Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Alkali-Tolerant Bacterium of Bacillus thuringiensis EM-A1 Can Effectively Perform Heterotrophic Nitrification and Aerobic Denitrification

Removal of nitrogen from hydroxylamine could effectively improve the wastewater treatment efficiency. In this work, Bacillus thuringiensis EM-A1 was obtained from a biogas digester with hydroxylamine as the only nitrogen source. Hydroxylamine (100%) and total nitrogen (71.86%) were efficiently removed under the following conditions: 30°C, sucrose as carbon source, carbon to nitrogen ratio 40, rotation speed 0 rpm, pH 9.58, and inoculant concentration of 0.58×108 colony-forming units. Ammonium was completely consumed by strain EM-A1, and 8.32 ± 0.08 mg/L of nitrate was produced during the ammonium removal process. During aerobic denitrification, the removal efficiencies of NO2 −-N and NO3 −-N by strain EM-A1 were 100 and 76.67%, respectively. There were about 29.34 ± 0.18%, 26.71 ± 0.36%, and 23.72 ± 0.88% initial total nitrogen lost as nitrogenous gas when NH4 +, NO3 −, and NO2 − were separately used as the sole nitrogen source. The specific activities of ammonia monooxygenase, hydroxylamine oxidoreductase, nitrate reductase, and nitrite oxidoreductase were successfully detected as 0.37, 0.88, 0.45, and 0.70 U/mg protein, respectively. These results indicated that B. thuringiensis EM-A1 is a promising candidate for bioremediation of inorganic nitrogen from wastewater.
Advantages of Widefield Optical Coherence Tomography in the Diagnosis of Retinopathy of Prematurity

Recent advances in portable optical coherence tomography (OCT) and OCT angiography (OCTA) have resulted in wider fields of view (FOV) and shorter capture times, further expanding the potential clinical role of OCT technology in the diagnosis and management of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). Using a prototype, handheld OCT device, retinal imaging was obtained in non-sedated infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) as well as sedated infants in the operating room of Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) Hospital. In this observational study, we provide an overview of potential advantages of OCT-based disease assessment in ROP. We observed that next-generation OCT imaging (a) may be sufficient for objective diagnosis and zone/stage/plus disease categorization, (b) allows for minimally-invasive longitudinal monitoring of disease progression and post-treatment course, (c) provides three-dimensional mapping of the vitreoretinal interface, and (d) with OCTA, enables dye-free visualization of normal and pathologic vascular development.
Virtual Reality and EEG-Based Intelligent Agent in Older Adults With Subjective Cognitive Decline: A Feasibility Study for Effects on Emotion and Cognition

Objectives: Immersive virtual reality has tremendous potential to improve cognition in populations with cognitive impairment. We conducted a feasibility and proof-of-concept study to assess the potential of virtual reality and electroencephalography, with or without an intelligent agent, that adapts the presented material to the emotions elicited by the environment. Method: Older adults with subjective cognitive decline recruited from the community received a virtual reality-based intervention taking place in one of two virtual environments, a train (Part 1, N = 19) or a music theatre, complemented by the intelligent agent (Part 2, N = 19). A comparative control group (N = 19) receiving no intervention was also included. All participants completed measures of affect and cognition before and after the intervention. The intervention groups completed measures of cybersickness and user experience after the intervention. Results: Participants did not suffer from increased cybersickness following either intervention. They also reported a positive to highly positive user experience concerning the following aspects: attractivity, hedonic quality-identity and hedonic quality-stimulation. The measures of affect showed no pre-post change when comparing either intervention to the control condition. However, a reduction of negative affect was observed following the train intervention for participants with a high self-reported negative affect at baseline. Finally, there was a significant improvement in working memory when comparing either intervention group to the control condition. Conclusion: Our results support the feasibility and tolerability of the technology, and a positive impact on cognition, paving the way for a larger-scale randomized clinical trial to confirm efficacy.
Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet and Its Association With Sleep Quality and Chronotype Among Youth: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background Evidence indicates that many university students have poor adherence to a healthy diet accompanied by unhealthy lifestyle behaviors. Chrono-nutrition is an emerging field of research that examines the pattern of optimum daily activity in relation to the human's dietary patterns, and their reflections of variable health indicators such as sleep quality. However, there is a scarcity of research that examines the relationship between adherence to the healthy eating pattern, like the Mediterranean diet (MD), with sleep quality and chronotype among university students. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted, and convenience sampling was used. Participants were assessed for adherence to the MD using the Mediterranean Diet Quality Index (KIDMED), for sleep quality using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and for chronotype using the Morningness-Eveningness questionnaire (MEQ). Results The study included 503 university students, most of them (81.5%) were females. Only 15.1 and 16.9% reported morningness chronotype and good sleep quality, respectively. About half of the students showed medium and high adherence to the KIMED. In-depth analysis revealed that students with good adherence to the MD were more likely to have a good sleep quality (OR = 0.35; 95%CI: 0.21–0.59; P < 0.001) even after adjustment for age and sex (OR = 0.36; 95%CI: 0.21–0.62; P < 0.001). The regression analysis also showed that those with good adherence to the MD had a significant association with better subjective sleep quality, less sleep latency, sleep disturbance, and daytime dysfunction even after adjustment for age and sex. Those with morningness chronotype had about a six-fold higher chance to have good adherence to the MD (OR = 5.67; 95%CI: 2.86–11.26; P < 0.001, respectively). Conclusions Good adherence to the healthy diet presented in the MD among university students is associated with morningness chronotype and with improved overall sleep quality and sleep components. Long-term, controlled intervention research works are warranted for more elaboration on the impact of chronotype and dietary habits on sleep quality and other important aspects such as mental health and academic achievement.
Role of Clathrin and Dynamin in Clathrin Mediated Endocytosis/Synaptic Vesicle Recycling and Implications in Neurological Diseases

Endocytosis is a process essential to the health and well-being of cell. It is required for the internalisation and sorting of “cargo”—the macromolecules, proteins, receptors and lipids of cell signalling. Clathrin mediated endocytosis (CME) is one of the key processes required for cellular well-being and signalling pathway activation. CME is key role to the recycling of synaptic vesicles [synaptic vesicle recycling (SVR)] in the brain, it is pivotal to signalling across synapses enabling intracellular communication in the sensory and nervous systems. In this review we provide an overview of the general process of CME with a particular focus on two key proteins: clathrin and dynamin that have a central role to play in ensuing successful completion of CME. We examine these two proteins as they are the two endocytotic proteins for which small molecule inhibitors, often of known mechanism of action, have been identified. Inhibition of CME offers the potential to develop therapeutic interventions into conditions involving defects in CME. This review will discuss the roles and the current scope of inhibitors of clathrin and dynamin, providing an insight into how further developments could affect neurological disease treatments.
Neuroinflammation Associated With Inborn Errors of Immunity

The advent of high-throughput sequencing has facilitated genotype-phenotype correlations in congenital diseases. This has provided molecular diagnosis and benefited patient management but has also revealed substantial phenotypic heterogeneity. Although distinct neuroinflammatory diseases are scarce among the several thousands of established congenital diseases, elements of neuroinflammation are increasingly recognized in a substantial proportion of inborn errors of immunity, where it may even dominate the clinical picture at initial presentation. Although each disease entity is rare, they collectively can constitute a significant proportion of neuropediatric patients in tertiary care and may occasionally also explain adult neurology patients. We focus this review on the signs and symptoms of neuroinflammation that have been reported in association with established pathogenic variants in immune genes and suggest the following subdivision based on proposed underlying mechanisms: autoinflammatory disorders, tolerance defects, and immunodeficiency disorders. The large group of autoinflammatory disorders is further subdivided into IL-1β-mediated disorders, NF-κB dysregulation, type I interferonopathies, and hemophagocytic syndromes. We delineate emerging pathogenic themes underlying neuroinflammation in monogenic diseases and describe the breadth of the clinical spectrum to support decisions to screen for a genetic diagnosis and encourage further research on a neglected phenomenon.
Further Development of Atmosphere Pressure Field Research in the Arctic Region of Russia

The results of studies of atmospheric pressure in the Arctic region of Russia for the period from 1948 to 2008 presented. The analysis of the climatic seasonal variation of the atmospheric pressure fields has been carried out. As the main research method, the probabilistic and statistical analysis of the time series of the pressure field during 60 years at fixed points in the region of the Arctic zone of Russia was used. In total, about 90,000 daily (with a six-hour interval) pressure values were studied. Based on these data, the climatic seasonal variability was constructed as an averaging of the values of a given time series at each point in space and for a fixed date. The characteristics of the seasonal cycle, its amplitude and phase have been analyzed. Those characteristics were studied and their geophysical interpretation was carried out. In particular, the minimum and maximum values of the series were determined for the entire region and the time series of these characteristics were constructed. It is shown that the deviation is asymmetrical in nature; this is an unobvious result of research. For the maximum and minimum, the best approximations were proposed, and these approximations were tested by known methods of statistical analysis, including maximum likelihood, least squares and goodness of fit methods (tests), in particular, the ? 2 test. The performed study has applications both purely physical (allows to explain the nature, genesis and distribution of large-scale atmospheric formations in a climatic year) and prognostic (allows to understand and track trends in climate, as well as to quantitatively estimate the scale and variability of large-scale atmospheric processes). Numerical calculations were performed on the Lomonosov-2 supercomputer of the Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov.
Modelling and control of hybrid LCC HVDC System

A novel hybrid HVDC system is proposed based on the traditional LCC HVDC system. The proposed system is able to achieve full elimination of commutation failures which cannot be achieved in traditional LCC HVDC systems. In addition, reactive power controller is designed for the hybrid HVDC system. The controller is able to achieve zero reactive power exchange with the connected AC system at inverter side. It can also facilitate a faster fault recovery. Finally, the black start capability of the hybrid system is investigated. The black start sequence and inverter AC voltage controller are designed to achieve smooth and reliable black start of inverter AC system. The performances of the proposed system and controller are validated through detailed simulations in Real Time Digital Simulator (RTDS).
Secondary Analysis of a Systematic Review: Are Antifungal Noninferiority Trials at Risk of Eroding Effectiveness Because of Biocreep?

Non-inferiority randomized controlled trial (RCT) effectiveness may erode when results favor the active control over time, and when a decreasingly effective control arm is used in serial trials. We analyzed 32 antifungal noninferiority RCTs (NI-RCTs) for these scenarios in this secondary analysis of a systematic review. ABSTRACT Noninferiority randomized controlled trial (RCT) effectiveness may erode when results favor the active control over time and when a decreasingly effective control arm is used in serial trials. We analyzed 32 antifungal noninferiority RCTs (NI-RCTs) for these scenarios in this secondary analysis of a systematic review. Our exploratory analysis suggests that the erosion risk in the effectiveness of antifungal noninferiority trials is uncommon. Findings are limited by small sample size and overall risk of bias.
Physicochemical Characteristics of Aedes Mosquito Breeding Habitats in Suburban and Urban Areas of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Background The knowledge of key elements of the ecosystem affecting mosquito distribution and their population dynamics is essential for designing mosquito-borne disease interventions. The present study characterized the physicochemical properties of Aedes mosquito breeding habitats in Democratic Republic of the Congo. Methods A cross-sectional survey was carried out in Kinshasa, from February to April 2021. The physicochemical characteristics of the natural and artificial aquatic habitats of Aedes were measured using a multiparametric device. Results Out of 438 breeding habitats inspected, 273 (62.3%) contained mosquito larvae. The Aedes mosquitoes identified in 76.19% of positive breeding sites were Aedes albopictus (67.30%) and Aedes aegypti (37.98%). The median values of dissolved oxygen (DO) (1.0), turbidity (19.15), and salinity (0.115) in water breeding sites of Aedes were respectively 0.8, 55.0, and 0.29 in Culex breeding sites (p < 0.05). The physicochemical characteristics of the breeding habitat for Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus were almost identical. In urban areas, the median temperature was 29.82 while it was 29.60 in suburban areas (p < 0.05). Significantly, the salinity was higher in bamboo and metal containers while DO was higher in tins. After analysis using simple linear regression, total dissolved solids (r = 0.23; p = 0.000), conductivity (r = 0.23), salinity (r = 0.23), and temperature (r = 0.13) were associated with larval density (p < 0.05). In the final model (r = 0.30, p = 0.01), salinity (r = 0.23) and DO (r = 0.138) adjusted to temperature, pH, and turbidity were associated positively to larvae density. Conclusion The Aedes breeding sites and mosquito density were significantly influenced by water salinity, DO, temperature, pH, and turbidity.
Temperature Anisotropy Instabilities Stimulated by the Solar Wind Suprathermal Populations

This review paper compiles recent results obtained by the present group of authors describing the effects of suprathermal populations present in space plasmas (up to a few keVs) on temperature anisotropy instabilities. Of particular interest are the electromagnetic cyclotron and firehose excitations, which play a major role in limiting temperature anisotropy, resulting, for instance, from the adiabatic expansion of the solar wind. Relying on a rigorous modeling and interpretation of the observed velocity distributions, both theoretical models and numerical simulations indicate a systematic stimulation of these excitations in the presence of suprathermal populations of electrons or protons. Moreover, the enhanced fluctuations react back on particles, and determine a faster and deeper relaxation of their anisotropy. The present comparative analysis suggests that previous studies, considering only quasi-thermal low-energy populations, may have significantly underestimated these excitations and their implications in various applications in space plasmas.
B cells discriminate HIV-1 Envelope protein affinities by sensing antigen binding association rates

HIV-1 Envelope (Env) proteins designed to induce neutralizing antibody responses allow study of the role of affinities (equilibrium dissociation constant, KD) and kinetic rates (association/dissociation rates) on B cell antigen recognition. It is unclear whether affinity discrimination during B cell activation is based solely on Env protein binding KD, and whether B cells discriminate between proteins of similar affinities but that bind with different kinetic rates. Here we used a panel of Env proteins and Ramos B cell lines expressing IgM BCRs with specificity for CD4 binding-site broadly neutralizing (bnAb) or a precursor antibody to study the role of antigen binding kinetic rates on both early (proximal/distal signaling) and late events (BCR/antigen internalization) in B cell activation. Our results support a kinetic model for B cell activation in which Env protein affinity discrimination is based not on overall KD, but on sensing of association rate and a threshold antigen-BCR half-life.
Cutaneous Toxicity Associated With Enfortumab Vedotin: A Real-Word Study Leveraging U.S. Food and Drug Administration Adverse Event Reporting System

Introduction Enfortumab vedotin (EV) has been demonstrated to have a significant response rate in early phase trials and is known for its tolerable side-effect profile. Emerging case reports have raised awareness of cutaneous toxicities, which may be a potentially fatal complication. Objective To assess the potential relevance between EV and cutaneous toxicities reports through data mining of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) adverse event reporting system (FAERS). Methods Data from January 1, 2019, to November 4, 2021, in the FAERS database were retrieved. Information component (IC) and reporting odds ratio (ROR) were used to evaluate the association between EV and cutaneous toxicities events. Results EV was significantly associated with cutaneous toxicities in the database compared with both all other drugs (ROR 12.90 [10.62–15.66], IC 2.76 [2.52–3.01], middle signal) and platinum-based therapy (ROR 15.11 [12.43–18.37], IC 2.91 [2.66–3.15], middle signal) in the FAERS database. A significant association was detected between EV and all the cutaneous adverse effects (AEs) except erythema, palmar–plantar erythrodysesthesia syndrome, and dermatitis allergic. Both Stevens–Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis occurred 15 times as frequently for EV compared with all other drugs (ROR = 15.20; ROR = 15.52), while Stevens–Johnson syndrome occurred 18 times and toxic epidermal necrolysis occurred 7 times as frequently for EV compared with platinum-based therapy in the database (ROR = 18.74; ROR = 7.80). All groups that limited the gender and age showed a significant association between EV and cutaneous toxicities. Conclusions A significant signal was detected between EV use and cutaneous toxicities. It is worth noting that Stevens–Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis were significantly associated with EV use.
Near-Infrared Activation of Sensory Rhodopsin II Mediated by NIR-to-Blue Upconversion Nanoparticles

Direct optical activation of microbial rhodopsins in deep biological tissue suffers from ineffective light delivery because visible light is strongly scattered and absorbed. NIR light has deeper tissue penetration, but NIR-activation requires a transducer that converts NIR light into visible light in proximity to proteins of interest. Lanthanide-doped upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) are ideal transducer as they absorb near-infrared (NIR) light and emit visible light. Therefore, UCNP-assisted excitation of microbial rhodopsins with NIR light has been intensively studied by electrophysiology technique. While electrophysiology is a powerful method to test the functional performance of microbial rhodopsins, conformational changes associated with the NIR light illumination in the presence of UCNPs remain poorly understood. Since UCNPs have generally multiple emission peaks at different wavelengths, it is important to reveal if UCNP-generated visible light induces similar structural changes of microbial rhodopsins as conventional visible light illumination does. Here, we synthesize the lanthanide-doped UCNPs that convert NIR light to blue light. Using these NIR-to-blue UCNPs, we monitor the NIR-triggered conformational changes in sensory rhodopsin II from Natronomonas pharaonis (NpSRII), blue light-sensitive microbial rhodospsin, by FTIR spectroscopy. FTIR difference spectrum of NpSRII was recorded under two different excitation conditions: (ⅰ) with conventional blue light, (ⅱ) with UCNP-generated blue light upon NIR excitation. Both spectra display similar spectral features characteristic of the long-lived M photointermediate state during the photocycle of NpSRII. This study demonstrates that NIR-activation of NpSRII mediated by UCNPs takes place in a similar way to direct blue light activation of NpSRII.
Toward Accurate Formation Routes of Complex Organic Molecules in the Interstellar Medium: The Paradigmatic Cases of Acrylonitrile and Cyanomethanimine

The investigation of reaction mechanisms in the interstellar medium requires the evaluation of reaction rates and branching ratios, which can be effectively obtained in the framework of the ab-initio transition state/master equation formalism. However, the reliability of this approach relies on the computation of accurate reaction enthalpies and activation energies for all the paths characterizing the potential energy surface under investigation. Two effective yet reliable parameter-free model chemistries are introduced to obtain accurate energies of all stationary points, with structural determination performed using double-hybrid density functionals. After their validation, these model chemistries have been employed to analyze the competition between hydrogen abstraction and addition/elimination in the reaction between the CN radical and ethylene or methanimine. The energetics has then been complemented by a kinetic study. The results provide new information about important reactive channels operative in different regions of the interstellar medium and in the atmospheres of exoplanets. These further extend the recent general addition/elimination mechanism for the formation of “complex imines” from the reaction of methanimine with a small radical species.