Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Disordered breathing in a mouse model of Dravet syndrome

Dravet syndrome (DS) is a form of epilepsy with a high incidence of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP). Respiratory failure is a leading cause of SUDEP, and DS patients’ frequently exhibit disordered breathing. Despite this, mechanisms underlying respiratory dysfunction in DS are entirely unknown. We found that mice expressing a recurrent SCN1a missense mutation (A1783V) conditionally in inhibitory neurons (SCN1aA1783V/+; mixed C57B/6 background) exhibit spontaneous seizures, die prematurely and present a respiratory phenotype similar to DS patients including hypoventilation, apnea and a diminished ventilatory response to CO2. At the cellular level in the retrotrapezoid nucleus (RTN), we found inhibitory neurons expressing the SCN1a A1783V variant are less excitable, whereas chemosensitive RTN neurons, which are a key source of the CO2/H+-dependent drive to breathe, are hyper-excitable in slices from SCN1aA1783V/+ mice. These results show loss of SCN1a function can disrupt brainstem respiratory control including at the level of the RTN.
Incomplete lineage sorting and introgression in the diversification of Chinese spot-billed ducks and mallards

Abstract Incomplete lineage sorting and introgression are 2 major and nonexclusive causes of species-level non-monophyly. Distinguishing between these 2 processes is notoriously difficult because they can generate similar genetic signatures. Previous studies have suggested that 2 closely related duck species, the Chinese spot-billed duck Anas zonorhyncha and the mallard A. platyrhynchos were polyphyletically intermixed. Here, we utilized a wide geographical sampling, multilocus data and a coalescent-based model to revisit this system. Our study confirms the finding that Chinese spot-billed ducks and Mallards are not monophyletic. There was no apparent interspecific differentiation across loci except those at the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region and the Z chromosome (CHD1Z). Based on an isolation-with-migration model and the geographical distribution of lineages, we suggest that both introgression and incomplete lineage sorting might contribute to the observed non-monophyly of the 2 closely related duck species. The mtDNA introgression was asymmetric, with high gene flow from Chinese spot-billed ducks to Mallards and negligible gene flow in the opposite direction. Given that the 2 duck species are phenotypically distinctive but weakly genetically differentiated, future work based on genome-scale data is necessary to uncover genomic regions that are involved in divergence, and this work may provide further insights into the evolutionary histories of the 2 species and other waterfowls.
Control of Diaphorina citri (Hemiptera: psyllidae) with foliar and soil-applied insecticides

The Asian citrus psyllid (ACP) Diaphorina citri damages new growth in citrus by feeding and vectors Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus, a bacterium that causes “huanglongbing” or citrus greening disease. Therefore, reduction in psyllid populations is key to reducing spread of the disease. Several insecticides were evaluated for psyllid suppression in young and mature ‘Valencia’ orange trees. Drench applications of imidacloprid (Admire Pro and MANA AG 8412- 094B at 14 and 16 oz per acre, respectively) and thiamethoxam (Platinum at 13.7 or 18.8 oz per acre) to 4-year-old trees in June significantly reduced psyllid population density for 3 months. Thiamethoxam tended to act more quickly compared with imidacloprid and the higher rate was more effective. Effects of foliar sprays with or without adjuvants targeted at new growth in mature trees were variable with products and rates and lasted from 2 to 4 weeks. The nonionic surfactant Induce or “435 horticultural oil” were more effective adjuvants for spirotetramat (Movento) than methylated seed oil or the organo-silicone surfactant Kinetic. When present, more ladybeetles were seen on untreated trees compared to treated trees. Soil applied systemic insecticides provided much longer term ACP suppression than foliar applied materials during the growing season.
Children, digital screens and family: parental mediation practices and gender

The objective of this article is to explore the gendered characteristics of digital parenting and parental mediation through a qualitative study developed with families and children in Argentina. Diverse typologies have recently been elaborated to better understand parental mediation of digital screens. Quantitative studies have correlated different styles of parental mediation with sociodemographic variables and have also assessed their effectiveness in preventing several online risks. In this paper we use qualitative data from a research developed using the technique of technobiographies to construct an in-depth approach to children’s practices and representations with multiple voices involved (parents, teachers, school authorities). As we show, different types of parental mediation are associated to mothers or fathers, following more broader gender ideologies and stereotypes. With insights from different families, we built research questions that state that there is a gendered division of digital parenting.
COVID-19 and E-Learning: the Challenges of Students in Tertiary Institutions

Problems associated with the transition from conventional learning (face to face) to online learning (e-learning) in the educational system are well documented. The present study explores the challenges students in tertiary institutions have reported facing in online learning in the era of coronavirus pandemic. Using a sample (n = 141), an initial principal component factor analysis was conducted to group the constructs. Eight groups that emerged were social issues, lecturer issues, accessibility issues, learner motivation, academic issues, generic issues, learner intentions, and demographics. Cronbach’s alpha was used to determine the reliability of the scales resulting in the deletion of learner motivation. Comparing the means of the factors revealed that the most important challenge for students to study online was accessibility issues. This was followed by social issues, lecturer issues, academic issues, and generic issues. The mean for the individual items in learners’ intention to study online showed that students were not ready to study online. A Multiple Regression Analysis was further conducted to determine which factors pose the most important challenges to the student’s decision to study online. Social issues and lecturer issues were significant. In the final model, only lecturer issues were significant. A blended approach-where conventional teaching is combined with online teaching should have ushered the learners to complete online learning.
Comparative genomics-first approach to understand diversification of secondary metabolite biosynthetic pathways in symbiotic dinoflagellates

Symbiotic dinoflagellates of the genus Symbiodinium are photosynthetic and unicellular. They possess smaller nuclear genomes than other dinoflagellates and produce structurally specialized, biologically active, secondary metabolites. Polyketide biosynthetic genes of toxic dinoflagellates have been studied extensively using transcriptomic analyses; however, a comparative genomic approach to understand secondary metabolism has been hampered by their large genome sizes. Here, we use a combined genomic and metabolomics approach to investigate the structure and diversification of secondary metabolite genes to understand how chemical diversity arises in three decoded Symbiodinium genomes (A3, B1 and C). Our analyses identify 71 polyketide synthase and 41 non-ribosomal peptide synthetase genes from two newly decoded genomes of clades A3 and C. Additionally, phylogenetic analyses indicate that almost all of the gene families are derived from lineage-specific gene duplications in Symbiodinium clades, suggesting divergence for environmental adaptation. Few metabolic pathways are conserved among the three clades and we detect metabolic similarity only in the recently diverged clades, B1 and C. We establish that secondary metabolism protein architecture guides substrate specificity and that gene duplication and domain shuffling have resulted in diversification of secondary metabolism genes.
Effect of Lauric Acid on the Thermal and Mechanical Properties of Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB)/Starch Composite Biofilms

Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) is a biopolymer of natural origin, one of the suitable alternatives for synthetic plastics. However, pure PHB has a high production cost, is relatively brittle, and has poor processability, hence its limited application. Combining PHB with biomass fillers and plasticizers can significantly improve the properties of the polymer, leading to its commercial usage. In this study, PHB was incorporated with starch (S) as a cheap biomass filler and lauric acid (LA) as a potential plasticizer. The PHB/S/LA composites were prepared using a modified solvent casting method with the incremental addition of LA. The PHB/S ratio was maintained at a ratio of 80/20 ( ). Physicochemical characterization via EDS, XRD, and FTIR proved that the composite components have blended through nucleation and plasticization processes. The morphology of the PHB/S blends was found to be a heterogeneous matrix, with decreased inhomogeneity upon the addition of LA in the composite. Thermal characterization done by TGA and DSC showed that the thermal properties of PHB/S films improved with the addition of LA. Mechanical tests (UTM) proved that the elastic strain of the films also increased with the addition of LA, although the tensile strength decreased slightly compared to pure PHB/S. Overall, the results of this study provide baseline information on the improvement of PHB-based bioplastics.
What Makes Millennials Happy in their Workplace?

Happiness in the workplace remains to be an under-researched field which is unfortunate considering that the happiness-productive worker link has been strongly established. More essentially, there has been a lack of research on happiness in the workplace which considers a specific sample of millennials. In preparation for a workforce dominated with millennials, this research will help address the gap with regards to the lack of research on Malaysian millennials’ happiness in the workplace. Through a thorough literature review, six predictors or antecedents of happiness in the workplace among millennials which are meaningful work, work autonomy, transformational leadership, workplace friendship, work life balance, and gratitude have been chosen in this research. This study consists of millennials (“millennials” or Generation Y is defined in the selected literature as individuals born between years 1982 and 2004) who have undergone full time employment of at least one year or more. The results indicated that all the six predictors showed significant moderate to high positive relationships with happiness in the workplace. Multiple regression analysis showed that all six predictors significantly predicts millennials’ happiness in the workplace, besides gratitude. Implications of this study with regards to managing millennial talent in organisations are then discussed.
Studying Acoustic Emission by Fitting the Destruction Models of a Composite According to the or Criterion and Mises Criterion

This paper reports the established patterns of change in the acoustic emission signals by approximating the models of the destruction of a composite material in the form of a bundle of fibers according to the OR criterion and Mises criterion. It has been shown that increasing the coefficient that characterizes the ratio of the size of the elements of the composite material leads to that the pattern of change in the equivalent stresses according to the OR criterion is approaching the pattern of change by Mises criterion. At a certain value of the coefficient, according to the OR criterion, the equivalent stresses are aligned with a minimal deviation from each other. However, this alignment is limited to a specific change period. We have established patterns of change in the number of elements, which remain, as well as the signals of acoustic emission according to the OR criterion with the regularity of their change approaching that based on the Mises criterion. It has been shown that at the best approximation of the equivalent stresses according to the criteria there is a good agreement of the patterns of change in the number of a composite's elements, remaining in time, and the parameters for the formed signals of acoustic emission with their minimal deviation. It has been determined that the deviations in the parameters of acoustic emission signals are due to the difference in the rate of change in the equivalent stresses in proportion to approaching the time when a composite material starts breaking according to the OR criterion and Mises criterion. It has been determined that with the increasing deformation rate of a composite material, the patterns of change in the equivalent stresses approaching those based on the OR criterion and Mises criterion, the number of the remaining elements in the composite over time, and the parameters of acoustic emission signals are maintained. However, these patterns are observed at smaller intervals of time. The results obtained could be used in the study of the destructive processes of composite materials, taking into consideration the influence of various factors.
Inelastic UV Scattering in a Floating Water Bridge

When high voltage is applied to distilled water filled into two beakers close to each other, a watery connection forms spontaneously, giving the impression of a floating water bridge [1-8]. In this work we present the first inelastic ultraviolet scattering data of such an electrohydrodynamic bridge revealing radial gradients of Stokesand Anti-Stokes shifts and their intensity profiles. Interpretations including density and temperature changes within the bridge are discussed. The obtained data can be satisfactorily explained by the introduction of a second phase consisting of nano bubbles. Results and interpretation are discussed in relation to similar phenomena.
DSNetwork: An Integrative Approach to Visualize Predictions of Variants’ Deleteriousness

One of the most challenging tasks of the post-genome-wide association studies (GWAS) research era is the identification of functional variants among those associated with a trait for an observed GWAS signal. Several methods have been developed to evaluate the potential functional implications of genetic variants. Each of these tools has its own scoring system which forces users to become acquainted with each approach to interpret their results. From an awareness of the amount of work needed to analyze and integrate results for a single locus, we proposed a flexible and versatile approach designed to help the prioritization of variants by aggregating the predictions of their potential functional implications. This approach has been made available through a web interface called DSNetwork which acts as a single-point of entry to almost 60 reference predictors for both coding and non-coding variants and displays predictions in an easy-to-interpret visualization. We confirmed the usefulness of our methodology by successfully identifying functional variants in four breast cancer susceptibility loci. DSNetwork is an integrative web application implemented through the Shiny framework and available at: http://romix.genome. ulaval.ca/dsnetwork. Author summary Over the past years, GWAS have enabled the identification of numerous susceptibility loci associated with complex traits (https://www.ebi.ac.uk/gwas/). However, many of those signals contain hundreds or even thousands of significantly associated variants among which only a few are really responsible of the phenotype. Substantial efforts have been made in the development of prediction methods to prioritize variants within GWAS-associated regions to go from statistical associations, to the identification of functional variants modulating gene expression, in order to ultimately gain insight into disease pathophysiology. Unfortunately, these numerous prediction tools generate contradictory predictions rendering the interpretation of results challenging. Some tools such as VEP [McLaren et al., 2016] report their scores using a color scheme, thus acknowledging the need to assist the user in the interpretation of predictor results. Nonetheless, the multiplication of approaches can often result in an extensive amount of data that is hard to synthesize. Aware of the challenge of evaluating the potential deleteriousness of variants in the context of fine mapping analyses, we created a customizable visualization approach that was implemented it in the decision support tool called DSNetwork for Decision Support Network. This tool enables quick access to gold standard and new predictors for both coding and non-coding variants through an easily interpretable visualization of these predictions for a set of variants.
Switch-Like Phosphorylation of WRN Integrates End-Resection with RAD51 Metabolism at Collapsed Replication Forks

Replication-dependent DNA double-strand breaks are harmful lesions preferentially repaired by homologous recombination; a process that requires processing of DNA ends to allow RAD51-mediated strand invasion. End-resection and subsequent repair are two intertwined processes, but the mechanism underlying their execution is still poorly appreciated. The WRN helicase is one of the crucial factors for the end-resection and is instrumental to select the proper repair pathway. Here, we reveal that ordered phosphorylation of WRN by the CDK1, ATM and ATR kinases define a complex regulatory layer that is essential for correct long-range end-resection connecting it to repair by homologous recombination. We establish that long-range end-resection requires an ATM-dependent phosphorylation of WRN at Ser1058 and that phosphorylation at Ser1141, together with dephosphorylation at the CDK1 site Ser1133, is needed for the correct metabolism of RAD51 foci and RAD51-dependent repair. Collectively, our findings suggest that regulation of WRN by multiple kinases functions as molecular switch to allow a timely execution of end-resection and repair at replication-dependent DNA double-strand breaks.
Particle Size Effect on Mechanical and Physical Properties of Rice Straw Epoxy Resin Particleboard

Rice straw is one of the agricultural residues that can be used to form a composite such as particleboard. In this study, the effect of rice straw particle size on the mechanical and physical properties of rice straw epoxy resin particleboard has been investigated. The rice straw particles sizes were varied for 40 mesh, 50 mesh, and 60 mesh. The ratio of rice straw to epoxy resin was also varied for 80 : 20 vol.%, 85 : 15 vol.%, 90 : 10 vol.%, and 95 : 5 vol.%. Our results revealed that the mechanical properties (modulus of elasticity, modulus of rupture, and tensile strength) of particleboard strongly depend on the rice straw particle size. This behavior is the same for the physical properties (density and water absorption) of particleboard. The highest flexural strength (modulus of rupture), elastic modulus, and tensile strength of rice straw epoxy resin particleboard are obtained at the 50 mesh of rice straw particle size with its value of 6.15 kgf/mm 2 , 3280 kgf/mm 2 , and 0.60 kgf/mm2, respectively. However, the highest density is obtained at the 60 mesh of rice straw particle size, which is 0.87 g/cm 3 . The lowest water absorption (23%) is also obtained at the 60 mesh of rice straw particle size. Our finding indicates that the particle size plays a vital role in the reinforcement of particleboard.
TetraSOD activates the antioxidant response pathway in human cells: An in vitro approach

The combined action of both endogenous and exogenous factors stimulates the production of free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS) in cells. They are neutralized by an elaborate antioxidant defense system, superoxide dismutase (SOD) being the first line of enzymes involved in ROS scavenging. However, when ROS production cannot be counteracted by cellular antioxidant mechanisms oxidative stress happens, inducing damages in proteins, lipids and DNA. It had been suggested that antioxidant supplementation may help to reduce oxidative stress. TetraSOD® is a unique marine healthy and functional ingredient that is produced under patent-protected technology, which exhibits a balanced nutritional composition and a significantly high SOD activity (>30,000 U/g). In this work, the antioxidant bioactivity of TetraSOD® in muscle cells (Normal Human Skeletal Muscle Myoblasts, HSMMs) was examined using an in vitro approach. Three different doses of SOD activity in TetraSOD® extracts were tested in cells: 30, 150 and 1500 U/ml. A statistically significant induction of the primary antioxidant enzyme activities, SOD, glutathione peroxidase (GPx), and catalase (CAT) was observed at the two higher doses in relation to the control. These results were further related to the expression of a selected set of genes involved in response against oxidative stress. A significant up-regulation of SOD1, SOD2, GPx1, CAT, NRF2 and HMOX1 was detected after TetraSOD® treatment with regard to the control, exhibiting different patterns in response to the applied dose to cells. Overall, the results obtained in this study might represent an important contribution to the understanding of the molecular basis underlying the potential cytoprotective effects induced by TetraSOD® consumption. Key words: TetraSOD®, Tetraselmis chuii, oxidative stress, antioxidant, gene expression, enzyme activity, SOD, NRF2.
Traits association and path coefficient analysis of yield and related traits in rainfed lowland rice (Oryza sativa L.) genotypes in North Western Ethiopia

The current study was conducted to assess the trait association and path analyses in thirty-six rain fed lowland rice genotypes at two locations. The aim of this present study was to estimate the extent of association between pairs of characters at phenotypic and genotypic levels and thereby compare the direct and indirect effects of the characters. The field experiment was laid out in 6x6 simple lattice design with two replications during 2015/16 cropping season. Thirteen characters were measured including yield and related traits. The extent of phenotypic correlation coefficient values indicated presence of fairly strong inherent association among the studied traits. Moreover, association analyses studies indicated yield had significantly (p<0.05) positive genotypic correlation with days to heading, days to maturity, filled grains per panicle, fertile tillers per plant harvest index, total spikelets per panicle and biomass yield. Path coefficient analyses revealed that biomass yield followed by harvest index, total spikelets per panicle and plant height exhibited the highest direct effects on grain yield; these traits can be considered for direct selection for grain yield of rice. Key words: Direct effect, indirect effect, path analysis, ground combat vehicle (GCV), packed cell volume (PCV).