesis and bone formation in vitro, validating our computational prediction of “driver” RBPs. Overall, our work highlights a high degree of complexity in the splicing regulation of MSPC osteogenic differentiation. Our computational approach may be applied to other time-course data to explore dynamic AS changes and associated regulatory mechanisms in other biological processes or disease trajectories.