Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of diurnal temperature range on adult size and emergence times from diapausing pupae in Papilio glaucus and P. canadensis (Papilionidae)

Abstract With recent climate warming trends, both the increase in thermal variance (i.e., diurnal temperature range; DTR) as well as increased mean temperature may impact many different organisms, especially poikilothermic invertebrates. Predictions of insect developmental rates using degree‐days (thermal unit accumulations above the developmental base threshold of the insect) are based on daily mean temperatures, regardless of DTR. However, non‐linearity and variance in the means and extremes are often ignored. The role of thermal variance (e.g., daily temperature extremes and DTR) was evaluated experimentally for two swallowtail butterfly sister species using a common day/night photoperiod of 18: 6 h photo: scoto‐phase and corresponding daytime thermophase and nighttime cryophase periods of 22: 22°C (constant 22°C), 24: 16°C, and 26: 10°C (all three treatments had the same daily mean and the same degree‐day accumulations). Although developmental rates of post‐diapause pupae were largely unaffected for both species, our results show that sizes in P. canadensis females (but not males) were smaller in the treatments with more variance (26°C: 10°C) compared to constant 22°C. Such potentially significant impacts of size reduction in P. canadensis females were not observed in P. glaucus males or females under the same series of thermo‐period treatments.
Low arthroplasty survival after treatment for proximal humerus fracture sequelae: 3,245 shoulder replacements from the Nordic Arthroplasty Register Association

Background and purpose Proximal humerus fractures (PHF) may result in sequelae indicating arthroplasty. We report cumulative survival rates and reasons for revision after arthroplasty for proximal humerus fracture sequelae (PHFS). Patients and methods Data were derived from the Nordic Arthroplasty Register Association. The Kaplan– Meier method was used to illustrate survival rates. A scaled Schoenfeld residual plot was used to report the risk of revision for men relative to women in patients who were treated with reverse shoulder arthroplasty (RSA). Revision was defined as removal or exchange of any component or the addition of a glenoid component. Results 30,190 primary arthroplasties were reported from 2004 to 2016, of which 3,245 were for PHFS. The estimated 1-, 5-, and 10-year cumulative survival rates (95% CI) were 96% (95–97), 90% (89–92), and 86% (83–88) for stemmed hemiarthroplasty and 94% (92–95), 89% (87–91), and 86% (82–90) for RSA with a median time to revision of 18 months (IQR 9–44) and 3 months (IQR 0–17). The risk of revision for men relative to women in patients who were treated with RSA was 3.2 (1.9–5.1) 0–1 year after surgery and 1.9 (0.9–4.1) 1–8 years after surgery. The estimated 1-, 5-, and 10-year cumulative survival rates (95% CI) were 94% (92–96), 88% (85–90), and 80% (75–86) for men and 95% (94–96), 86% (84–89), and 81% (77–84) for young patients. Interpretation Shoulder arthroplasty for PHFS was associated with lower survival rates, compared with previously published results of shoulder arthroplasty for acute PHF. The low arthroplasty survival rates for men and young patients especially are worrying.
A Novel Mode of Sympathetic Reflex Activation Mediated by the Enteric Nervous System

Abstract Enteric viscerofugal neurons provide a pathway by which the enteric nervous system (ENS), otherwise confined to the gut wall, can activate sympathetic neurons in prevertebral ganglia. Firing transmitted through these pathways is currently considered fundamentally mechanosensory. The mouse colon generates a cyclical pattern of neurogenic contractile activity, called the colonic motor complex (CMC). Motor complexes involve a highly coordinated firing pattern in myenteric neurons with a frequency of ∼2 Hz. However, it remains unknown how viscerofugal neurons are activated and communicate with the sympathetic nervous system during this naturally-occurring motor pattern. Here, viscerofugal neurons were recorded extracellularly from rectal nerve trunks in isolated tube and flat-sheet preparations of mouse colon held at fixed circumferential length. In freshly dissected preparations, motor complexes were associated with bursts of viscerofugal firing at 2 Hz that aligned with 2-Hz smooth muscle voltage oscillations. This behavior persisted during muscle paralysis with nicardipine. Identical recordings were made after a 4- to 5-d organotypic culture during which extrinsic nerves degenerated, confirming that recordings were from viscerofugal neurons. Single unit analysis revealed the burst firing pattern emerging from assemblies of viscerofugal neurons differed from individual neurons, which typically made partial contributions, highlighting the importance and extent of ENS-mediated synchronization. Finally, sympathetic neuron firing was recorded from the central nerve trunks emerging from the inferior mesenteric ganglion. Increased sympathetic neuron firing accompanied all motor complexes with a 2-Hz burst pattern similar to viscerofugal neurons. These data provide evidence for a novel mechanism of sympathetic reflex activation derived from synchronized firing output generated by the ENS.
Role of Telomeres and Telomeric Proteins in Human Malignancies and Their Therapeutic Potential

Telomeres are the ends of linear chromosomes comprised of repetitive nucleotide sequences in humans. Telomeres preserve chromosomal stability and genomic integrity. Telomere length shortens with every cell division in somatic cells, eventually resulting in replicative senescence once telomere length becomes critically short. Telomere shortening can be overcome by telomerase enzyme activity that is undetectable in somatic cells, while being active in germline cells, stem cells, and immune cells. Telomeres are bound by a shelterin complex that regulates telomere lengthening as well as protects them from being identified as DNA damage sites. Telomeres are transcribed by RNA polymerase II, and generate a long noncoding RNA called telomeric repeat-containing RNA (TERRA), which plays a key role in regulating subtelomeric gene expression. Replicative immortality and genome instability are hallmarks of cancer and to attain them cancer cells exploit telomere maintenance and telomere protection mechanisms. Thus, understanding the role of telomeres and their associated proteins in cancer initiation, progression and treatment is very important. The present review highlights the critical role of various telomeric components with recently established functions in cancer. Further, current strategies to target various telomeric components including human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) as a therapeutic approach in human malignancies are discussed.
Redefining Cardiac Biomarkers in Predicting Mortality of Inpatients With COVID-19

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text. The prognostic power of circulating cardiac biomarkers, their utility, and pattern of release in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients have not been clearly defined. In this multicentered retrospective study, we enrolled 3219 patients with diagnosed COVID-19 admitted to 9 hospitals from December 31, 2019 to March 4, 2020, to estimate the associations and prognostic power of circulating cardiac injury markers with the poor outcomes of COVID-19. In the mixed-effects Cox model, after adjusting for age, sex, and comorbidities, the adjusted hazard ratio of 28-day mortality for hs-cTnI (high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I) was 7.12 ([95% CI, 4.60–11.03] P<0.001), (NT-pro)BNP (N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide or brain natriuretic peptide) was 5.11 ([95% CI, 3.50–7.47] P<0.001), CK (creatine phosphokinase)-MB was 4.86 ([95% CI, 3.33–7.09] P<0.001), MYO (myoglobin) was 4.50 ([95% CI, 3.18–6.36] P<0.001), and CK was 3.56 ([95% CI, 2.53–5.02] P<0.001). The cutoffs of those cardiac biomarkers for effective prognosis of 28-day mortality of COVID-19 were found to be much lower than for regular heart disease at about 19%–50% of the currently recommended thresholds. Patients with elevated cardiac injury markers above the newly established cutoffs were associated with significantly increased risk of COVID-19 death. In conclusion, cardiac biomarker elevations are significantly associated with 28-day death in patients with COVID-19. The prognostic cutoff values of these biomarkers might be much lower than the current reference standards. These findings can assist in better management of COVID-19 patients to improve outcomes. Importantly, the newly established cutoff levels of COVID-19–associated cardiac biomarkers may serve as useful criteria for the future prospective studies and clinical trials.
Morphological and Life History Divergence of the Zoanthid, Sphenopus marsupialis off the Taiwanese Coast

Keryea Soong, Yuh-Saint Shiau and Chang-Po Chen (1999) Morphological and life history divergence of the zoanthid, Sphenopus marsupialis off the Taiwanese Coast. Zoological Studies 38(3): 333-343. The morphology and life history of the solitary zoanthid, Sphenopus marsupialis, were studied. Individuals were collected by periodic bottom trawling at about 10-25 m depth at 5 localities along the coast of Taiwan from 1989 to 1995. The sizes (column length) of individuals from 2 southern localities were about twice as great as those from 3 relatively more northern localities. The size of mature specimens was also significantly larger at Linbien (south) than at Chadin (relatively north). The sizes of cnidae occurring on tentacles, actinopharynx, mesenterial filaments, and body columns of the zoanthids were not significantly different between the 2 sites. The seasonal change of oocyte diameters revealed that spawning occurred in August at Linbien, but later at Chadin, between October and November. At Linbien, individuals were strictly gonochoristic, whereas 22% of mature individuals were hermaphroditic at Chadin. Transverse division, the first such case reported in Zoanthidea, occurred in about 7% of more than 8000 examined individuals from the 3 relatively northern localities. In contrast, no evidence of asexual division was observed in more than 500 individuals from the 2 southern localities. Asexual division reduced the size of the organisms to below the normal maturation size. The relative frequencies of dividing individuals were lower between May and October, prior to the presumed spawning, than at any other time of the year. The populations from southern and northern localities are obviously different in their reproductive and life history characteristics, although they cannot be separated by cnidom or septa numbers, which have been traditionally used as taxonomic characteristics. These results suggest that what was considered Sphenopus marsupialis, with worldwide distribution, might actually be comprised of 2 sibling species off the Taiwanese coast.
Membrane potential‐dependent calcium transport in right‐side‐out plasma membrane vesicles from Zea mays L. roots

Summary Right-side-out plasma membrane vesicles isolated from Zea mays roots were used to study membrane potential (ΔΨ)-dependent Ca2+ transport. Membrane potentials were imposed on the vesicles using either K+ concentration gradients and valinomycin or SCN concentration gradients, and the size of the imposed ΔΨ was measured with [14C]tetraphenylphosphonium. Uptake of 45Ca2+ into the vesicles was stimulated by inside-negative ΔΨ. The rate of transport increased to a maximum at a ΔΨ of about -80 mV and then declined at more negative ΔΨ. When extravesicular Ca2+ concentration was varied, uptake was maximal in the range 100–200 μM Ca2+. Neither dihydropyridine nor phenylalkylamine Ca2+ channel blockers had any effect on Ca2+ uptake but 30 μM ruthenium red was completely inhibitory with half maximal inhibition at 10–15 μM ruthenium red. Calcium transport was also inhibited by inorganic cations. Zn2+, Gd3+ and Mg2+ inhibited by a maximum of 30% while La3+, Nd3+ and Mn2+ inhibited by 70%. The inhibitory effects of La3+ and Gd3+ were additive. Lanthanum-insensitive Ca2+ five Ca2+ transport was totally inhibited by 80 μM Gd3+ and showed maximum activity at a ΔΨ of -60 mV, with less uptake at both higher and lower ΔΨ. Lanthanum and Gd3+ also inhibited Ca2+ uptake into protoplasts isolated from Zea roots and their individual and combined effects were similar in extent to those observed with plasma membrane vesicles. It is concluded that maize root plasma membrane contains two Ca2+-permeable channels that can be distinguished by their susceptibility to inhibition by La3+ and Gd3+. Both are inhibited by ruthenium red but not by other organic Ca2+ channel blockers.
Deep Learning for Feature Extraction in Remote Sensing: A Case-Study of Aerial Scene Classification

Scene classification relying on images is essential in many systems and applications related to remote sensing. The scientific interest in scene classification from remotely collected images is increasing, and many datasets and algorithms are being developed. The introduction of convolutional neural networks (CNN) and other deep learning techniques contributed to vast improvements in the accuracy of image scene classification in such systems. To classify the scene from areal images, we used a two-stream deep architecture. We performed the first part of the classification, the feature extraction, using pre-trained CNN that extracts deep features of aerial images from different network layers: the average pooling layer or some of the previous convolutional layers. Next, we applied feature concatenation on extracted features from various neural networks, after dimensionality reduction was performed on enormous feature vectors. We experimented extensively with different CNN architectures, to get optimal results. Finally, we used the Support Vector Machine (SVM) for the classification of the concatenated features. The competitiveness of the examined technique was evaluated on two real-world datasets: UC Merced and WHU-RS. The obtained classification accuracies demonstrate that the considered method has competitive results compared to other cutting-edge techniques.
Galectin-3: A New Biomarker for Atherosclerosis Management

Oyenuga and colleagues evaluated the relationship between plasma galectin-3 (Gal-3) levels and sonographically measured carotid atherosclerosis. They found a positive correlation between this inflammatory biomarker and carotid atherosclerosis and atherosclerosis risk factors. They suggested that treatment targeting this biomarker may be important. In 2016, we investigated the association of coronary atherosclerotic burden with Gal-3 levels in 19 patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). The atherosclerotic burden was assessed by the Gensini score. The levels of Gal-3 in patients with ACS were high, and we found a strong correlation between the Gal-3 levels and the Gensini score. On the other hand, there was no correlation between the number of involved coronary arteries and the levels of Gal-3. Based on these findings, we assumed that the evaluation of Gal-3 levels in patients with ACS could be a promising biomarker. Similar to our study, Oyenuga et al found that higher Gal-3 levels were associated with more carotid artery atherosclerosis. Furthermore, their study is a population-based cohort with a large number of patients (n 1⁄4 5061), which provides a more reliable result. Genetic and epidemiological studies showed that Gal-3 plays a role in different physiopathological events. Indeed, it has been reported that Gal-3 messenger RNA expression can be detected at the earliest 30 minutes after acute myocardial infarction or can be delayed for up to 24 hours and can reach a peak level in 14 days. Although the researchers stated that the storage of the serum samples for a long time is a limitation, this may not be so. There are studies showing that Gal-3 remains stable in serum for 6 months at 80 C. This molecule is stable even for 10 years when samples are stored at 70 C. As stated by the authors, they analyzed the Gal-3 levels using a chemiluminescence microparticle technique, which may be a more sensitive method compared with a commonly used colorimetric enzyme-dependent immunosorbent assay.
Multitracer model for staging cortical amyloid deposition using PET imaging

Objective To develop and evaluate a model for staging cortical amyloid deposition using PET with high generalizability. Methods Three thousand twenty-seven individuals (1,763 cognitively unimpaired [CU], 658 impaired, 467 with Alzheimer disease [AD] dementia, 111 with non-AD dementia, and 28 with missing diagnosis) from 6 cohorts (European Medical Information Framework for AD, Alzheimer's and Family, Alzheimer's Biomarkers in Daily Practice, Amsterdam Dementia Cohort, Open Access Series of Imaging Studies [OASIS]-3, Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative [ADNI]) who underwent amyloid PET were retrospectively included; 1,049 individuals had follow-up scans. With application of dataset-specific cutoffs to global standard uptake value ratio (SUVr) values from 27 regions, single-tracer and pooled multitracer regional rankings were constructed from the frequency of abnormality across 400 CU individuals (100 per tracer). The pooled multitracer ranking was used to create a staging model consisting of 4 clusters of regions because it displayed a high and consistent correlation with each single-tracer ranking. Relationships between amyloid stage, clinical variables, and longitudinal cognitive decline were investigated. Results SUVr abnormality was most frequently observed in cingulate, followed by orbitofrontal, precuneal, and insular cortices and then the associative, temporal, and occipital regions. Abnormal amyloid levels based on binary global SUVr classification were observed in 1.0%, 5.5%, 17.9%, 90.0%, and 100.0% of individuals in stage 0 to 4, respectively. Baseline stage predicted decline in Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score (ADNI: n = 867, F = 67.37, p < 0.001; OASIS: n = 475, F = 9.12, p < 0.001) and faster progression toward an MMSE score ≤25 (ADNI: n = 787, hazard ratio [HR]stage1 2.00, HRstage2 3.53, HRstage3 4.55, HRstage4 9.91, p < 0.001; OASIS: n = 469, HRstage4 4.80, p < 0.001). Conclusion The pooled multitracer staging model successfully classified the level of amyloid burden in >3,000 individuals across cohorts and radiotracers and detects preglobal amyloid burden and distinct risk profiles of cognitive decline within globally amyloid-positive individuals.
Chest CT based Viral Pneumonia Imaging Reporting and Data System (VP-RADS): experiences of COVID-19 in Ningbo, China.

In December 2019, a novel coronavirus pneumonia emerged in Wuhan, Hubei, China, and spread rapidly over the world (1). On January 20, 2020, China included the disease as a Class B infectious disease under the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases, with prevention and control measures for Class A (highest level) infectious diseases (2). On February 11, 2020, the virus which caused the epidemic was officially named as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses. On the same day, the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 was named as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) by the World Health Organization (WHO) (3). In February 2020, the Chinese Society of Radiology issued “a recommendation for Radiological Diagnosis of COVID-19 Pneumonia (first edition)”, in which the radiological examination protocol, imaging findings, staging and evolutions were stated, the essential roles of radiology in the diagnosis (suspected and clinically confirmed cases), patient follow-up and discharge were highlighted (4). Due to its easy availability, chest CT is emerging with significant advantages in implementing “early detection, early reporting, early isolation, early diagnosis, and early treatment” measures of COVID-19 control (5). However, there is still a lack of unified understanding and standards on CT based COVID-19 probability classification nor an objective and quantifiable interpretation of the result. By adopting a series of aggressive prevention and control measures (6-8), the epidemic situation of COVID-19 in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, China, has been effectively curbed. However, the city epidemic control is now challenged with the overall work resumption and the ongoing immigration (imported) cases. Therefore, aiming to provide a guidance for disease prevention and treatment at various medical institutions, and to generate a standardized radiological diagnosis, this “chest CT based Viral Pneumonia Imaging Reporting and Data System (VP-RADS)” was initiated by radiology experts from the designated hospital for COVID-19 control in Ningbo, i.e., Hwa Mei Hospital, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Ningbo Society of Radiology.
Dietary Overlap Between Black Caimans and Spectacled Caimans in the Peruvian Amazon

Abstract: The Black Caiman (Melanosuchus niger) experienced a dramatic population decline in the mid-20th century, becoming extinct or locally rare over most of its range due to habitat destruction and the commercial value of its hide. As the success and re-establishment of the species is now dependent on conservation efforts throughout the Amazon basin, Black Caimans require continuous monitoring despite extensive current legal protection. Although such efforts have mitigated the threat of human harvesting, a key issue facing the species today is ecological competition from sympatric Spectacled Caimans (Caiman crocodilus). In this study, we investigated this inferred competition by detailing the dietary overlap between Black Caimans and Spectacled Caimans in the Pacaya Samiria National Reserve in 2009. Using an adaptation of the hose-Heimlich technique, we collected and then compared the stomach contents of several individuals of each species. We found that although the proportions of prey items in their stomach contents varied seasonally, the dietary overlap between the two species remained high, suggesting intense competition for food resources. In addition to seasonal changes, the diet composition of Black Caimans also shifted ontogenetically. Young Black Caimans primarily ate insects and crustaceans, whereas larger individuals mostly preyed on fish, reducing intraspecific competition between crocodilian adults and young. Our findings suggest that Spectacled Caimans will continue to hinder the recovery of the Black Caiman population.