Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
CGRP monoclonal antibody prevents the loss of diffuse noxious inhibitory controls (DNIC) in a mouse model of post-traumatic headache

Aim Determine the role of calcitonin-gene related peptide in promoting post-traumatic headache and dysregulation of central pain modulation induced by mild traumatic brain injury in mice. Methods Mild traumatic brain injury was induced in lightly anesthetized male C57BL/6J mice by a weight drop onto a closed and unfixed skull, which allowed free head rotation after the impact. We first determined possible alterations in the diffuse noxious inhibitory controls, a measure of net descending pain inhibition called conditioned pain modulation in humans at day 2 following mild traumatic brain injury. Diffuse noxious inhibitory control was assessed as the latency to a thermally induced tail-flick that served as the test stimulus in the presence of right forepaw capsaicin injection that provided the conditioning stimulus. Post-traumatic headache-like behaviors were assessed by the development of cutaneous allodynia in the periorbital and hindpaw regions after mild traumatic brain injury. We then determined if intraperitoneal fremanezumab, an anti-calcitonin-gene related peptide monoclonal antibody or vehicle administered 2 h after sham or mild traumatic brain injury induction could alter cutaneous allodynia or diffuse noxious inhibitory control responses on day 2 post mild traumatic brain injury. Results In naïve and sham mice, capsaicin injection into the forepaw elevated the latency to tail-flick, reflecting the antinociceptive diffuse noxious inhibitory control response. Periorbital and hindpaw cutaneous allodynia, as well as a loss of diffuse noxious inhibitory control, was observed in mice 2 days after mild traumatic brain injury. Systemic treatment with fremanezumab blocked mild traumatic brain injury-induced cutaneous allodynia and prevented the loss of diffuse noxious inhibitory controls in mice subjected to a mild traumatic brain injury. Interpretation Sequestration of calcitonin-gene related peptide in the initial stages following mild traumatic brain injury blocked the acute allodynia that may reflect mild traumatic brain injury-related post-traumatic headache and, additionally, prevented the loss of net descending inhibition within central pain modulation pathways. As loss of conditioned pain modulation has been linked to multiple persistent pain conditions, dysregulation of descending modulatory pathways may contribute to the persistence of post-traumatic headache. Additionally, evaluation of the conditioned pain modulation/diffuse noxious inhibitory controls response may serve as a biomarker of vulnerability for chronic/persistent pain. These findings suggest that early anti-calcitonin-gene related peptide intervention has the potential to be effective both for the treatment of mild traumatic brain injury-induced post-traumatic headache, as well as inhibiting mechanisms that may promote post-traumatic headache persistence.
Novel and Simple Criteria for Predicting Mortality of Peptic Ulcer Disease

Objective Conventional risk scores of peptic ulcer disease (PUD) are based on many parameters, and their application in clinical practice is therefore limited. The aim of this study was to establish simple and reliable criteria for predicting PUD-associated mortality. Methods A total of 499 patients with PUD were divided into 2 groups: the training cohort (n=333) and the validation cohort (n=166). To minimize selection bias due to missing values, we used imputed datasets generated by the multiple imputation method (training-cohort dataset, n=33,300; validation-cohort dataset, n=16,600). Results In the training-cohort dataset, the heart rate-to-systolic blood pressure ratio (HR/SBP) and serum albumin (s-Alb) level were significant independent predictive factors for mortality according to the multivariate analysis [HR/SBP, odds ratio (OR): 1.72; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.06-2.80, p=0.028; s-Alb, OR: 0.23, 95% CI, 0.11-0.51, p<0.001]. The model comprising HR/SBP and s-Alb was able to detect mortality due to PUD with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.855. In the validation-cohort dataset, this model also showed good efficacy with an AUC of 0.835. The novel criteria combining HR/SBP and s-Alb developed by a decision tree analysis showed 73.3% sensitivity and 87.6% specificity for predicting mortality in the total-cohort dataset. Our criteria were superior to the Glasgow Blatchford and Rockall scores and similar to the AIMS65 and Progetto Nazionale Emorragia Digestiva scores for predicting mortality. Conclusion The combination of the HR/SBP ratio and s-Alb level is a good predictor of mortality in patients with PUD.
Liver fibrosis improvement assessed by magnetic resonance elastography and Mac‐2‐binding protein glycosylation isomer in patients with hepatitis C virus infection receiving direct‐acting antivirals

Fibrosis regression has been observed in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection treated with direct‐acting antivirals. This study was aimed at evaluating dynamic changes of serum Mac‐2‐binding protein glycosylation isomer (M2BPGi) in patients with HCV genotype 1 receiving elbasvir/grazoprevir.
A model for bilayer membrane electroporation based on resultant electromechanical stress

Reconsideration of the effect of an electrical field applied across a phospholipid bilayer membrane shows that, in addition to a compressive stress normal to the membrane plane, transverse traction stresses are generated in the lateral plane of the membrane. In the fields usually employed for electroporation these transverse stresses are likely to be sufficient to reduce the membrane tension considerably, causing electroporation and rupture. This mode of field-induced change in the membrane provides a natural model for the various forms of electroporation.
Hitting the sweet spot: A systematic review of the bioactivity and health benefits of phenolic glycosides from medicinally used plants

Phenolic acid and flavonoid glycosides form a varied class of naturally occurring compounds, characterised by high polarity—resulting from the glycone moiety—and the presence of multiple phenol functionalities, which often leads to strong antioxidant activity. Phenolic glycosides, and in particular flavonoid glycosides, may possess strong bioactive properties with broad spectrum activity. This systematic literature review provides a detailed overview of 28 studies examining the biological activity of phenolic and flavonoid glycosides from plant sources, highlighting the potential of these compounds as therapeutic agents. The activity of glycosides depends upon the biological activity type, identity of the aglycone and the identity and specific location of the glycone moiety. From studies reporting the activity of both glycosides and their respective aglycones, phenolic glycosides appear to generally be a storage/reserve pool of precursors of more bioactive compounds. The glycosylated compounds are likely to be more bioavailable compared to their aglycone forms, due to the presence of the sugar moieties. Hydrolysis of the glycoside in the in vivo environment would release the free aglycone, potentiating their biological activity. However, further high‐quality studies are needed to firmly establish the clinical efficacy of glycosides from many of the plant species studied.
Single‐cell sequencing in translational cancer research and challenges to meet clinical diagnostic needs

The ability to capture alterations in the genome or transcriptome by next‐generation sequencing has provided critical insight into molecular changes and programs underlying cancer biology. With the rapid technological development in single‐cell sequencing, it has become possible to study individual cells at the transcriptional, genetic, epigenetic, and protein level. Using single‐cell analysis, an increased resolution of fundamental processes underlying cancer development is obtained, providing comprehensive insights otherwise lost by sequencing of entire (bulk) samples, in which molecular signatures of individual cells are averaged across the entire cell population. Here, we provide a concise overview on the application of single‐cell analysis of different modalities within cancer research by highlighting key articles of their respective fields. We furthermore examine the potential of existing technologies to meet clinical diagnostic needs and discuss current challenges associated with this translation.
The effects of nitrogen fertilizer on nutrient uptake, physiological traits and yield components of safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.)

In order to evaluate the effects of nitrogen fertilizer on nutrient status, physiological traits, oil and protein contents of seeds and seed yields of safflower (CV. Gol-Dasht) an experiment was conducted at Mohaghegh Ardabili University experimental farm, Ardabil- Iran in 2009. The experimental treatments were the application of nitrogen fertilizer at five different levels (0, 50, 100, 150 and 200N ha -1 as urea). The result of experiment demonstrated that the safflower's yield components were significantly affected by the application of 150 kg ha -1 nitrogen level comparing to the control (almost 30% ), moreover 100-Seed Weight (100 SW), Cell Memberane Stability (CMS) and the uptake of K and Ca minerals were significantly increased (between 15 to 40%),whereas the highest N uptake, chlorophyll content and the number of seeds per a plant obtained from 200 kg N ha -1 (more than 20%) . The comparison of treatments with control demonstrated that number of heads or capitols per a plant increased from 5.4 to 7.1 at 200 kg N ha -1 . The highest number of seeds per a capitol obtained from 200 kg N ha -1 . Oil content of Seeds decreased (less than 15%). However, the oil content of seeds generally increases with the increase of nitrogen level consumption. Furthermore, considering oil content of seeds there were no significant differences between 150 and 200 kg N ha -1 (increased more that 40 %). Both Protein content and yield enhanced by increase of nitrogen application (improved between 20-40%).
Laterality of tail wrapping in golden snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus roxellana)

ABSTRACT Behavioural laterality in nonhuman primates has been commonly studied in paired limb organs, and studies in unpaired organs such as tails are less common. The very limited investigations on tail laterality have focused on New World primates. We firstly investigated the lateral bias of tail wrapping in an Old World primate. From a wild group of one hundred of golden snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus roxellana), 14 adult monkeys, 7 males and 7 females, were chosen as focus animals. The data of tail wrapping in two different postures that were resting on the ground and climbing the tree trunk were collected and analyzed. The results demonstrated (1) that, when resting on the ground, the focus animals, 3 showed right-side tail-wrapping preference and 11 were ambipreferent; (2) that there was a population-level right tail-wrapping preference in climbing, and 9 of them showed right-side preference, 1 left-side preference and 4 were ambipreferent; (3) and that there were no significant sex differences on the direction and strength of tail wrapping laterality. These findings provide significant evidence for a difference of cerebral asymmetries in tail-wrapping control and would be valuable for further understanding the important function of tails in Old World primates.
Developing a pilot lifestyle intervention to prevent cardiovascular disease in midlife women with HIV

Background Background: Women with HIV (WWH) are at elevated risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) compared to men with HIV. Lifestyle interventions, like the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP), may reduce CVD risk, but most fail to address barriers to healthy behaviors facing WWH. Objective Objective: To inform the adaptation of the DPP for midlife WWH, pilot the modified intervention, and assess feasibility, acceptability, and implementation barriers. Methods Methods: Interviews were conducted with cisgender, English-speaking WWH ages 40–59 to assess intervention preferences. The adapted DPP was piloted and evaluated. CVD knowledge, CVD risk perception, quality of life, and physical activity were assessed pre- and post-intervention. Results Results: Eighteen WWH completed interviews. Adaptations included reducing the number of sessions and adding HIV, CVD, stress, aging, menopause, and smoking content. Of 14 women contacted for the pilot, seven completed a baseline, five attended group sessions, and five completed a post-treatment assessment. Attendance barriers included transportation access and costs. Satisfaction was moderate; informal exit interviews indicated that women would recommend the program. CVD knowledge, perceived risk, and physical activity increased, and fatigue and mental health improved. Content on nutrition, aging, HIV, and stress was seen as most useful; suggested changes included group exercises and additional content on recipes, HIV management, and aging. Conclusions Conclusions: Midlife WWH reported benefits from our adapted intervention. Increases in CVD knowledge and perceived CVD risk suggest improved awareness of the impact of lifestyle behaviors. Retention was adequate; socioeconomic barriers were common. Intervention feasibility and acceptability may be improved via remote access and further content customization.
Human burials at the Kisese II rockshelter, Tanzania

Abstract Objectives The Late Pleistocene and early Holocene in eastern Africa are associated with complex evolutionary and demographic processes that contributed to the population variability observed in the region today. However, there are relatively few human skeletal remains from this time period. Here we describe six individuals from the Kisese II rockshelter in Tanzania that were excavated in 1956, present a radiocarbon date for one of the individuals, and compare craniodental morphological diversity among eastern African populations. Materials and Methods This study used standard biometric analyses to assess the age, sex, and stature of the Kisese II individuals. Eastern African craniodental morphological variation was assessed using measures of dental size and a subset of Howells' cranial measurements for the Kisese II individuals as well as early Holocene, early pastoralist, Pastoral Neolithic, and modern African individuals. Results Our results suggest a minimum of six individuals from the Kisese II collections with two adults and four juveniles. While the dating for most of the burials is uncertain, one individual is directly radiocarbon dated to ~7.1 ka indicating that at least one burial is early Holocene in age. Craniodental metric comparisons indicate that the Kisese II individuals extend the amount of human morphological diversity among Holocene eastern Africans. Conclusions Our findings contribute to a growing body of evidence that Late Pleistocene and early Holocene eastern Africans exhibited relatively high amounts of morphological diversity. However, the Kisese II individuals suggest morphological similarity at localized sites potentially supporting increased regionalization during the early Holocene.
Molecular Interaction Studies of H-Bonded Complexes of Benzamide in 1,4-Dioxan with Alcohols From Acoustic and Thermodynamic Parameters

The ultrasonic velocity, density and viscosity measurements were carried out for the mixtures of benzamide with Propan-2-ol, butan-1-ol, 1-pentanol and n-hexanal in 1,4-dioxan at 303, 308 and 313K. The derived acoustic and thermodynamic parameters namely adiabatic compressibility, free length, free volume, internal pressure, viscous relaxation time and Gibbs free energy were evaluated with a view to investigate the nature of molecular interaction.The obtained results support the occurance of complex formation through intermolecular hydrogen bonding in these ternary liquid mixtures.
Seroprevalence of vaccine-preventable and non-vaccine preventable infections in migrants in Spain.

BACKGROUND Updated seroprevalence studies of infections in migrants may aid the design of tailored vaccination and prevention programmes. The objective of this study was to describe the seroprevalence rates for potentially transmissible viral infections in migrants attended at a referral centre in a major European city. METHODS descriptive analysis of seroprevalence of vaccine-preventable and non-vaccine preventable infections in migrants attended at a centre in Madrid, Spain (2018-2019). Recorded variables included age, gender, country of birth/continent of origin, time from arrival to Spain until first clinic visit, rubella, measles, mumps, varicella (VZV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis A virus (HAV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), and HIV serology. RESULTS In total, 468 patients were included, 135 females (28.8%) and 333 males (71.2%), mean age 30.4 years. The majority of patients were from Africa, (52.5%, of which 88.2% from Sub-Saharan Africa), followed by Latin America (38.5%) and other areas (9%). Seroprevalence for tested migrants for rubella, measles, and mumps was < 95% in the group overall (91% rubella, 88% measles, 83% mumps) and lower rates were observed in migrants > 20 years (compared to those ≤ 20 years). Over 10% of females were potentially susceptible (negative/indeterminate serology) to rubella (11.4%), measles (12.7%) or mumps (10.3%). Lowest rates of rubella seropositivity were in Latin American migrants (over 12% potentially susceptible), measles and mumps seropositivity was lowest in migrants from areas other than Africa/Latin America (74% and 68%, respectively). Seroprevalence rates were 91% for VZV, 90% overall for HAV, around 6% for HBV chronic infection (around 50% of migrants tested susceptible), 2% for HCV and 6% for HIV. CONCLUSIONS Differences in seroprevalence for vaccine-preventable and transmissible infections according to gender, age range and area of origin were observed. Tailored screening, vaccination and prevention strategies in potentially vulnerable migrant groups should be designed.
Rare Earth and High Field‐Strength Elements in the Multani Mitti Clay: A Study Using INAA

Instrumental neutron activation analysis was used to determine nine rare earth elements (REE), Sc and five high field‐strength elements (HFSE) in the Multani Mitti (MM) clay. Chondrite‐normalised rare earth element patterns for the MM clay compared with those for the Post‐Archaean Australian Shale (PAAS), Upper Continental Crust (UCC) and North American Shale Composite (NASC) showed enrichment of light REEs and depletion of heavy REEs with a slight negative Eu anomaly. The Multani Mitti clay showed close resemblance to PAAS and NASC in its average REE and HFSE contents. Positive correlations between La/Ce, La/Sm, La/Yb, Zr/Hf, Th/U and Th/Ta ratios predict enrichment of LREEs, Zr and Th and depletion of HREEs. A parent source of felsic origin for the MM clay is also endorsed through the high La/Th and low Th/Sc ratios observed.
Free-radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate with a tetrafunctional peroxide initiator

This study examined the use of a new tetrafunctional peroxide initiator in the bulk free-radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate. The objective was to investigate the effect of using a multifunctional initiator through an examination of the rates of polymerization and the polymer properties. The molecular weights and radii of gyration were obtained with a size exclusion chromatograph equipped with an online multi-angle laser light scattering detector. The performance of the tetrafunctional initiator was compared to that of a monofunctional counterpart [tert-butylperoxy 2-ethylhexyl carbonate (TBEC)]. The results showed that the new tetrafunctional peroxide initiator produced a faster rate of polymerization than TBEC at an equivalent concentration but also generated a polymer of a lower molecular weight. This trend was the opposite of what was observed in a previous study with styrene. When TBEC was used at a concentration four times that of the new tetrafunctional peroxide initiator, both produced equal rates of polymerization and similar molecular weights. The degree of branching was also investigated with radius-of-gyration plots. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 5647–5661, 2004
Brief Note: Fast Authenticated Byzantine Consensus

Byzantine fault-tolerant (BFT) state machine replication (SMR) has been studied for over 30 years. Recently it has received more attention due to its application in permissioned blockchain systems. A sequence of research efforts focuses on improving the commit latency of the SMR protocol in the common good case, including PBFT with $3$-round latency and $n\geq 3f+1$ and FaB with $2$-round latency and $n\geq 5f+1$. In this paper, we propose an authenticated protocol that solves $2$-round BFT SMR with only $n\geq 5f-1$ replicas, which refutes the optimal resiliency claim made in FaB for needing $n \geq 5f+1$ for $2$-round PBFT-style BFT protocols. For the special case when $f=1$, our protocol needs only $4$ replicas, and strictly improves PBFT by reducing the latency by one round (even when one backup is faulty).
INTEGRATED NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT IN PIGEONPEA (CAJANUS CAJANA)

A field experiment was conducted during kharif 2005 and 2006 to study the effect of fertilizer, farmyard manure and biofertilizers on growth and yield of pigeonpea. The result revealed that 50%RDF + seed treatment with Rhizobium@200 g/kg seed recorded significantly more number of branches (16.3/Pl.), pods (151.3/Pl.), higher grain yield (1358 kg/ha) and net returns (Rs. 15541/-) followed by RDF+FYM and Rhizobium inoculation (14/Pl., 142/Pl.,1325 kg/ha and Rs. 13304/-) and 50%RDF+ dual inoculation with Rhizobium and PSB (14/Pl, 133/Pl., 1305 kg/ha and Rs. 14462/-) respectively.
RIIT: Rethinking the Importance of Implementation Tricks in Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning

In recent years, Multi-Agent Deep Reinforcement Learning (MADRL) has been successfully applied to various complex scenarios such as computer games and robot swarms. We investigate the impact of "implementation tricks" of state-of-the-art (SOTA) QMIX-based algorithms. Firstly, we ﬁnd that such tricks, described as auxiliary details to the core algorithm, seemingly of secondary importance, have a major impact. Our ﬁnding demonstrates that, after minimal tuning, QMIX attains extraordinarily high win rates and achieves SOTA in the StarCraft Multi-Agent Challenge (SMAC). Furthermore, we ﬁnd QMIX’s monotonicity condition helps improve sample efﬁciency in some cooperative tasks, and we propose a new policy-based algorithm, called: RIIT, to prove the importance of the monotonicity condition. RIIT also achieves SOTA in policy-based algorithms. At last, we propose a hypothesis to explain the monotonicity condition. We open-sourced the code at https://github.com/hijkzzz/pymarl2.
Nein to ‘Transfer Union’: the German brake on the construction of a European Union fiscal capacity

ABSTRACT This paper argues that, on the development of European Union (EU)/Eurozone fiscal capacity German governments have consistently engaged in foot-dragging. Few German state elites have ever supported European fiscal capacity building beyond the EC budget. Following the outbreak of the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis, German governments agreed to the creation of financial support mechanisms only with reluctance. We see a case of continuity in German policy preferences driven by consistent ordoliberal and, specifically, moral hazard concerns. The important long-term change that we can observe relates to the growing importance for successive governments of avoiding audience costs driven by sceptical public opinion and the rise of a challenger party in German politics. German government support for a massive EU fiscal response to the economic crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates an exceptional policy position in favour of temporary financial mechanisms involving no fiscal transfers among member state governments.