Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A new discosauriscid seymouriamorph tetrapod from the Lower Permian of Moravia, Czech Republic

A new genus and species, Makowskia laticephala gen. et sp. nov., of seymouriamorph tetrapod from the Lower Permian deposits of the Boskovice Furrow in Moravia (Czech Republic) is described in detail, and its cranial reconstruction is pre− sented. It is placed in the family Discosauriscidae (together with Discosauriscus and Ariekanerpeton) on the following character states: short preorbital region; rounded to oval orbits positioned mainly in anterior half of skull; otic notch dorsoventrally broad and anteroposteriorly deep; rounded to oval ventral scales. Makowskia is distinguished from other Discosauriscidae by the following characters: nasal bones equally long as broad; interorbital region broad; prefrontal− postfrontal contact lies in level of frontal mid−length (only from D. pulcherrimus); maxilla deepest at its mid−length; sub− orbital ramus of jugal short and dorsoventrally broad with long anterodorsal−posteroventral directed lacrimal−jugal su− ture; postorbital anteroposteriorly short and lacks elongated posterior process; ventral surface of basioccipital smooth; rows of small denticles placed on distinct ridges and intervening furrows radiate from place immediately laterally to artic− ular portion on ventral surface of palatal ramus of pterygoid (only from D. pulcherrimus); oblique anterior margin of transverse flange of pterygoid directed anteromedially−posterolaterally; cultriform process of parasphenoid relatively short and slightly rounded; ventral surface of the posterior plate of parasphenoid heavily sculptured (only from D. pulcherrimus and Ariekanerpeton); distal ends of fourth and fifth presacral ribs distinctly anteroposteriorly broadened, and extend into the hook−like, posteriorly directed processes; shaft of ? last caudal rib anteroposteriorly broadened; poste− rior stem of interclavicle narrows anteriorly and posteriorly from broadened mid−length section.
Species-specific cleavage of cGAS by picornavirus protease 3C disrupts mitochondria DNA-mediated immune sensing

RNA viruses cause numerous infectious diseases in humans and animals. The crosstalk between RNA viruses and the innate DNA sensing pathways attracts increasing attention. Recent studies showed that the cGAS-STING pathway plays an important role in restricting RNA viruses via mitochondria DNA (mtDNA) mediated activation. However, the mechanisms of cGAS mediated innate immune evasion by RNA viruses remain unknown. Here, we report that seneca valley virus (SVV) protease 3C disrupts mtDNA mediated innate immune sensing by cleaving porcine cGAS (pcGAS) in a species-specific manner. Mechanistically, a W/Q motif within the N-terminal domain of pcGAS is a unique cleavage site recognized by SVV 3C. Three conserved catalytic residues of SVV 3C cooperatively contribute to the cleavage of pcGAS, but not human cGAS (hcGAS) or mouse cGAS (mcGAS). Additionally, upon SVV infection and poly(dA:dT) transfection, pcGAS and SVV 3C colocalizes in the cells. Furthermore, SVV 3C disrupts pcGAS-mediated DNA binding, cGAMP synthesis and interferon induction by specifically cleaving pcGAS. This work uncovers a novel mechanism by which the viral protease cleaves the DNA sensor cGAS to evade innate immune response, suggesting a new antiviral approach against picornaviruses.
Singh, Satwinder and Darwish, Tamer K and Wood, Geoffrey and Mohamed, A Fattaah (2016). Institutions, Complementarity, Human Resource Management and Performance in a South-East Asian Petro state: The Case of Brunei. The International journal of Human Resource

This is a study on the incidence and impact of specific sets of HR practices on Organisational Performance (OP) across different types of firm, within an emerging market setting, where institutional arrangements are fluid and developing. The literature on comparative capitalism suggests that, within advanced societies, formal and informal regulations are mutually supportive, and will be sustained by associated HR systems, optimising OP. In contrast, in settings where institutional arrangements are weaker, there will not be the same incentives for disseminating mutually supportive HR bundles, and when these do exist, they are unlikely to yield any better outcomes. We found that this was indeed the case in the petro-state of Brunei as the usage of integrated HR models did not work better than individual interventions. Whilst it is often assumed that, in petrostates, the primary focus of institution-building is to service the needs of the oil-and-gas industry, we found no evidence to suggest that integrated HR systems were any more effective there; this may reflect the extent to which the industry’s HR needs may be simply resolved through turning to overseas labour markets—both for skilled and unskilled-labour. At the same time, we found that the efficacy of HR practices varied according to firm characteristics: even in challenging contexts, firms may devise their own solutions according to their capabilities and endowments.
Impact of Harvest Month and Drying Process on the Nutritional and Bioactive Properties of Wild Palmaria palmata from Atlantic Canada

The macroalga Palmaria palmata could be a sustainable and nutritional food resource. However, its composition may vary according to its environment and to processing methods used. To investigate these variations, wild P. palmata from Quebec were harvested in October 2019 and June 2020, and dried (40 °C, ≃5 h) or stored as frozen controls (−80 °C). The chemical (lipids, proteins, ash, carbohydrates, fibers), mineral (I, K, Na, Ca, Mg, Fe), potential bioactive compound (carotenoids, polyphenols, β-carotene, α-tocopherol) compositions, and the in vitro antioxidant activity and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition potential of water-soluble extracts were determined. The results suggested a more favorable macroalgae composition in June with a higher content of most nutrients, minerals, and bioactive compounds. October specimens were richer only in carbohydrates and carotenoids. No significant differences in antioxidant or anti-ACE inhibitory activities were found between the two harvest months. The drying process did not significantly impact the chemical and mineral compositions, resulting in only small variations. However, drying had negative impacts on polyphenols and anti-ACE activities in June, and on carotenoids in October. In addition, a concentration effect was observed for carotenoids, β-carotene and α-tocopherol in June. To provide macroalgae of the highest nutritional quality, the drying process for June specimens should be selected.
Effects of an Extract of the Brown Seaweed Ascophylum nodosum on Postprandial Glycaemic Control in Healthy Subjects: A Randomized Controlled Study

The effects of the consumption of an extract of the brown seaweed Ascophyllum nodosum (BSW) on postprandial glucose and insulin responses to white bread were investigated in an acute, randomized, double-blind, three-arm, crossover, controlled trial in healthy, normoglycemic subjects. Sixteen subjects were administered either control white bread (50 g total digestible carbohydrates) or white bread with 500 mg or 1000 mg of BSW extract. Biochemical parameters were measured in venous blood over 3 h. Significant inter-individual variation in the glycaemic response to white bread was observed. Analysis of the responses of all subjects to either 500 mg or 1000 mg of BSW extract versus control revealed no significant effects of treatments. The variation in response to the control was used to classify individuals into glycaemic responders and non-responders. In the sub-cohort of 10 subjects with peak glucose levels after white bread above 1 mmol/L, we observed a significant decrease in maximum levels of plasma glucose after the intervention meal with 1000 mg of extract compared with the control. No adverse effects were reported. Further work is warranted to define all factors that determine “responders” to the effects of brown seaweed extracts and identify the cohort that would benefit the most from their consumption.
Chitosan/Virgin-Coconut-Oil-Based System Enriched with Cubosomes: A 3D Drug-Delivery Approach

Emulsion-based systems that combine natural polymers with vegetable oils have been identified as a promising research avenue for developing structures with potential for biomedical applications. Herein, chitosan (CHT), a natural polymer, and virgin coconut oil (VCO), a resource obtained from coconut kernels, were combined to create an emulsion system. Phytantriol-based cubosomes encapsulating sodium diclofenac, an anti-inflammatory drug, were further dispersed into CHT/VCO- based emulsion. Then, the emulsions were frozen and freeze-dried to produce scaffolds. The scaffolds had a porous structure ranging from 20.4 to 73.4 µm, a high swelling ability (up to 900%) in PBS, and adequate stiffness, notably in the presence of cubosomes. Moreover, a well-sustained release of the entrapped diclofenac in the cubosomes into the CHT/VCO-based system, with an accumulated release of 45 ± 2%, was confirmed in PBS, compared to free diclofenac dispersed (80 ± 4%) into CHT/VCO-based structures. Overall, the present approach opens up new avenues for designing porous biomaterials for drug delivery through a sustainable pathway.
University of Birmingham Knowledge management competences, exporting and productivity

Purpose – This study investigates the importance of relational and conditional knowledge by assessing how service and signaling competences affect manufacturing firms’ productivity. These relationships are explored in the context of Africa, where, paradoxically, firms selling abroad must satisfy different market demands than firms that serve only domestic markets. Design/methodology/approach – The authors draw on the World Bank Enterprise Survey to perform a cross-sectional analysis of 4,683 manufacturing firms. These surveys cover the period 2009-2017 and 35 different African countries. We define service competence development as co-location with knowledge-intensive business service (KIBS) firms, measured through KIBS density at city level. Signaling is measured through Outward-Looking Competences (OLCs). Findings: This paper shows that African exporters differ significantly from their non-exporting counterparts in terms of productivity and competences. External service competence generates productivity gains for exporters but has the opposite effect for non-exporters. Results consistent with previous research also show that signaling competences generate productivity gains, but the effect for firms serving domestic markets is stronger than the effect for exporting firms. We use paradoxes of learning to interpret these results.
Determination of Chlorinated Organic Pesticide Residues in Water, Sediments, and Fish from Private Fish Farms at Abbassa and Sahl Al-Husainia, Shakia Governorate

2 Abstract: Monitoring of chlorinated organic pesticides represents a great task due to their long lasting effect i n the environment. A great d eal o f d omestic, agricultural, and industrial w astes a re thrown in Bahr E l-Bakar d rainage canal. This d rain finally pours its water in Manzala Lake, n orth of E gypt, where e xtensive f ishing ac tivities exist. The toxicity of these pe sticides on human a nd ot her living things encourages scientists to examine their levels in the environment elements (water and sediment). Fish is considered an important s ource of fo od to a great p ortion of p opulations. A s th eses a quatic organisms accum ulates t oxic substances in t heir organs, determination of these toxic pest icides in fi sh samples is largely important. As large as a total of 400 ng/L of chlorinated organic pesticides in water samples and 364 ng/g in sedim ent samples w ere estimated. Whereas, the co ncentration of these compounds i n fi sh sam ples i s as high as 137 ng/g.
Variations of azygos vein: a cadaveric study with clinical relevance

The azygos vein can be formed as a single root, two roots, and three roots, namely lateral, intermediate and the medial roots respectively. The hemiazygos vein and the accessory hemiazygos vein are the tributaries of azygos vein rather than its left side equivalents. Its variations, especially in young persons without any relevant risk factors, may result in thromboembolic illness. This study aimed to describe the morphological and morphometric variations of azygos system of veins. The present study was conducted on thirty formalin fixed adult human cadavers by dissecting azygos vein from formation to termination and variations were noted. The azygos vein was formed by a single root in 56.7%, by two roots: the lateral root and intermediate root in 36.7% cases and by the lateral root and medial root in 6.6%. The vertebral level of termination of azygos vein was seen at the level of T4 vertebrae in 70% cases, at the level of T3 vertebrae in 20% of cases and at the level of T5 vertebrae in 10% cases. The course of azygos vein was varying in 13.3%. These morphological variations can be useful while performing mediastinal surgery, mediastinoscopy, surgery of the deformations of the vertebral column, neurovascular surgeries of the retroperitoneal organs, disc herniation and fracture of thoracic vertebrae.
The dichotomy of regulatory B cells in cancer versus allergic disease

Regulatory B cells (Bregs) are an immunosuppressive cell phenotype that affects the immune system by limiting the inflammatory cascade. Dysregulation of Bregs can interestingly play a dichotomous role in the pathophysiology of many diseases and is especially highlighted when examining cancer pathology compared to allergic disease. This study reviews the existing literature on Bregs and compares their role in allergic disease in contrast to cancer development. Upregulation of Bregs in cancer states has been associated with poor prognostic outcomes across various cancer types, and Breg proliferation was associated with chronic interferon signaling, activation of the BCR–BTK (B cell receptor‐Bruton's tyrosine kinase) pathway, and release of C–X–C motif ligand 13. In contrast, Breg dysfunction has been identified as a key mechanism in many allergic diseases, such as allergic asthma, allergic rhinitis, atopic dermatitis, and contact dermatitis. Development of Breg‐targeted immunotherapies is currently at the preclinical level, but strategies differentially focus on Breg depletion in cancer versus Breg stimulation in allergy. Our review highlights the divergent functions that Bregs play in cancer compared to allergy. We conclude that natural homeostasis hinges on a fine balance between the dichotomous role of Bregs—over or underactivation can result in a pathological state.
EROSIVIDADE DA CHUVA: DISTRIBUIÇÃO E CORRELAÇÃO COM A PRECIPITAÇÃO EM ÓBIDOS-PA (BRASIL) / RAINFALL EROSIVITY: DISTRUBUITION AND CORRELATION WITH PRECIPITATION IN ÓBIDOS-PA (BRAZIL)

Este trabalho buscou determinar o valor do índice erosividade da chuva para Óbidos/PA, além de avaliar o seu período de retorno e probabilidade de ocorrência, analisar a distribuição anual deste índice e correlacioná-lo com a precipitação local. Para isto, utilizaram-se dados de precipitação, de 1986 a 2015, de uma estação meteorológica do INMET localizada no município. A partir destes, calculou-se o índice de erosividade para todos os anos de análise, gerando um índice final. Calculou-se a frequência dos valores dos índices e os períodos de retorno correspondentes, que foram plotados em curvas de probabilidade de ocorrência para análise. Realizaram-se análises de regressão para analisar a relação entre a erosividade e a precipitação. No período de análise, a erosividade da chuva para Óbidos foi 13.361 MJ mm ha-1 h-1 ano-1, com probabilidade de 52% de ser equiparado ou excedido pelo menos uma vez a cada 2 anos. Este valor do índice de erosividade classificou a região em área de Muito Alta Erosividade. Nos meses de fevereiro, março e abril são esperados os maiores riscos de erosão, com 60,88% do valor total da erosividade anual. Na análise de regressão, o modelo matemático que apresentou melhor correlação foi o linear (r² = 0,9991).
Asymptomatic atrial fibrillation among hospitalized patients: clinical correlates and in-hospital outcomes in Improving Care for Cardiovascular Disease in China-Atrial Fibrillation

Abstract Aims The clinical correlates and outcomes of asymptomatic atrial fibrillation (AF) in hospitalized patients are largely unknown. We aimed to investigate the clinical correlates and in-hospital outcomes of asymptomatic AF in hospitalized Chinese patients. Methods and results We conducted a cross-sectional registry study of inpatients with AF enrolled in the Improving Care for Cardiovascular Disease in China-Atrial Fibrillation Project between February 2015 and December 2019. We investigated the clinical characteristics of asymptomatic AF and the association between the clinical correlates and the in-hospital outcomes of asymptomatic AF. Asymptomatic and symptomatic AF were defined according to the European Heart Rhythm Association score. Asymptomatic patients were more commonly males (56.3%) and had more comorbidities such as hypertension (57.4%), diabetes mellitus (18.6%), peripheral artery disease (PAD; 2.3%), coronary artery disease (55.5%), previous history of stroke/transient ischaemic attack (TIA; 17.9%), and myocardial infarction (MI; 5.4%); however, they had less prevalent heart failure (9.6%) or left ventricular ejection fractions ≤40% (7.3%). Asymptomatic patients were more often hospitalized with a non-AF diagnosis as the main diagnosis and were more commonly first diagnosed with AF (23.9%) and long-standing persistent/permanent AF (17.0%). The independent determinants of asymptomatic presentation were male sex, long-standing persistent AF/permanent AF, previous history of stroke/TIA, MI, PAD, and previous treatment with anti-platelet drugs. The incidence of in-hospital clinical events such as all-cause death, ischaemic stroke/TIA, and acute coronary syndrome (ACS) was higher in asymptomatic patients than in symptomatic patients, and asymptomatic clinical status was an independent risk factor for in-hospital all-cause death, ischaemic stroke/TIA, and ACS. Conclusion Asymptomatic AF is common among hospitalized patients with AF. Asymptomatic clinical status is associated with male sex, comorbidities, and a higher risk of in-hospital outcomes. The adoption of effective management strategies for patients with AF should not be solely based on clinical symptoms.
Assessment of positive selection across SARS-CoV-2 variants via maximum likelihood

Study of the genome of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, particularly with regard to understanding evolution of the virus, is crucial for managing the COVID-19 pandemic. To this end, we sample viral genomes from the GISAID repository and use several of the maximum likelihood approaches implemented in PAML, a collection of open source programs for phylogenetic analyses of DNA and protein sequences, to assess evidence for positive selection in the protein-coding regions of the SARS-CoV-2 genome. Across all major variants identified by June 2021, we find limited evidence for positive selection. In particular, we identify positive selection in a small proportion of sites (5-15%) in the protein-coding region of the spike protein across variants. Most other variants did not show a strong signal for positive selection overall, though there were indications of positive selection in the Delta and Kappa variants for the nucleocapsid protein. We additionally use a forward selection procedure to fit a model that allows branch-specific estimates of selection along a phylogeny relating the variants, and find that there is variation in the selective pressure across variants for the spike protein. Our results highlight the utility of computational approaches for identifying genomic regions under selection.
Involvement of cathepsin L in the degradation and degeneration of postovulatory follicle of the medaka ovary

Abstract Cathepsin L plays physiological and pathological roles in immune responses, cancer, metamorphosis, and oogenesis in several species. However, the function of Cathepsin L in medaka ovaries remains unclear. Therefore, here, we examined the physiological functions of Cathepsin L in the medaka ovaries. Cathepsin L mRNA transcripts and proteins were found to be constitutively expressed in the ovaries of Oryzias latipes over a 24-h spawning cycle. Expression was localized within the oocyte cytoplasm of growing follicles and the follicle layer of preovulatory and postovulatory follicles. Moreover, the active form of Cathepsin L was highly expressed in the follicle layer of periovulatory follicles and the ovaries 2–6 h after ovulation. Recombinant Cathepsin L was activated under acidic conditions and exhibited enzymatic activity in acidic and neutral pH conditions. However, extracellular matrix proteins were degraded by recombinant Cathepsin L under acidic, not neutral pH conditions. Cathepsin L was secreted from preovulatory follicles, while active recombinant Cathepsin L was detected in the conditioned medium of a medaka cell line, OLHNI-2. Mechanistically, recombinant Cathepsin L activates recombinant urokinase-type plasminogen activator-1, which is expressed within the follicle layers post-ovulation. Meanwhile, the treatment of medakas with an E-64 or anti-Cathepsin L antibody effectively blocked follicular layer degeneration and degradation after ovulation, whereas in vitro ovulation was not inhibited by either. Collectively, the findings of this study indicate that although Cathepsin L does not impact ovulation in medakas, it contributes to the degeneration and degradation of the follicle layers following ovulation via activation of urokinase-type plasminogen activator-1, and not via the degradation of extracellular matrix proteins. Summary Sentence Cathepsin L in the medaka ovary may function as an initiator for the proteolytic cascade responsible for the degradation of postovulatory follicles. Graphical Abstract
Rethinking STS and NLI in Large Language Models

Recent years, have seen the rise of large language models (LLMs), where practitioners use task-specific prompts; this was shown to be effective for a variety of tasks. However, when applied to semantic textual similarity (STS) and natural language inference (NLI), the effectiveness of LLMs turns out to be limited by low-resource domain accuracy, model overconfidence, and difficulty to capture the disagreements between human judgements. With this in mind, here we try to rethink STS and NLI in the era of LLMs. We first evaluate the performance of STS and NLI in the clinical/biomedical domain, and then we assess LLMs’ predictive confidence and their capability of capturing collective human opinions. We find that these old problems are still to be properly addressed in the era of LLMs.
Contrastive Decoding Improves Reasoning in Large Language Models

We demonstrate that Contrastive Decoding -- a simple, computationally light, and training-free text generation method proposed by Li et al 2022 -- achieves large out-of-the-box improvements over greedy decoding on a variety of reasoning tasks. Originally shown to improve the perceived quality of long-form text generation, Contrastive Decoding searches for strings that maximize a weighted difference in likelihood between strong and weak models. We show that Contrastive Decoding leads LLaMA-65B to outperform LLaMA 2, GPT-3.5 and PaLM 2-L on the HellaSwag commonsense reasoning benchmark, and to outperform LLaMA 2, GPT-3.5 and PaLM-540B on the GSM8K math word reasoning benchmark, in addition to improvements on a collection of other tasks. Analysis suggests that Contrastive Decoding improves over existing methods by preventing some abstract reasoning errors, as well as by avoiding simpler modes such as copying sections of the input during chain-of-thought. Overall, Contrastive Decoding outperforms nucleus sampling for long-form generation and greedy decoding for reasoning tasks, making it a powerful general purpose method for generating text from language models.