Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sleep and Coping in Early Childhood During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Sleep disturbances in early childhood are associated with mood and anxiety disorders. Children also exhibit sleep disruptions, such as nighttime awakenings, nightmares, and difficulties falling asleep, in conjunction with adverse events and stress. Prior studies have examined independently the role of sleep on adaptive processing, as well as the effects of stress on sleep. However, how childhood sleep and children's adaptive behavior (i.e., coping strategies) bidirectionally interact is currently less known. Using a within-subjects design and actigraphy-measured sleep from 16 preschool-aged children (Mage = 56.4 months, SD = 10.8, range: 36–70 months), this study investigated how prior sleep patterns relate to children's coping during a potentially stressful event, the COVID-19 pandemic, and how prior coping skills may influence children's sleep during the pandemic. Children who woke earlier had greater negative expression both before and during the pandemic. During the pandemic, children slept longer and woke later on average compared to before the pandemic. Additionally, for children engaged in at-home learning, sleeping longer was associated with less negative expression. These findings highlight how sleep behaviors and coping strategies are related, and the stability of this relationship under stress.
Therapeutic Hypothermia Reduces Peritoneal Dialysis Induced Myocardial Blood Flow Heterogeneity and Arrhythmia

Background: Moderate therapeutic hypothermia (TH) is a well-recognized cardio-protective strategy. The instillation of fluid into the peritoneum provides an opportunity to deliver moderate hypothermia as primary prevention against cardiovascular events. We aimed to to investigate both cardiac perfusion consequences (overall blood flow and detailed assessment of perfusion heterogeneity) and subsequently simulate the associated arrhythmic risk for patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis (PD) induced TH. Methods: Patients underwent high resolution myocardial perfusion scanning using high resolution 256 slice CT scanning, at rest and with adenosine stress. The first visit using the patient's usual PD regimen, on the second visit the same regime was utilized but with cooled peritoneal dialysate at 32°C. Myocardial blood flow (MBF) was quantified from generated perfusion maps, reconstructed in 3D. MBF heterogeneity was assessed by fractal dimension (FD) measurement on the 3D left ventricular reconstruction. Arrhythmogenicity was quantified from a sophisticated computational simulation using a multi-scale human 3D ventricle wedge electrophysiological computational model. Results: We studied 7 PD patients, mean age of 60 ± 7 and mean vintage dialysis of 23.6 ± 17.6 months. There were no significant different in overall segmental MBF between normothermic condition (NT) and TH. MBF heterogeneity was significantly decreased (−14%, p = 0.03) at rest and after stress (−14%, p = 0.03) when cooling was applied. Computational simulation showed that TH allowed a normalization of action potential, QT duration and T wave. Conclusion: TH-PD results in moderate hypothermia leading to a reduction in perfusion heterogeneity and simulated risk of non-terminating malignant ventricular arrhythmias.
Dissecting Metabolism of Leaf Nodules in Ardisia crenata and Psychotria punctata

Root-microbe interaction and its specialized root nodule structures and functions are well studied. In contrast, leaf nodules harboring microbial endophytes in special glandular leaf structures have only recently gained increased interest as plant-microbe phyllosphere interactions. Here, we applied a comprehensive metabolomics platform in combination with natural product isolation and characterization to dissect leaf and leaf nodule metabolism and functions in Ardisia crenata (Primulaceae) and Psychotria punctata (Rubiaceae). The results indicate that abiotic stress resilience plays an important part within the leaf nodule symbiosis of both species. Both species showed metabolic signatures of enhanced nitrogen assimilation/dissimilation pattern and increased polyamine levels in nodules compared to leaf lamina tissue potentially involved in senescence processes and photosynthesis. Multiple links to cytokinin and REDOX-active pathways were found. Our results further demonstrate that secondary metabolite production by endophytes is a key feature of this symbiotic system. Multiple anhydromuropeptides (AhMP) and their derivatives were identified as highly characteristic biomarkers for nodulation within both species. A novel epicatechin derivative was structurally elucidated with NMR and shown to be enriched within the leaf nodules of A. crenata. This enrichment within nodulated tissues was also observed for catechin and other flavonoids indicating that flavonoid metabolism may play an important role for leaf nodule symbiosis of A. crenata. In contrast, pavettamine was only detected in P. punctata and showed no nodule specific enrichment but a developmental effect. Further natural products were detected, including three putative unknown depsipeptide structures in A. crenata leaf nodules. The analysis presents a first metabolomics reference data set for the intimate interaction of microbes and plants in leaf nodules, reveals novel metabolic processes of plant-microbe interaction as well as the potential of natural product discovery in these systems.
Combined Support Vector Machine Classifier and Brain Structural Network Features for the Individual Classification of Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment and Subjective Cognitive Decline Patients

Objective Individuals with subjective cognitive decline (SCD) or amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) represent important targets for the early detection and intervention of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In this study, we employed a multi-kernel support vector machine (SVM) to examine whether white matter (WM) structural networks can be used for screening SCD and aMCI. Methods A total of 138 right-handed participants [51 normal controls (NC), 36 SCD, 51 aMCI] underwent MRI brain scans. For each participant, three types of WM networks with different edge weights were constructed with diffusion MRI data: fiber number-weighted networks, mean fractional anisotropy-weighted networks, and mean diffusivity (MD)-weighted networks. By employing a multiple-kernel SVM, we seek to integrate information from three weighted networks to improve classification performance. The accuracy of classification between each pair of groups was evaluated via leave-one-out cross-validation. Results For the discrimination between SCD and NC, an area under the curve (AUC) value of 0.89 was obtained, with an accuracy of 83.9%. Further analysis revealed that the methods using three types of WM networks outperformed other methods using single WM network. Moreover, we found that most of discriminative features were from MD-weighted networks, which distributed among frontal lobes. Similar classification performance was also reported in the differentiation between subjects with aMCI and NCs (accuracy = 83.3%). Between SCD and aMCI, an AUC value of 0.72 was obtained, with an accuracy of 72.4%, sensitivity of 74.5% and specificity of 69.4%. The highest accuracy was achieved with features only selected from MD-weighted networks. Conclusion White matter structural network features help machine learning algorithms accurately identify individuals with SCD and aMCI from NCs. Our findings have significant implications for the development of potential brain imaging markers for the early detection of AD.
A Distinct Difference Between Air and Mucosal Temperatures in Human Respiratory Tract

Extensive evidence indicates that several types of temperature-sensitive ion channels are abundantly expressed in the sensory nerves innervating airway mucosa. Indeed, airway temperature is known to play an important role in regulating respiratory functions. However, the actual airway mucosal temperature and its dynamic changes during the respiratory cycle have not been directly measured. In previous studies, airway tissue temperature was often estimated by indirect measurement of the peak exhaled breath temperature (PEBT). In view of the poor thermal conductivity of air, we believe that the airway tissue temperature cannot be accurately determined by the exhaled air temperature, and this study aimed to test this hypothesis. We applied a miniature rapid-response temperature probe to measure directly the mucosal temperatures of trachea, major, lobar, and segmental bronchi in eight human subjects during a bronchoscopy procedure. Unlike the air temperature in the airway lumen, the mucosal temperature in these airway segments remained relatively stable and did not exhibit the phasic changes synchronous with respiratory cycles. The airway mucosal temperature increased progressively from the extra-thoracic trachea (35.7 ± 0.2°C) toward the segmental bronchus (36.9 ± 0.2°C). Most importantly, the temperatures measured directly at the mucosa of all these airway segments were substantially higher than the PEBT (31.7 ± 0.8°C). The recent findings of a close association between an increased PEBT and airway tissue inflammation have revealed the implication and potential of incorporating the PEBT measurement in the future clinical diagnosis of airway inflammation. Therefore, it is imperative to recognize this distinct difference in temperature between airway mucosa and exhaled air.
Hypothesis and Theory: Characterizing Abnormalities of Energy Metabolism Using a Cellular Platform as a Personalized Medicine Approach for Alzheimer’s Disease

Sporadic or late-onset Alzheimer’s disease (LOAD) is characterized by slowly progressive deterioration and death of CNS neurons. There are currently no substantially disease-modifying therapies. LOAD pathology is closely related to changes with age and include, among others, accumulation of toxic molecules and altered metabolic, microvascular, biochemical and inflammatory processes. In addition, there is growing evidence that cellular energy deficits play a critical role in aging and LOAD pathophysiology. However, the exact mechanisms and causal relationships are largely unknown. In our studies we tested the hypothesis that altered bioenergetic and metabolic cell functions are key elements in LOAD, using a cellular platform consisting of skin fibroblasts derived from LOAD patients and AD-unaffected control individuals and therefrom generated induced pluripotent stem cells that are differentiated to brain-like cells to study LOAD pathogenic processes in context of age, disease, genetic background, cell development, and cell type. This model has revealed that LOAD cells exhibit a multitude of bioenergetic and metabolic alterations, providing evidence for an innate inefficient cellular energy management in LOAD as a prerequisite for the development of neurodegenerative disease with age. We propose that this cellular platform could ultimately be used as a conceptual basis for a personalized medicine tool to predict altered aging and risk for development of dementia, and to test or implement customized therapeutic or disease-preventive intervention strategies.
Cross-Linking Cellular Prion Protein Induces Neuronal Type 2-Like Hypersensitivity

Background Previous reports identified proteins associated with ‘apoptosis’ following cross-linking PrPC with motif-specific anti-PrP antibodies in vivo and in vitro. The molecular mechanisms underlying this IgG-mediated neurotoxicity and the role of the activated proteins in the apoptotic pathways leading to neuronal death has not been properly defined. Previous reports implicated a number of proteins, including apolipoprotein E, cytoplasmic phospholipase A2, prostaglandin and calpain with anti-PrP antibody-mediated ‘apoptosis’, however, these proteins are also known to play an important role in allergy. In this study, we investigated whether cross-linking PrPC with anti-PrP antibodies stimulates a neuronal allergenic response. Methods Initially, we predicted the allergenicity of the epitope sequences associated with ‘neurotoxic’ anti-PrP antibodies using allergenicity prediction servers. We then investigated whether anti-PrP antibody treatment of mouse primary neurons (MPN), neuroblastoma cells (N2a) and microglia (N11) cell lines lead to a neuronal allergenic response. Results In-Silico studies showed that both tail- and globular-epitopes were allergenic. Specifically, binding regions that contain epitopes for previously reported ‘neurotoxic’ antibodies such as ICSM18 (146-159), ICSM35 (91-110), POM 1 (138-147) and POM 3 (95-100) lead to activation of allergenic related proteins. Following direct application of anti-PrPC antibodies on N2a cells, we identified 4 neuronal allergenic-related proteins when compared with untreated cells. Furthermore, we identified 8 neuronal allergenic-related proteins following treatment of N11 cells with anti-PrPC antibodies prior to co-culture with N2a cells when compared with untreated cells. Antibody treatment of MPN or MPN co-cultured with antibody-treated N11 led to identifying 10 and 7 allergenic-related proteins when compared with untreated cells. However, comparison with 3F4 antibody treatment revealed 5 and 4 allergenic-related proteins respectively. Of importance, we showed that the allergenic effects triggered by the anti-PrP antibodies were more potent when antibody-treated microglia were co-cultured with the neuroblastoma cell line. Finally, co-culture of N2a or MPN with N11-treated with anti-PrP antibodies resulted in significant accumulation of NO and IL6 but not TNF-α in the cell culture media supernatant. Conclusions This study showed for the first time that anti-PrP antibody binding to PrPC triggers a neuronal hypersensitivity response and highlights the important role of microglia in triggering an IgG-mediated neuronal hypersensitivity response. Moreover, this study provides an important impetus for including allergenic assessment of therapeutic antibodies for neurodegenerative disorders to derive safe and targeted biotherapeutics.
Organ reconstruction and systematic relationships of Late Cretaceous palm stems and roots

Permineralized palm stems and adventitious roots are classified under specific organ-type genera (Palmoxylon or Rhizopalmoxylon) without affinities below the family level. Fragments of vegetative basal axes provide an incomplete picture of histological changes due to axial and radial differences in cell growth. However, stem and root anatomical descriptors were previously reported based on general and consistent internal structural features. Two root specimens from the Tarahumara Formation and six stem specimens from the Olmos Formation are included as terminals in a previously reported family-wide morphological and molecular character matrix at the genus level enriched with stem and root anatomical descriptors to elucidate their systematic relationships. Late Cretaceous vegetative basal axes from northern Mexico have systematic affinities to subfamily Coryphoideae. The root system of Palmoxylon polymorphum is included in its original stem description and this fossil species is inferred to have a sister relationship to Cryosophileae. Circumscription of Rhizopalmoxylon huepaciense is emended to include former R. teguachiense, and a systematic affinity to the syncarpous clade is inferred. Circumscription of Palmoxylon longum is also emended, to include former P. commune, P. enochii, P. fibrosum and P. kikaapoa, and a systematic affinity to tribe Borasseae is inferred. These findings highlight the utility of cladistic analyses for reconstructing fossil fragments of palm vegetative basal axes and for inferring their systematic relationships. They also support a Late Cretaceous divergence of Coryphoideae and raise questions about its biogeographic history.
Auditory neuropathy in patients with features of tropical ataxic neuropathy in Tanzania

Abstract Objective This study aimed to describe the diagnosis of auditory neuropathy (AN) in patients with features of tropical ataxic neuropathy (TAN) at a private audiology facility in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Method A retrospective chart review of thirty-two patients with suspected AN and features of TAN seen in 2019. Results The 32 patients complained of hearing impairment and all were diagnosed with AN (100%) via audiometry, otoacoustic emissions (OAE), and auditory brainstem response (ABR). The mean age was 24.8 ± 7.7 years, between 10.3 and 47.0 years. Sixteen (50%) reported tinnitus, eight (25%) reported imbalance while walking, 10 (31.3%) reported vertigo/dizziness, 13 (40.6%) had visual problems, and 19 (59.4%) reported peripheral neuropathy/weakness. Audiometric thresholds ranged from normal to profound, with the most common degree of severity being moderate (59.4%, n = 19). All except one patient had present OAEs, regardless of the severity of hearing loss. ABR was examined in 10 patients and found to be abnormal at 90 dB nHL in all of them. Conclusion The investigation of hearing impairments requires more than tuning fork or audiometry to understand the true nature of the patient’s hearing loss. Awareness of AN pattern in TAN among audiologists and other professionals within the hearing care field in low-and-middle-income countries, such as Tanzania should be strengthened.
Statistical experimental design, least squares-support vector machine (LS-SVM) and artificial neural network (ANN) methods for modeling the facilitated adsorption of methylene blue dye

This study is based on the usage of a composite of zinc sulfide nanoparticles with activated carbon (ZnS-NPs-AC) for the adsorption of methylene blue (MB) from aqueous solutions. The properties of ZnS-NPs-AC were identified by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and Fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Response surface methodology (RSM), an artificial neural network (ANN) and the least squares-support vector machine (LS-SVM) were used for the optimization and/or modeling of pH, ZnS-NPs-AC mass, MB concentration and sonication time to develop respective predictive equations for the simulation of the efficiency of MB adsorption. The obtained results using LS-SVM and ANN exhibit two nonlinear approaches (LS-SVM and ANN models) which show better performances in comparison to central composite design (CCD) for the prediction of MB adsorption. The root mean square error (RMSE) values corresponding to the validation set for MB were 0.00013, 0.00071 and 0.00117, while the respective coefficient of determination (R2) values were 0.9996, 0.9983 and 0.9978 for the LS-SVM, ANN and CCD models, respectively. In the training set, the RMSE values of 0.00011, 0.00065 and 0.00110 and the R2 values of 0.9997, 0.9984 and 0.9980 were obtained using the LS-SVM, ANN and multiple linear regression (MLR) models, respectively. The significant factors were optimized using CCD combined with desirability function (DF) and genetic algorithm (GA) approaches. The obtained optimum point was located in the valid region, experimental confirmation tests were conducted and good agreement was found between the predicted and experimental data. The optimum conditions for searching for the optimum point were set as pH 7.0, 0.015 g ZnS-NPs-AC, 20 mg L−1 MB and 3 min sonication, while at this point, the removal percentages were 98.02% and 98.12% by the DF and GA approaches, respectively. The adsorption equilibrium data in all conditions according to the optimum point are represented by the Langmuir model with a maximum monolayer adsorption capacity of 243.90 mg g−1 while, in all situations, the kinetics and rate of MB adsorption follow the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. Moreover, ZnS-NPs-AC was efficiently regenerated using methanol and, over five cycles, the removal percentage did not change significantly.
Developing summary writing skills through translanguaging

Translanguaging, an umbrella term used to refer to pedagogical approaches that engage the learners’ home languages as a resource, is praised for positive outcomes when its techniques are employed in teaching and learning in multilingual settings. This article examines the effects of translanguaging on learners’ ability to reorganise texts after reading texts in isiXhosa as the learners’ home language, and English as their first additional language. The study adopted a Solomon four-group quasi-experimental design in which there were four groups of participants, viz. two experimental groups and two control groups. Four Grade 4 rural schools comprising 215 learners aged between 9 and 12 years participated in the study. The results showed a positive correlation between the translanguaging techniques employed and learner performance in the ability to write summaries. However, learner performance improved less in English than it did in the home language. The study demonstrates that substantial gains can be obtained in reading development in elementary grades when translanguaging techniques are exploited. It, therefore, attempts to provide alternative means to address concerns about substandard reading abilities of African learners at elementary grades in South Africa.
Nickel-rhenium compound sheds light on the potency of rhenium as a strengthener in high-temperature nickel alloys

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A note on firm factors influencing occupational health and safety disclosures in annual reports

Introduction Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) disclosures have been largely overlooked in accounting research but this should not be taken as an indication that it is an unimportant or uninteresting subject. The subject has received increasing attention in the broader community over the last few years throughout the developed world. “[E]ven within the most industrially advanced societies OHS is a significant and resilient problem. It is a problem that needs to be examined and understood in both a national and international context”, In Australia around 2900 people are killed by their work each year, about 500 of these involve traumatic accidents, the remainder are work related illnesses such as cancer. This is in addition to the around 164,500 workers’ compensation claims each year for injuries that require five or more days off work.