Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Are Pandemics Gender Neutral? Women's Health and COVID-19

In December 2019, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) emerged as a health crisis in Wuhan, China, and was later declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. As it spread and its death toll increased, on the 11th of March 2020 it was declared a pandemic at 4,369 deaths worldwide, and cases and deaths have since surged. With gender disparities already known to leave women and their health at the margins of society during outbreaks, it is important to understand how COVID-19 affects women's health. In this article, we discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic can create vulnerabilities for women and their health and further exacerbate long-existing inequalities and social disparities. These include gender-based roles, economic and food security, violence, work pressure, and access to health and healthcare facilities. These issues have significant repercussions on the physical and mental health of women. To focus our lenses on these issues, we draw lessons from three specific examples of past outbreaks: 1918 Flu pandemic, Zika virus disease, and Ebola virus disease. We conclude by stating how public health responses and strategies for COVID-19 can be inclusive to women's health.
Frequency of concentrate supplementation for grazing beef cattle

Objetivou-se avaliar os efeitos da frequencia de suplementacao concentrada sobre o comportamento ingestivo diurno (tempos de pastejo, de ruminacao, de bebedouro e de ocio), o desempenho produtivo e a viabilidade economica de bovinos de corte em pastejo no periodo das aguas. Foram utilizados 120 animais da raca Nelore nao-castrados com peso corporal (PC) medio de 382,5 ± 32,2 kg alocados em piquetes formados com capim Marandu (Brachiaria brizantha). Avaliaram-se suplementos ofertados em quantidade de 2,0 kg/animal distribuidos tres vezes por semana (3X) e diariamente (7X). O tempo gasto (%) no consumo de agua foi maior para os animais que receberam suplementacao 3X (5,46%) do que os animais que receberam suplementacao 7X (3,72%). O tempo gasto com pastejo e desempenho dos animais nao sofreram influencia da frequencia de oferta do suplemento. O ganho medio diario foi 1,00 e 1,02 kg/animal, respectivamente, para a suplementacao 3X e 7X. Os gastos com transporte e mao-de-obra sao menores (43%) quando suplementos sao ofertados 3X. O fornecimento de suplementos tres vezes por semana nao afeta o tempo de pastejo e o desempenho de bovinos de corte no periodo das aguas e implica em expressiva reducao nos custos com a mao-de-obra e com a distribuicao de suplementos.
A 23bp Indel Polymorphism in TLR2 Gene Enhances Inflammation and Disease Severity in Dengue

Background Dengue is the most rapidly spreading viral disease transmitted by the bite of infected Aedes mosquitos. Pathogenesis of dengue is still unclear; although host genetic factors, immune responses and virus serotypes have been proposed to contribute to disease severity. The development of high-throughput methods have allowed to scale up capabilities of identifying the key markers of inflammation. Since NS1 protein of dengue virus has been reported to activate immune cells towards enhanced inflammation through TLR2, we examined the role of a polymorphism, a 23bp deletion in 5’UTR region of TLR2 gene in patients with dengue (with and without warning signs) and correlated with plasma levels of inflammatory mediators with disease severity and viral serotypes. Methods Eighty nine patients classified as per WHO 2009 criteria during dengue outbreak in Odisha, India in 2016 were included in the current study. Presence of dengue virus (DENV) was demonstrated by detecting NS1 antigen, IgM capture ELISA and serotypes in circulation were discriminated by type-specific RT-PCR and/or sequencing. Sixty-one confirmed dengue cases were typed for TLR2 indel polymorphism and compared with 485 disease free controls. Plasma samples were assayed for 41-plex cytokine/ chemokines using Luminex bead based immunoassay. Results Presence of 23bp deletion allele of TLR2 gene was significantly more in patients with severe dengue in comparison to dengue fever cases (p= 0.03; Odds ratio 4.05) although the frequency of insertion (Ins) allele of TLR2 was comparable in healthy controls and dengue cases (82.4 and 87.9 % respectively). Seventy-three (82%) samples were found to be positive by NS1/IgM capture ELISA/ RT-PCR. DENV-2 was predominant (58%) during the outbreak. Among the host inflammatory biomarkers 9 molecules were significantly altered in dengue patients when compared to healthy controls. The increased levels of IFN-γ, GM-CSF, IL-10, IL-1Rα and MIP-1β correlated significantly with severe dengue. Conclusions The frequency of 23bp Indel mutation of TLR2 was comparable between healthy controls and dengue fever (with and without warning signs), suggesting that this indel mutation does not contribute significantly to susceptibility/ resistance to dengue; however, del allele of TLR2 gene was significantly more associated in patients with severe dengue symptoms when compared to dengue fever cases.
A meta-analysis of the ecological and evolutionary drivers of metabolic rates in brachyuran crabs

Abstract Metabolic rates provide an estimate of the cost of living for different organisms that can readily be compared across species to provide an estimate of their relative requirements for survival. As such, metabolic rates have been measured for decades on a wide range of organisms. Here, we review published estimates of metabolic rates for brachyuran crabs, a ubiquitous and ecologically and economically important group of consumers. Consistent with ecological theory and results in many other groups of animals, and after controlling for phylogenetic relationships, crab metabolic rates scale with body mass with a scaling exponent of 0.65. Similarly, as with other groups of poikilotherms, crab metabolic rates increase strongly with temperature, with a Q10 of 1.26. Additionally, we found that metabolic rates were correlated with ecological niche, varying with both the diet strategy and the habitat occupied. These results help clarify the relative risk to crabs from environmental changes that impose metabolic stress, including climate change and the proliferation of hypoxic zones.
Intertidal mangrove boundary zones as nursery grounds for the mud crab Scylla serrata

The demand for mud crab Scylla serrata (Forsskål 1775) in the global market has increased, hence there is growing momentum to farm the species in Africa. Aquaculture production in Kenya and elsewhere in East Africa currently relies on juvenile seeds sourced from the wild. Wild-seed collection calls for management of the juvenile crab industry founded on knowledge of the species’ ecology, so as to achieve a sustainable seed supply and recruitment to the capture fishery. This study investigated the tidal, diurnal and seasonal occurrence of juvenile crabs in three habitats (intertidal-flat boundary zones, inside the mangroves, and in channels) in small creeks (Mida, Kilifi and Mtwapa) and Gazi Bay, on the coast of Kenya. Sampling was done with scoop nets and seining at receding tides and via burrow searches at low spring tides (day and night). Juveniles in the mangrove/intertidal-flat boundary zone were found sheltered under mangrove leaves or debris, or in shallow burrows during low spring tides, whereas at receding tides they could be seen moving out with the tide or searching for sheltering substrate or burrows. Catch per unit effort at high-abundance sites varied between 59 and 68 crabs fisher−1 day−1. More juvenile crabs, sized 10–80 mm internal carapace width (ICW), occurred at night during the receding tide. Net-seining was effective in the collection of juvenile mud crabs <30 mm ICW, whereas burrow sampling was effective for gathering larger crabs. However, collection of juveniles by seining reduced the quality of the crabs caught due to frequent loss of chelipeds, as compared with retrieving individual crabs by searching burrows. Some juveniles collected in the intertidal-flat boundary-zone habitat were either in the process of moulting or had just moulted, indicating the significance of this habitat for mud crabs at this physically delicate life stage.
COVID-19 and Sick Leave: An Analysis of the Ibermutua Cohort of Over 1,651,305 Spanish Workers in the First Trimester of 2020

Objectives: The worldwide SARS-COV2 pandemic has impacted the health of workers and companies. The aim is to quantify it according to sick leave. Methods: Using ICD-9 codes, we analyzed Ibermutua records of all sick leaves during the first trimester of 2020, compared to during the same months of 2017, 2018, and 2019. We stratified the analysis by causes, patient sex, activity sectors, and regional data. All sick leaves were adjusted by the number of Ibermutua-affiliated persons in each period. Results: In March 2020, there was an unprecedented (116%) increase in total sick leaves, mainly due to infectious and respiratory diseases. Men and women were equally affected. All activity sectors were impacted, with the highest increase (457%) observed among health-related workers, especially due to contagious disease. The incidences of sick leaves were heterogeneous among different regions. Cost-analysis of sick leaves during the first trimester of 2020 compared with in previous years showed 40.3% increment (mean 2,813 vs. 2,005 € per 100 affiliated workers). Conclusions: The SARS-COV2 pandemic is having a huge impact on workers' health, as shown by data regarding sick leaves in March 2020. This is associated with greater economic burden for companies, both due to the cost associated with sick leaves and the losses in productivity due to confinement.
Association of Severity and Prognosis With Elevated Homocysteine Levels in Patients With Intracerebral Hemorrhage

Background: Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) has high mortality and morbidity rates in the world. Homocysteine (Hcy) has been demonstrated to be an independent risk factor and could predict the prognosis and recurrence of ischemic stroke. In our study, we aimed to find out the relationship between Hcy levels and the severity and prognosis of patients with ICH. Methods: Patients' basic characteristics and laboratory examination results, including the concentration of homocysteine, were taken at baseline from January 2014 to September 2016, and a 1 year follow-up, including the modified Rankin Scale and living status, was taken for all the patients. Logistic regression and Kaplan–Meier survival method were used to analyze the relationship between different Hcy levels and clinical outcome. Results: A total of 551 patients with acute ICH from 13 hospitals in Beijing were enrolled in our study. High Hcy was detected in 284 patients (51.5%). Percentage of male, smoking, drinking, and concentration of hemoglobin A1c and triglyceride levels showed a significant difference between different Hcy level groups (all P-values <0.05). In the logistic regression analysis, high Hcy level is an independent risk factor for the prevalence of 3 month poor prognosis [odd ratio (95% confidence interval) = 1.601 (1.063–2.412), P = 0.0242], especially in female subgroup. In the 1 year follow-up period, high Hcy level patients had a significantly higher rate of fatal incidence compared to normal Hcy level patients (P = 0.0023). Conclusions: High Hcy level was independently associated with poorer 3 month prognosis and a lower survival rate within 1 year in patients with ICH.
Genetic analysis of yield and yield contributing traits in boro rice (Oryza sativa L.) Over environments

Hayman’s component analysis was employed to estimate genetic components of variation for yield and yield related traits in boro rice. Nine diverse lines of boro rice were crossed in diallel mating design excluding reciprocals and all the parental lines along with their 36 crosses were evaluated in randomized block design over 3 seasons in 3 replication. Significant differences among genotypes were observed for all the traits over seasons. Component analysis indicated importance of both additive and dominance components. However, greater magnitude of dominance component than its corresponding additive component of variance exhibited greater role of dominance in the inheritance of these traits. The average degree of dominance was more than unity indicating overdominance for all the traits. Most of the traits exhibited low to moderate narrow sense heritability. Bangladesh J. Agril. Res. 42(3): 457-466, September 2017
A global Brassica pest and a sympatric cryptic ally, Plutella australiana (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae), show strong divergence despite the capacity to hybridize

The diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella, has been intensively studied due to its ability to evolve insecticide resistance and status as the world’s most destructive pest of brassicaceous crops. The surprise discovery of a cryptic ally, Plutella australiana Landry & Hebert, with apparent endemism to Australia, immediately raised questions regarding the extent of ecological and genetic diversity between these two species, whether gene flow could occur, and ultimately if specific management was required. Here, we show that despite sympatric distributions and the capacity to hybridize in controlled laboratory experiments, striking differences in genetic and phenotypic traits exist that are consistent with contrasting colonization histories and reproductive isolation after secondary contact. Almost 1500 Plutella individuals were collected from wild and cultivated brassicaceous plants at 75 locations throughout Australia. Plutella australiana was commonly found on all Brassica host types sampled except commercial vegetables, which are routinely sprayed with insecticide. Bioassays using four commonly-used insecticides found that P. australiana was 19-306 fold more susceptible than P. xylostella. Genome-wide SNPs derived from RADseq revealed substantially higher levels of genetic diversity across P. australiana compared with P. xylostella nuclear genomes, yet both species showed limited variation in mtDNA. Infection with a single Wolbachia subgroup B strain was fixed in P. australiana, suggesting that a selective sweep contributed to low mtDNA diversity, while a subgroup A strain infected just 1.5 % of P. xylostella. Although P. australiana is a potential pest of brassica crops, it is of secondary importance to P. xylostella.
A domesticated code: On the emergence of the oscillatory basis of phrase structure

The search for the ‘neural code’ in animal neurophysiology has recently seen a marked transition from the analysis of individual spike timings to larger patterns of synchronisation, and it will be argued that the study of language should readily embrace these systems-level developments in the field. An emerging consensus in linguistics is that the language system needs to exploit two memory workspaces in order to generate and maintain/interpret non-local syntactic relations (e.g. Adger, 2017). One workspace is used to construct syntactic phrases, and the other is used to maintain these units. The findings of a number of MEG studies will be discussed in order to suggest that an initial phase-amplitude coupling θ-γ code constitutes the first workspace, and a subsequently embedded δ-θ code constitutes the second. It will be shown that this account goes some way to explain why leftinferior frontal regions seem sensitive to syntactic violations, and why anterior temporal regions seem to be implicated in semantic composition operations. If the particular δ-θ interactions documented here are indeed humanspecific, this could derive the apparent uniqueness of the dual workspace of human syntax. δ appears vital for language comprehension, but from a neurocomputational perspective, cross-frequency coupling involving δ may also play a vital role in the online construction of phrases, instead of ‘passively’ entraining to phrasal units (Ding et al., 2016). Although cross-frequency coupling is most commonly found between θ and γ, recent work suggests that θ entrains to δ in the human brain in a uniquely diverse way (Maris et al., 2016). Given experimental findings that these slow rhythms entrain to sentential and phrasal structures (Mai et al., 2016; Bradley & Iverson, 2017), the discovery of humanspecific forms of δ-θ phase-amplitude coupling is potentially of great significance; in particular when interpreted alongside findings that non-human primate call systems exhibit limited cross-frequency couplings, as shown in Murphy (2016a-c, Forthcoming a,b). Grimaldi (2017: 17) summarises that ‘Murphy [(2016b)] proposes a revolutionary theory of neurolinguistics . that 335
Approaching Inflammation Paradoxes—Proinflammatory Cytokine Blockages Induce Inflammatory Regulators

The mechanisms that underlie various inflammation paradoxes, metabolically healthy obesity, and increased inflammations after inflammatory cytokine blockades and deficiencies remain poorly determined. We performed an extensive –omics database mining, determined the expressions of 1367 innate immune regulators in 18 microarrays after deficiencies of 15 proinflammatory cytokines/regulators and eight microarray datasets of patients receiving Mab therapies, and made a set of significant findings: 1) proinflammatory cytokines/regulators suppress the expressions of innate immune regulators; 2) upregulations of innate immune regulators in the deficiencies of IFNγ/IFNγR1, IL-17A, STAT3 and miR155 are more than that after deficiencies of TNFα, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-18, STAT1, NF-kB, and miR221; 3) IFNγ, IFNγR and IL-17RA inhibit 10, 59 and 39 proinflammatory cytokine/regulator pathways, respectively; in contrast, TNFα, IL-6 and IL-18 each inhibits only four to five pathways; 4) The IFNγ-promoted and -suppressed innate immune regulators have four shared pathways; the IFNγR1-promoted and -suppressed innate immune regulators have 11 shared pathways; and the miR155-promoted and -suppressed innate immune regulators have 13 shared pathways, suggesting negative-feedback mechanisms in their conserved regulatory pathways for innate immune regulators; 5) Deficiencies of proinflammatory cytokine/regulator-suppressed, promoted programs share signaling pathways and increase the likelihood of developing 11 diseases including cardiovascular disease; 6) There are the shared innate immune regulators and pathways between deficiency of TNFα in mice and anti-TNF therapy in clinical patients; 7) Mechanistically, up-regulated reactive oxygen species regulators such as myeloperoxidase caused by suppression of proinflammatory cytokines/regulators can drive the upregulation of suppressed innate immune regulators. Our findings have provided novel insights on various inflammation paradoxes and proinflammatory cytokines regulation of innate immune regulators; and may re-shape new therapeutic strategies for cardiovascular disease and other inflammatory diseases.
Transcriptomic Profiling of Mouse Brain During Acute and Chronic Infections by Toxoplasma gondii Oocysts

Infection by the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii can have a devastating impact on the structure and function of the brain of the infected individuals, particularly immunocompromised patients. A systems biology view of the brain transcriptome can identify key molecular targets and pathways that mediate the neuropathogenesis of cerebral toxoplasmosis. Here, we performed transcriptomic analysis of the brain of mice infected by T. gondii Pru strain oocysts at 11 and 33 days post-infection (dpi) compared to uninfected (control) mice using RNA sequencing (RNA-seq). T. gondii altered the expression of 936 and 2,081 transcripts at 11 and 33 dpi, respectively, and most of these were upregulated in the infected brains. Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment and pathway analysis showed that immune response, such as interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) responsive genes were strongly affected at 11dpi. Likewise, differentially expressed transcripts (DETs) related to T cell activation, cytokine production and immune cell proliferation were significantly altered at 33 dpi. Host-parasite interactome analysis showed that some DETs were involved in immune signaling, metabolism, biosynthesis-related processes and interspecies interaction. These findings should increase knowledge of the mouse brain transcriptome and the changes in transcriptional regulation and downstream signaling pathways during acute and chronic T. gondii infections.
A Review of West Nile Virus and Its Potential Vector (Culex Pipiens) in North Africa

West Nile Virus (WNV) can cause neurological disease and death in people. Culex pipiens is the suspected vector in the transmission of WNV. The objective of this study is to review the history of transmission foci in order to help the implementation of an effective and permanent human surveillance in North Africa. West Nile fever first appeared in Algeria in 1994 and was responsible for 20 cases, including 8 deaths. In 1997, a second epidemic was reported in Tunisia, with 173 cases, including 8 deaths. In Morocco, an epizootic was reported in 1996 with 42 equidae. North of Cairo was the first place where WNV was isolated in Egypt in 1950. The re-emergence of WNV cases in the following years confirms an enzootic circulation of the virus in North Africa. West Nile virus has and will remain a formidable clinical and public health problem hence the necessity of prevention against this disease. To cite this article [Tabbabi, A. , & Bekhti, K. (2017). A review of West Nile Virus and its Potential Vector (Culex pipiens) in North Africa. The Journal of Middle East and North Africa Sciences, 3(6), 9-12]. (P-ISSN 24129763) (e-ISSN 2412-8937). www.jomenas. org. 3
Effect of Steroidal Extract for Fenugreek Seeds on ICSH and SSH in Albino Male Mice

Plants are used to treat many conditions of disease but have many side effects which lead to deleterious effect for several systems in t he body. The objectives of this Study are to investigate effective role for steroidal extract of fenugreek on ICSH and SSH in male mice hormones. The steroidal extract of fenugreek was pr epared by hydrolyzing the grinded powder of fenugreek seeds with HCl (2N) in water ba th, then filtered and air-dried and put in soxhlet apparatus for 16 hrs with addition of ch loroform as a solvent; the solution was condensed in the incubator and preserved in refrige rator until use. Thirty (30) adult Albino male mice of 8-10 weeks old, their weight ranged be twe n 25-35 gms. they were randomly divided into 3 equal groups, 10 mice for each group . The steroidal extract of fenugreek seeds administered at dose (100, 200) mg/kg B.Wt. t o first 2 groups (G1 and G2) respectively orally for 34 days, while the third gr oup (Control) administered daily ethyl acetate 20% orally. The results of the present stud y demonstrated significant decrement (P<0.05) in both G1 and G2 mice in all parameters m easured (ICSH and SSH hormones) as compared with G3 (control group). It was concluded that the steroidal extract of fenugreek seeds has a significant antifertility effects on ma le reproductive mice and this effect increase with increasing in dose of this extract.