Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
HMGB1-mediated chromatin remodeling attenuates Il24 gene expression for the protection from allergic contact dermatitis

Significance High-mobility group box 1 protein (HMGB1) protein gained attention for its proinflammatory function in a number of pathological conditions, such as skin inflammation. In this study, a Cre/loxP-engineered mouse strain allowed for HMGB1 conditionally ablated in keratinocytes. When allergic contact dermatitis was induced in the HMGB1 mutant mice, skin inflammation was exacerbated in the mutant mice. Expression of interleukin-24 (IL-24), a proinflammatory cytokine associated to skin inflammatory disorders, was elevated in skin lesions of these mice. We also adduced evidence that that HMGB1 represses the binding of histone H3 (lys4) (H3K4me3) to the Il24 gene promoter in keratinocytes. Therefore, our study revealed a facet of nuclear HMGB1 that represses the Il24 gene for the suppression of allergic inflammatory skin disorders. Dysregulation of inflammatory cytokines in keratinocytes promote the pathogenesis of the skin inflammation, such as allergic contact dermatitis (ACD). High-mobility group box 1 protein (HMGB1) has been implicated in the promotion of skin inflammation upon its extracellular release as a damage-associated molecular pattern molecule. However, whether and how HMGB1 in keratinocytes contributes to ACD and other skin disorders remain elusive. In this study, we generated conditional knockout mice in which the Hmgb1 gene is specifically deleted in keratinocytes, and examined its role in ACD models. Interestingly, the mutant mice showed exacerbated skin inflammation, accompanied by increased ear thickening in 2,4-dinitrofluorobenezene-induced ACDs. The mRNA expression of interleukin-24 (IL-24), a cytokine known to critically contribute to ACD pathogenesis, was elevated in skin lesions of the mutant mice. As with constitutively expressed, IL-4–induced Il24 mRNA, expression was also augmented in the Hmgb1-deficient keratinocytes, which would account for the exacerbation of ACD in the mutant mice. Mechanistically, we observed an increased binding of trimethyl histone H3 (lys4) (H3K4me3), a hallmark of transcriptionally active genes, to the promoter region of the Il24 gene in the hmgb1-deficient cells. Thus, the nuclear HMGB1 is a critical “gate keeper” in that the dermal homeostasis is contingent to its function in chromatin remodeling. Our study revealed a facet of nuclear HMGB1, namely its antiinflammatory function in keratinocytes for the skin homeostasis.
Automated high-resolution structure analysis of plant root with a morphological image filtering algorithm

Background: Research on rice (Oryza sativa) roots requires the automatic analysis of root structure using image processing. It is challenging for a digital filter to identify the roots from the obscured and cluttered background, and to separate the primary roots from lateral roots. The original Frangi filter (FF), presented by Alejandro F. Frangi in 1998, is a low-pass filter dedicated to blood vessel image enhancement. Considering the similarity between vessels and roots, the FF is applied to identify the roots. However, the original FF only enhances the tube-like primary roots but erases the lateral roots. Hence, a new method is developed to meet the demands by simultaneously maintaining the primary and lateral morphological structure of roots. Result: In this work, a crucial part of the FF, Gaussian filtering, is redesigned to discriminate against the primary and lateral roots in a 2-D image. Inspired by the structure-awareness of the FF, an Improved Frangi Filtering Algorithm (IFFA) designed for plant roots is proposed. First, Multilevel image thresholding, connected-components labeling and width correction are used to optimize the resultant binary image. Then, to enhance the local structure, the truncated Gaussian kernel is modified resulting in more discernible lateral roots. Compared to the original FF and the Automatic Root Image Analysis (ARIA), a commercial software, IFFA is a faster and more accurate algorithm achieving an identification accuracy of 97.48%. Conclusion: IFFA is an effective 2-D filtering approach to enhance the roots of rice (Oryza sativa) for segmentation and further biological research. IFFA is faster than ARIA and the original FF, and IFFA’s accuracy outperforms its counterparts as per the Intersection Over Union (IOU) and Dice Similarity Coefficient (DSC) criteria.
Resonance oscillations of a drop (bubble) in a vibrating fluid

Abstract The paper deals with the resonance oscillations of a drop (bubble) surrounded by a fluid of different density in a container subjected to small amplitude vibrations in zero gravity conditions. The drop size is considered to be large in comparison with both the vibration amplitude and the thickness of viscous Stokes layers. The calculations for parametrically excited oscillations of the drop are carried out in the linear approximation, for inviscid and low viscous media, neglecting compressibility effects. The resonant oscillation is a doublet of neighbouring modes of eigen-oscillations of the drop, for which the sum of frequencies coincides with the frequency of the forced vibrations. This means that the basic state becomes unstable against quasi-periodic oscillations. The finite viscosity implies a finite threshold for the excitation of resonance. On the other hand, the viscosity plays a destabilizing role; at non-zero (even infinitesimal) viscosity the width of the instability frequency range turns out to be greater than in the case of inviscid fluids.
'Islands' in an island: multiscale effects of forest fragmentation on lowland forest birds in Taiwan

Intensive agricultural developments and increasing human population has caused severe lowland-forest loss and fragmentation in the western coastal plain in Taiwan over the past centuries. The goal of this study is to explore the multiscale impacts of forest fragmentation on species richness and community composition of lowland-forest birds in Taiwan. At a regional scale, Island Biogeography Theory was applied to examine area and isolation effects on species richness of lowland-forest birds using bird data derived from Breeding Bird Survey Taiwan in 2009 and 2010. I also investigate the differential responses of two functional groups (forest specialists and generalists) to area and isolation effects Furthermore, I examine the relative influences of environmental variables at regional, landscape and local scales on avian community indices and composition in northern Taiwan with a hierarchical multiscale approach. Finally, species vulnerable to forest fragmentation and the ecological traits associated with specie vulnerability to forest fragmentation were identified. Only forest specialist species responded to the regional-scale area and isolation effects. The species richness of forest specialists increased with the size of forest islands, and the community similarity of forest specialist species declined with increasing the distance from the sources of immigrants. Structurally isolated forests may not function as real habitat patches from the view of forest generalists because of their flexibility in utilizing the non-forest matrix. After accounting for the influences of environmental variables at other spatial scales, the regional-scale isolation effect still played a key role in determining avian community composition based on the
Effects of high-fat diet on the epithelial-mesenchymal transition of respiratory tract through the glyoxylic acid cycle of pulmonary microbes and the intervention of saturated hydrogen

Background High fat diet is extensively studied to be associated with trending metabolic diseases. In addition to type 2 diabetes and hypertension, high fat diet is strongly associated with asthma and other respiratory diseases among children however, the pathogenicity regarding these pulmonary diseases begs for extensive research. This study investigated the mechanism of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition of respiratory tract, induced by changes in lung microecology with the intake of high-fat diet. 80 five-week-old C57BL6/J male mice were randomly divided into normal control group, normal hydrogen group, high-fat group and high-fat hydrogen group, making 20 mice in each group. The weight of the mice were measured on weekly basis. 6 mice from each group were executed at every second week. Blood sample was collected for lipid testing, lung tissues were collected for 16SrRNA gene sequencing, HE staining, immunofluorescence and quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR). Results Compared with the normal diet group, mice on the high-fat diet group showed increased inflammatory cell infiltration, decreased expression of e-cadherin (E-cad) and increased expression of Twist. There were significant differences in the composition of bacteria in the lung, and the expression of isocitrate lyase (ICL) gene in Pseudomonas aeruginosa , Staphylococcus aureus and Acinetobacter baumannii , which were significantly associated with asthma were seen with a significant increasing trend. After the treatment of saturated hydrogen, the changes in lung microbial population, lung tissue infiltration of inflammatory cells and the transformation of epithelial stroma caused by high-fat diet were moderately alleviated.Conclusion High fat diet can affect the process of airway epithelial stroma by altering the glyoxylate cycle of pulmonary microbes while the pathological process are alleviated by saturated hydrogen by acting on glyoxylate cycle.
Impact of Trichogramma release regimes and combination with mass trapping on sugarcane internode borer (Chilo sacchariphagus indicus) management

Large area study on the impact of six versus ten releases of the biocontrol agent, Trichogramma chilonis, besides large plot assessment of ten releases with and without mass trapping (by pheromone traps) for eco-safe management of the sugarcane internode borer (INB) Chilo sacchariphagus indicus Kapur were undertaken in Natems Sugar factory area, Koppedu Taluk, Chittoor District, Andhra Pradesh, South India. In 2017-18, a large contiguous sugarcane crop area of 400 hectares received six releases of T. chilonis (as Tricho cards @ 5cc.ha/release) in alternate weeks during 5-7 months age of crop, followed by four additional releases during 8-9 months age (totalling ten releases) in 40 hectares area, besides assigning a no release block of 40 hectares in adjacent area. Harvest-time sampling in each treatment block showed that the INB distribution (per cent canes infested) was 80 % in control (no release) block, while it was 42 and 27 %, respectively, for six and ten releases. The INB intensity (per cent internodes infested) was also more (6.2 %) in control block whereas it was only 3.2 % and 1.5 %, in the two respective release regimes. Based on these results the cost-effectiveness of both the regimes was ascertained. In 2018-19, the impact of ten releases of T. chilonis (@5cc/hectare /release) versus same regime plus mass trapping (@25 pheromone traps/ha) was compared in large plots (each of 2.0 ha) along with an untreated control plot. Harvest-time samples showed that INB distribution was 70.3% in control block, compared to 48.3% in Trichogramma release block versus 19.8% in block combining Trichogramma and mass trapping. The respective INB intensity was 6.04 %, 4.04 % and 2.17 % while the estimated cane yields were 81.0, 86.2 and 92.5 tons/ha, respectively. The cost: benefit ratios for Trichogramma release with and without mass trapping were comparable, so confirming that both are cost-effective alternatives to chemical insecticide use in sugarcane agro-ecosystems.
Costs, burden and quality of life associated with informal caregiving for children with Lymphoma attending a tertiary hospital in Ghana

Introduction Primary family caregivers provide substantial support in the management of lymphoma, potentially affecting their quality of life and increasing household health care costs. Our aim was thus to determine the economic costs and quality of life of primary caregivers of children with lymphoma. Methods This cross-sectional study involved primary informal caregivers of children with lymphoma attending the pediatric cancer unit at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital. The study adopted a cost-of-illness approach to estimate the direct costs (medical and non- medical) incurred and indirect cost (productive losses) to caregivers over the one-month period preceding the data collection. Zarit Burden Interview was used to determine caregiver burden and EUROHIS-QoL tool was used to determine the quality of life of primary caregivers. Results The average cost of managing lymphoma in children was estimated to be US$440.32, 97% of which were direct costs. On average, caregiver burden was 26.3 on the scale of 0 to 48. About 94% of caregivers reported high burden, with more males reporting high burden. Overall, average quality of life among caregivers was 2.20 on the 1 to 5 range. Approximately 85% of respondents reported low quality of life, with females reporting lower quality of life than males. Discussion This study shows that lymphoma is associated with substantial cost and increased burden, and affects quality of life of family caregivers. Future studies can explore the impact of social protection interventions (in the form of health insurance) to reduce the household economic burden of managing lymphoma in children.
The role of lithological layering and pore pressure on fluid‐induced microseismicity

The success of hydraulic fracturing treatments is often judged by the shape and size of the resulting microseismic cloud. However, it is challenging to predict the anticipated microseismic cloud prior to treatment. We use geomechanical modeling to predict the distribution of the microseismicity prior to the hydraulic fracture treatment. We analyze the likelihood of tensile and shear failure due to 1‐D variations in local stresses and rock strengths, induced by layering and pore pressure, for two field cases. The deviation in the local stresses from the regional stress field is induced by vertical variations in stiffness. This promotes failure of the stronger layers instead of the weaker ones since the stronger layers can become essentially load bearing. The simulations and field studies show that (1) microseismic events tend to locate preferentially where layers reach tensile failure due to fluid injection, and the number of events tends to decrease in layers that do not reach tensile failure; (2) shear initiation can occur in different layers from those failing in tension, thereby creating additional fluid migration paths; and (3) reactivation of preexisting fractures may occur due to fluid migration, even if their orientations are unfavorable. Numerical modeling is a significant aid in understanding the interplay of regional and local stresses and associated in situ failure due to variations in rock strength, pore pressure, and stiffnesses. In a wider perspective, it gives fundamental insights into the understanding of earthquakes and fault localization, the mechanisms of fracture development, and the role of fractures on fluid circulation and on the in situ stress field.
Coronavirus in Pregnant Women: Literature Review

The coronavirus viruses cause infectious conditions that evolve with greater severity in patients with reduced immunity, a fact that can be observed in pregnant women. In these, anatomical and physiological changes occur that can compromise immunity, which can lead to complications. Faced with the pandemic by COVID-19, the present study aimed to discuss the possible risk of the pregnant woman and the fetus facing infection with this virus, which initially presents respiratory symptoms and with lower gastrointestinal prevalence. Based on the data collected, it was observed that, in many cases, pregnant women develop respiratory, renal and cardiovascular complications, requiring ICU admission and mechanical ventilation. This can lead to fetal distress, placental detachment, spontaneous abortion, reduced fetal growth and risk of maternal-fetal death. Thus, attention must be redoubled in health surveillance and education for this group, as well as the availability of the health care system and clinical, epidemiological and laboratory diagnosis is required, since most patients tend to evolve with clinical complications.
Elevated hepcidin, ferroportin associated with glucose metabolism disorder in midpregnancy

[Objective]: Hepcidin and ferroportin are major regulators of iron metabolism. Although many previous studies have shown that iron metabolism disorder may contribute to the pathogenesis of Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM), few studies have investigated hepcidin and other iron metabolism parameters in women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between hepcidin, ferroportin and GDM. [Methods]: A case-control study was conducted in 85 women with GDM and 85 women without GDM (controls) who received regular prenatal care at the Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital of Fudan University from October 2015 to May 2016. Serum ferritin (SF), hepcidin (Hepc), ferroportin (FPN), and soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR), as well as other clinical parameters, were detected and analyzed in all groups. [Results]: The levels of fasting plasma glucose (FPG), oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) 1-h and 2-h plasma glucose, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), SF, Hepc, FPN and sTfR as well as homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) were significantly higher in the GDM group (P<0.05 for all). In the GDM group, FPN was positively correlated OGTT-1 h and OGTT-2 h In the control group, only sTfR was positively correlated with OGTT-1 h. There was no correlation between the iron metabolism indicators in both GDM and control group. [Conclusion]: Hepc, FPN sRfR and SF levels were higher in the GDM group. Elevated Hepc and FPN are associated with glucose metabolism disorder and may play an important role in GDM.
Enriched the Spectrum Sensing Performance of Estimated SNR Based Detector in Cognitive Radio Networks

Spectrum sensing is one of the vital functions, plays an important role in cognitive radio networks (CRN). This paper discuss to enrich the sensing performance of propose estimated signal to noise ratio (SNR) based detector. Estimated SNR detector consists two detectors, energy detector (ED) & ED with ADT detector, out of these two detectors only one will perform sensing operation at a time. Which detector will be work, selection will be done on condition between estimated SNR value (Se) and threshold (γ). Results show that proposed ESNR_ADT scheme outperforms the cyclostationary based sensing method by 30.5 % at – 10 dB SNR. It is also shown that the proposed scheme takes smaller detection time period as compare to cyclostationary detection in the order of 5.2 ms at 20 dB SNR. Furthermore, the scheme was associated with cooperative spectrum sensing (CSS) where each CRs work together in order to take final decision. Finally, it was analyzed that proposed ESNR_ADT sensing scheme with CSS improves detection performance in the order of 0.9 at low SNR value of – 18.5 dB approximately.
An Unexpected Case Report of Adrenal Lymphangioma: Mimicking Metastatic Tumor on Imaging in a Patient With Pancreatic Cancer

Adrenal lymphangioma is a very rare benign lesion worldwide and remains challenging for early diagnosis, especially when the patient has some complicated clinical disease. This is an unusual case of a 68-year-old man who was admitted to our hospital with a history of pancreatic tumor. Computed tomography (CT) images and subsequent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a mass located in the left adrenal gland, presenting a similar enhancement pattern of the pancreatic tumor, and according to the imaging features, the patient was suspected to have an adrenal metastatic tumor originating from the pancreatic tumor. The patient underwent a surgical resection of the pancreatic tumor and the left adrenal gland. The pathologic diagnosis proved to be lymphangioma deriving from the left adrenal gland. This is the first report presenting an atypical adrenal lymphangioma mimicking a metastatic tumor of pancreatic origin, which might be suggestive in the diagnosis of adrenal lesions and the subsequent clinical treatment, especially when patient has a particular medical history. As we know, imaging examination is helpful for accurate preoperative diagnosis; however, the diagnosis of malignant tumor solely based on imaging procedures should be made cautiously by radiologists.
Cortical Tracking of the Speech Envelope in Logopenic Variant Primary Progressive Aphasia

Logopenic variant primary progressive aphasia (lvPPA) is a neurodegenerative language disorder primarily characterized by impaired phonological processing. Sentence repetition and comprehension deficits are observed in lvPPA and linked to impaired phonological working memory, but recent evidence also implicates impaired speech perception. Currently, neural encoding of the speech envelope, which forms the scaffolding for perception, is not clearly understood in lvPPA. We leveraged recent analytical advances in electrophysiology to examine speech envelope encoding in lvPPA. We assessed cortical tracking of the speech envelope and in-task comprehension of two spoken narratives in individuals with lvPPA (n = 10) and age-matched (n = 10) controls. Despite markedly reduced narrative comprehension relative to controls, individuals with lvPPA had increased cortical tracking of the speech envelope in theta oscillations, which track low-level features (e.g., syllables), but not delta oscillations, which track speech units that unfold across a longer time scale (e.g., words, phrases, prosody). This neural signature was highly correlated across narratives. Results indicate an increased reliance on acoustic cues during speech encoding. This may reflect inefficient encoding of bottom-up speech cues, likely as a consequence of dysfunctional temporoparietal cortex.
Differential Level of RXFP3 Expression in Dopaminergic Neurons Within the Arcuate Nucleus, Dorsomedial Hypothalamus and Ventral Tegmental Area of RXFP3-Cre/tdTomato Mice

RXFP3 (relaxin-family peptide 3 receptor) is the cognate G-protein-coupled receptor for the neuropeptide, relaxin-3. RXFP3 is expressed widely throughout the brain, including the hypothalamus, where it has been shown to modulate feeding behavior and neuroendocrine activity in rodents. In order to better characterize its potential mechanisms of action, this study determined whether RXFP3 is expressed by dopaminergic neurons within the arcuate nucleus (ARC) and dorsomedial hypothalamus (DMH), in addition to the ventral tegmental area (VTA). Neurons that express RXFP3 were visualized in coronal brain sections from RXFP3-Cre/tdTomato mice, which express the tdTomato fluorophore within RXFP3-positive cells, and dopaminergic neurons in these areas were visualized by simultaneous immunohistochemical detection of tyrosine hydroxylase-immunoreactivity (TH-IR). Approximately 20% of ARC neurons containing TH-IR coexpressed tdTomato fluorescence, suggesting that RXFP3 can influence the dopamine pathway from the ARC to the pituitary gland that controls prolactin release. The ability of prolactin to reduce leptin sensitivity and increase food consumption therefore represents a potential mechanism by which RXFP3 activation influences feeding. A similar proportion of DMH neurons containing TH-IR expressed RXFP3-related tdTomato fluorescence, consistent with a possible RXFP3-mediated regulation of stress and neuroendocrine circuits. In contrast, RXFP3 was barely detected within the VTA. TdTomato signal was absent from the ARC and DMH in sections from Rosa26-tdTomato mice, suggesting that the cells identified in RXFP3-Cre/tdTomato mice expressed authentic RXFP3-related tdTomato fluorescence. Together, these findings identify potential hypothalamic mechanisms through which RXFP3 influences neuroendocrine control of metabolism, and further highlight the therapeutic potential of targeting RXFP3 in feeding-related disorders.