Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of Rat Acute Phase Proteins as Inflammatory Biomarkers for Vaccine Nonclinical Safety Studies

The objectives were to characterize the kinetics of acute phase proteins (APPs) α-2 macroglobulin (A2M), α-1 acid glycoprotein (A1AGP), and fibrinogen (FIB), and injection site macroscopic and microscopic findings following intramuscular administration of tetanus toxoid, reduced diphtheria toxoid, and acellular pertussis vaccine (TDaP; Adacel); adjuvants (aluminum phosphate [AlPO4]; aluminum hydroxide, Al[OH]3; CpG/Al[OH]3; or Quillaja saponaria 21 [QS-21]); or saline to female Wistar Han rats. Intravascular lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was a positive control. Injection sites and lymph nodes were evaluated microscopically, using hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) stained sections, 48 hours postdose (HPD) and compared with APP concentrations; A2M and A1AGP were measured using Meso Scale Discovery analyzer. Fibrinogen was measured on STA Compact analyzer. In a time-course study, APP peaked at 24 or 48 HPD. In a subsequent study at 48 HPD, injection site microscopic changes included inflammation and muscle degeneration/necrosis, which was different in severity/nature between groups. The APPs were not increased in rats administered saline, Al(OH)3, or AlPO4. Fibrinogen and A1AGP increased in rats administered CpG/Al(OH)3, QS-21, or TDaP; and A2M increased in rats administered QS-21. Fibrinogen, A2M, and A1AGP increased after LPS administration. Acute phase proteins can be used to monitor inflammatory responses to adjuvants; however, some adjuvants may induce inflammation without higher APPs.
Intense but variable autotrophic activity in a rapidly flushed shallow‐water hydrothermal plume (Kueishantao Islet, Taiwan)

Shallow‐water hydrothermal plumes concomitantly host both photosynthetic and chemoautotrophic organisms in a single biotope. Yet, rate measurements to quantify the contributions of different autotrophic activity types are scarce. Herein, we measured the light and dark dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) uptake rates in the plume water of the Kueishantao hydrothermal field using the 13C‐labeling approach. Seventy percent of the plume‐water samples had chemoautotrophy as the dominant mode of carbon fixation, with the dark DIC uptake rates (up to 18.6 mg C/m3/h) within the range of the primary production in productive inner‐shelf waters. When considered alongside the geochemical and microbiological observations, the rate data reveal the distribution of different trophic activities in the hydrothermal plume. The autotrophic activity at the initial phase of plume dispersal is low. This is explained by the short response time the chemoautotrophs have to the stimulation from vent‐fluid discharge, and the harmful effects of hydrothermal substances on phytoplankton. As plume dispersal and mixing continue, chemoautotrophic activities begin to rise and peak in waters that have low‐to‐moderate Si(OH)4 content. Toward the plume margin, chemoautotrophy declines to background levels, whereas photosynthesis by phytoplankton regains importance. Our results also provide preliminary indication to the loci of enhanced heterotrophy in the plume. Results of artificial mixing experiments suggest that previously formed plume water is the primary source of microbial inoculum for new plume water. This self‐inoculation mechanism, in combination with the intense DIC uptake, helps to sustain a distinct planktonic autotrophic community in this rapidly flushed hydrothermal plume.
Donor-specific antibodies in kidney transplantation: the University of Wisconsin experience

Purpose of review Antibody-mediated rejection (ABMR) is the leading cause of allograft failure in kidney transplant recipients. This article provides a summary of the clinical research relating to donor-specific antibodies (DSA) and ABMR in kidney transplant recipients at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Transplant Center. Recent findings Over 40% of the kidney transplant candidates on the UNOS waitlist are sensitized, and both preformed and de novo DSA are associated with increased risk of rejection and graft loss. We have developed graded induction-desensitization treatment and monitoring protocols based on the degree of immunologic risk. We have also implemented standard treatment and surveillance strategies for patients with ABMR. Additional important observations from our studies include high rates of ABMR in patients with positive C4d staining in postreperfusion biopsies and rise in DSA at 1 week after transplant, and increased risk of kidney allograft failure in patients with de novo DSA and ABMR, as well as in patients with HLA-DSA undetectable ABMR. We also found worse outcomes with de novo DSA following simultaneous pancreas--kidney and liver--kidney transplantation. Notably, favorable long-term graft outcomes were observed in patients with DSA who do not present the classic histopathological findings of ABMR. Summary In order to improve long-term outcomes for kidney transplant recipients, further research focusing on the pathogenic mechanisms elicited by HLA and non-HLA DSA, and novel therapies targeting these pathways is needed.
Cancer biology functional genomics: From small RNAs to big dreams

The year 2021 marks the 20th anniversary of the first publications reporting the discovery of the gene silencing mechanism, RNA interference (RNAi) in mammalian cells. Along with the many studies that delineated the proteins and substrates that form the RNAi pathway, this finding changed our understanding of the posttranscriptional regulation of mammalian gene expression. Furthermore, the development of methods that exploited the RNAi pathway began the technological revolution that eventually enabled the interrogation of mammalian gene function—from a single gene to the whole genome—in only a few days. The needs of the cancer research community have driven much of this progress. In this perspective, we highlight milestones in the development and application of RNAi‐based methods to study carcinogenesis. We discuss how RNAi‐based functional genetic analysis of exemplar tumor suppressors and oncogenes furthered our understanding of cancer initiation and progression and explore how such studies formed the basis of genome‐wide scale efforts to identify cancer or cancer‐type specific vulnerabilities, including studies conducted in vivo. Furthermore, we examine how RNAi technologies have revealed new cancer‐relevant molecular targets and the implications for cancer of the first RNAi‐based drugs. Finally, we discuss the future of functional genetic analysis, highlighting the increasing availability of complementary approaches to analyze cancer gene function.
A Single Bout of Premeal Resistance Exercise Improves Postprandial Glucose Metabolism in Obese Men with Prediabetes.

INTRODUCTION Prediabetes is a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. While resistance exercise (RE) is recommended for individuals with prediabetes, the effects of RE on postprandial glucose metabolism in this population are poorly understood. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to elucidate how RE affects postprandial glucose kinetics, insulin sensitivity, beta cell function, and glucose oxidation during the subsequent meal in sedentary men with obesity and prediabetes. METHODS We studied 10 sedentary men with obesity (BMI: 33 ± 3 kg/m) and prediabetes by using a randomized, cross-over study design. After an overnight fast, participants completed either a single bout of whole-body RE (7 exercises, 3 sets of 10-12 repetitions at 80% 1-repetition maximum each) or an equivalent period of rest. Participants subsequently completed a mixed meal test in conjunction with an intravenous [6,6-H2]glucose infusion to determine basal and postprandial glucose rate of appearance (Ra) and disappearance (Rd) from plasma, insulin sensitivity, and the insulinogenic index (a measure of beta cell function). Skeletal muscle biopsies were obtained 90 min post-meal to evaluate pyruvate-supported and maximal mitochondrial respiration. Whole-body carbohydrate oxidation was assessed using indirect calorimetry. RESULTS RE significantly reduced the postprandial rise in glucose Ra and plasma glucose concentration. Postprandial insulin sensitivity was significantly greater after RE, while postprandial plasma insulin concentration was significantly reduced. RE had no effect on the insulinogenic index, postprandial pyruvate respiration, or carbohydrate oxidation.Conclusion/InterpretationA single bout of RE has beneficial effects on postprandial glucose metabolism in men with obesity and pre-diabetes by increasing postprandial insulin sensitivity, reducing the postprandial rise in glucose Ra, and reducing postprandial plasma insulin concentration.
Cognitive improvement following weight gain in patients with anorexia nervosa: A systematic review.

OBJECTIVE Anorexia nervosa (AN) has been associated with cognitive impairment. While re-nutrition is one of the main treatment targets, the effect on cognitive impairments is unclear. The aim of this review was to examine whether cognitive functions improve after weight gain in patients with AN. METHOD A systematic review was performed following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses statement guidelines (PROSPERO CRD42019081993). Literature searches were conducted May 20th , 2019 in PubMed, EMBASE, PsychINFO and Cochrane Library. Pairs of reviewers screened reports independently based on titles/abstracts (N = 6539) and full texts (N = 378). Furthermore, they assessed the quality of reports, including whether practice effects were accounted for. RESULTS Twenty-four longitudinal reports were included featuring 757 patients and 419 healthy controls. Six studies examined children and adolescents. Four out of four studies found processing speed to improve above and beyond what could be assigned to practice effects and three out of four studies found that cognitive flexibility was unaffected after weight gain in children and adolescents. Results from studies of adults were inconclusive. DISCUSSION The literature on cognitive change in patients with AN following weight gain is sparse. Preliminary conclusions can be made only for children and adolescents, where weight gain appeared to be associated with improved processing speed.
Early damage as measured by SLICC/ACR damage index is a predictor of hospitalization in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)

Background Hospital admissions and re-admissions in lupus patients are common occurrences that can lead to poor prognosis. Objectives We evaluated the leading causes of all-cause hospitalizations and their predictive factors in the Malaysian multi-ethnic SLE patients. Methods This is a retrospective study involving 300 SLE patients. Demographic data and details of hospitalizations from the year 1988 until 2019 were reviewed. Baseline and latest disease activity (SLEDAI-2 K) and SLICC/ACR damage index (SDI) scores were evaluated. To be eligible for this study, their SLE diagnosis and disease duration was at least one year; this is to ensure that the baseline disease damages were measured at least after 6 months of diagnosis and subsequent disease damage indexes were captured. Results Majority were of Chinese ethnicity 150 (50%). The cohort’s median age was 48 (18–82) years and median disease duration was 13 (1–52) years. 133 (44.3%) had SDI score of ≥1 at baseline (early damage). 69 (23%) had developed new organ damage during this study period. There were 222 (74%) patients ever hospitalized from this cohort. The main cause of hospitalization was lupus flare which included concurrent infection (n = 415 admissions, 46%), followed by elective admissions for procedures and others (n = 284 admissions, 31.5%). Admissions for treatment and disease related complications were 13.8%. 8.7% of admissions were due to infections alone. Median length of stay for SLE-related cause admissions was longer compared to non-SLE related causes. Jointly predictive factors for hospitalization were anti-phospholipid syndrome (OR 5.82), anti-Smith (OR 6.30), anti-SSA (OR 3.37), serositis (OR 14.56), neurological (OR 5.52) and high baseline SDI (OR 1.74), all p < 0.05. Conclusion Early damage in lupus as measured by SDI is a predictive value of hospitalization. Optimization in managing patients with pre-existing damage is crucial to reduce hospitalization risk and subsequent complications.
Collection of the Abstracts of the 2019Sp PMD: Translational Myology and Mobility Medicine

The Interdepartmental Research Centre of Myology (CIR-Myo), Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Padova, Italy and the A&C M-C Foundation for Translational Myology, Padova, Italy organized with the scientific support of Helmut Kern, Jonathan C. Jarvis, Viviana Moresi, Marco Narici, Feliciano Protasi, Marco Sandri and Ugo Carraro, the 2019SpringPaduaMuscleDays: Translational Myology and Mobility Medicine, an International Conference held March 28-30, 2019 in Euganei Hills and Padova (Italy). Presentations and discussions of the Three Physiology Lectures and of the seven Sessions (I: Spinal Cord Neuromodulation and h-bFES in SC; II: Muscle epigenetics in aging and myopathies; III: Experimental approaches in animal models; IV: Face and Voice Rejuvenation; V: Muscle Imaging; VI: Official Meeting of the EU Center of Active Aging; VII: Early Rehabilitation after knee and hip replacement) were at very high levels. This was true in the past and will be true in future events thanks to researchers and clinicians who were and are eager to attend the PaduaMuscleDays.
Aftertreatment of Carbon Particle Emit- ted by Diesel Engine Using Combina- tion of Corona and Dielectric Barrier Discharge

The collection and incineration mechanisms in the particulate matter (PM) aftertreatment technique proposed by the author were investigated. An experiment for actual exhaust gas was performed by sampling 10 NL/min of exhaust gas from the flue gas from a stationary diesel engine generator. The reactor for PM aftertreatment had a glass tube that could be positively charged at the surface using surface electrodes and corona needles that discharge negative charges surrounding it. Various combinations of voltages applied to each of the corona needles and the surface electrodes were compared. The results enhanced the hypothesis that negatively charged PM is attracted by the dielectric surface, which is positively charged by positive ions supplied by the surface electrode.
Structural and Biomechanical Corneal Differences between Type 2 Diabetic and Nondiabetic Patients

Purpose To analyze and compare corneal structural and biomechanical properties, characterized by corneal hysteresis (CH) and resistance factor (CRF), between patients with and without type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM), and determine the main ocular variables that influence them. Methods Sixty diabetic and 48 age- and sex-matched non-DM patients were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. The DM group was analyzed according to DM duration (<or ≥ 10 years), HbA1c levels (<or ≥ 7%), and presence of retinopathy. CH and CRF were evaluated using the Ocular Response Analyzer® (ORA). Central corneal thickness (CCT) was determined by Scheimpflug tomography (Pentacam® HR). Intraocular pressure was obtained with ORA (IOPcc) and Goldmann applanation tonometry (IOP-GAT). Univariate and multivariate linear regression analyses were performed to evaluate the relationship between demographical, clinical, and ocular variables with the biomechanical properties. Results There were no statistically significant differences in the CH and the CRF between DM and non-DM groups (p=0.637 and p=0.439, respectively). Also, there was no statistical difference between groups for the CCT, IOPcc, or IOP-GAT. Multivariate linear regression analysis showed that CH was positively associated with CCT (p < 0.001) and negatively associated with IOPcc (p < 0.001), while CRF was positively associated with CCT (p < 0.001) and IOPcc (p=0.014). Conclusion The CCT and IOPcc were found to be the main parameters that affect corneal biomechanical properties both in diabetics and controls. In this study, there was no significant effect of DM type 2 on corneal biomechanics.
Minimax Value Interval for Off-Policy Evaluation and Policy Optimization

We study minimax methods for off-policy evaluation (OPE) using value functions and marginalized importance weights. Despite that they hold promises of overcoming the exponential variance in traditional importance sampling, several key problems remain: (1) They require function approximation and are generally biased. For the sake of trustworthy OPE, is there anyway to quantify the biases? (2) They are split into two styles ("weight-learning" vs "value-learning"). Can we unify them? In this paper we answer both questions positively. By slightly altering the derivation of previous methods (one from each style; Uehara et al., 2020), we unify them into a single value interval that comes with a special type of double robustness: when either the value-function or the importance-weight class is well specified, the interval is valid and its length quantifies the misspecification of the other class. Our interval also provides a unified view of and new insights to some recent methods, and we further explore the implications of our results on exploration and exploitation in off-policy policy optimization with insufficient data coverage.
Photosynthetic Dynamic Variation and Its Relationship with the Eco-physiological Factors in Caryota urens and Caryota mitis

The photosynthetic characters were observed with CI-340 portable photosynthesis determination system produced by United States.The relationships of Pn and eco-physiological factors were analyzed with path coefficient and the light-response curve was fitted with parabola model for Caryota urens and Caryota mitis.The results showed as follows:(1)The net photosynthetic rate of two species presented asymmetric double peak curve,with a clear "midday depression",and its length and depth in C.urens was more obvious than that in C.mitis,and the minor peak in C.urens was also delayed about 2 hours.These differences maybe result from the various activities of physiological factors such as stomatal conductance and transpiration rate and so on. (2)Ci is the main physiological factor affecting the characteristic of Pn of two species.However,Gs was the main limiting factor in C.urens,Tleaf in C.mitis;The main ecological factor was PAR in C.urens,Cair in C.mitis and RH was the limiting factor of two species. (3)The light-response curve of two species was fitted with parabola models.The high LCP(light compensation point) and LSP(light saturation point) in two species showed that they all belonged to strongly light plant.However,these values were higher in C.urens than that in C.mitis. Thus,the latter was more adaptive to be removed from south to north.
Qubit coupled cluster singles and doubles variational quantum eigensolver ansatz for electronic structure calculations

Variational quantum eigensolver (VQE) for electronic structure calculations is believed to be one major potential application of near term quantum computing. Among all proposed VQE algorithms, the unitary coupled cluster singles and doubles excitations (UCCSD) VQE ansatz has achieved high accuracy and received a lot of research interest. However, the UCCSD VQE based on fermionic excitations needs extra terms for the parity when using Jordan–Wigner transformation. Here we introduce a new VQE ansatz based on the particle preserving exchange gate to achieve qubit excitations. The proposed VQE ansatz has gate complexity up-bounded to O(n 4) for all-to-all connectivity where n is the number of qubits of the Hamiltonian. Numerical results of simple molecular systems such as BeH2, H2O, N2, H4 and H6 using the proposed VQE ansatz gives very accurate results within errors about 10−3 Hartree.
Isolation of Endophytic Fungi in Teaplant(Camellia sinensis) and Their Distribution Patterns in Different Tissues

Endophytic fungi are the common inhabitant in plants.In order to evaluate endophyte biodiversity and its potential effects on host plants,we isolated endophytic fungi in different tissues of tea(Camellia sinensis)trees. Results showed that endophytic fungi inhabited in different tissues of tea except the petal.More fungi were isolated in leaves and shoots;the isolation frequency was from 93.88% to 100% in old leaves.A total of 553 fungal iso- lates were isolated from 994 segments of different tissues of tea tree.The results also indicated that several different fungus species could be isolated from a single leaf of tea trees.So tea plant leaves harbour a complex assemblage of endophytic fungi.Some endophytic fungi were isolated more frequently from mature leaves and shoots than from leaf buds and roots,while some endophytic bacteria were distributed more frequently in leaf buds.It was suggested that host tissue-specific chemistry might influence the distribution patterns of endophytes.
Chern-Dold character in complex cobordisms and theta divisors

We show that the smooth theta divisors of general principally polarised abelian varieties can be chosen as irreducible algebraic representatives of the coefficients of the Chern-Dold character in complex cobordisms and describe the action of the Landweber-Novikov operations on them. We introduce a quantisation of the complex cobordism theory with the dual Landweber-Novikov algebra as the deformation parameter space and show that the Chern-Dold character can be interpreted as the composition of quantisation and dequantisation maps. Some smooth real-analytic representatives of the cobordism classes of theta divisors are described in terms of the classical Weierstrass sigma and zeta functions. The link with Milnor-Hirzebruch problem about algebraic representatives in the complex cobordisms is discussed.
The Secret Is in the Spectra: Predicting Cross-lingual Task Performance with Spectral Similarity Measures

Performance in cross-lingual NLP tasks is impacted by the (dis)similarity of languages at hand: e.g., previous work has suggested there is a connection between the expected success of bilingual lexicon induction (BLI) and the assumption of (approximate) isomorphism between monolingual embedding spaces. In this work we present a large-scale study focused on the correlations between monolingual embedding space similarity and task performance, covering thousands of language pairs and four different tasks: BLI, parsing, POS tagging and MT. We hypothesize that statistics of the spectrum of each monolingual embedding space indicate how well they can be aligned. We then introduce several isomorphism measures between two embedding spaces, based on the relevant statistics of their individual spectra. We empirically show that 1) language similarity scores derived from such spectral isomorphism measures are strongly associated with performance observed in different cross-lingual tasks, and 2) our spectral-based measures consistently outperform previous standard isomorphism measures, while being computationally more tractable and easier to interpret. Finally, our measures capture complementary information to typologically driven language distance measures, and the combination of measures from the two families yields even higher task performance correlations.
A ug 2 01 9 Symmetries of linearized gravity from adjoint operators

Based on operator identities and their formal adjoints, we derive two symmetry operators for the linearized Einstein operator on vacuum backgrounds of Petrov type D and in particular the Kerr spacetime. One of them is of differential order four and coincides with a result of Cohen and Kegeles. The other one is a new operator of differential order six. The corresponding operator identities are based on the Teukolsky equation and the Teukolsky-Starobinski identities, respectively. The method applies to other field equations as well, which is illustrated with the Maxwell equation. The resulting symmetry operators are connected to Hertz and Debye potentials as well as to the separability of the Teukolsky equation for both Maxwell and linearized gravity.