Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
cd1 Mutation in Drosophila Affects Phenoxazinone Synthase Catalytic Site and Impairs Long-Term Memory

Being involved in development of Huntington’s, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases, kynurenine pathway (KP) of tryptophan metabolism plays a significant role in modulation of neuropathology. Accumulation of a prooxidant 3-hydroxykynurenine (3-HOK) leads to oxidative stress and neuronal cell apoptosis. Drosophila mutant cardinal (cd1) with 3-HOK excess shows age-dependent neurodegeneration and short-term memory impairments, thereby presenting a model for senile dementia. Although cd gene for phenoxazinone synthase (PHS) catalyzing 3-HOK dimerization has been presumed to harbor the cd1 mutation, its molecular nature remained obscure. Using next generation sequencing, we have shown that the cd gene in cd1 carries a long deletion leading to PHS active site destruction. Contrary to the wild type Canton-S (CS), cd1 males showed defective long-term memory (LTM) in conditioned courtship suppression paradigm (CCSP) at days 5–29 after eclosion. The number of dopaminergic neurons (DAN) regulating fly locomotor activity showed an age-dependent tendency to decrease in cd1 relative to CS. Thus, in accordance with the concept “from the gene to behavior” proclaimed by S. Benzer, we have shown that the aberrant PHS sequence in cd1 provokes drastic LTM impairments and DAN alterations.
Vitamin C Deficiency Reduces Neurogenesis and Proliferation in the SVZ and Lateral Ventricle Extensions of the Young Guinea Pig Brain

Although scurvy, the severe form of vitamin C deficiency, has been almost eradicated, the prevalence of subclinical vitamin C deficiency is much higher than previously estimated and its impact on human health might not be fully understood. Vitamin C is an essential molecule, especially in the central nervous system where it performs numerous, varied and critical functions, including modulation of neurogenesis and neuronal differentiation. Although it was originally considered to occur only in the embryonic brain, it is now widely accepted that neurogenesis also takes place in the adult brain. The subventricular zone (SVZ) is the neurogenic niche where the largest number of new neurons are born; however, the effect of vitamin C deficiency on neurogenesis in this key region of the adult brain is unknown. Therefore, through BrdU labeling, immunohistochemistry, confocal microscopy and transmission electron microscopy, we analyzed the proliferation and cellular composition of the SVZ and the lateral ventricle (LVE) of adult guinea pigs exposed to a vitamin-C-deficient diet for 14 and 21 days. We found that neuroblasts in the SVZ and LVE were progressively and significantly decreased as the days under vitamin C deficiency elapsed. The neuroblasts in the SVZ and LVE decreased by about 50% in animals with 21 days of deficiency; this was correlated with a reduction in BrdU positive cells in the SVZ and LVE. In addition, the reduction in neuroblasts was not restricted to a particular rostro–caudal area, but was observed throughout the LVE. We also found that vitamin C deficiency altered cellular morphology at the ultrastructural level, especially the cellular and nuclear morphology of ependymal cells of the LVE. Therefore, vitamin C is essential for the maintenance of the SVZ cell populations required for normal activity of the SVZ neurogenic niche in the adult guinea pig brain. Based on our results from the guinea pig brain, we postulate that vitamin C deficiency could also affect neurogenesis in the human brain.
Polydatin Ameliorates High Fructose-Induced Podocyte Oxidative Stress via Suppressing HIF-1α/NOX4 Pathway

Long-term high fructose intake drives oxidative stress, causing glomerular podocyte injury. Polydatin, isolated from Chinese herbal medicine Polygonum cuspidatum, is used as an antioxidant agent that protects kidney function. However, it remains unclear how polydatin prevents oxidative stress-driven podocyte damage. In this study, polydatin attenuated high fructose-induced high expression of HIF-1α, inhibited NOX4-mediated stromal cell-derived factor-1α/C-X-C chemokine receptor type 4 (SDF-1α/CXCR4) axis activation, reduced reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in rat glomeruli and cultured podocytes. As a result, polydatin up-regulated nephrin and podocin, down-regulated transient receptor potential cation channel 6 (TRPC6) in these animal and cell models. Moreover, the data from HIF-1α siRNA transfection showed that high fructose increased NOX4 expression and aggravated SDF-1α/CXCR4 axis activation in an HIF-1α-dependent manner, whereas polydatin down-regulated HIF-1α to inhibit NOX4 and suppressed SDF-1α/CXCR4 axis activation, ameliorating high fructose-induced podocyte oxidative stress and injury. These findings demonstrated that high fructose-driven HIF-1α/NOX4 pathway controlled podocyte oxidative stress damage. Intervention of this disturbance by polydatin could help the development of the therapeutic strategy to combat podocyte damage associated with high fructose diet.
Failure Prediction and Surface Characterization of GFRP Laminates: A Study of Stepwise Loading

The present study explores the failure and surface characteristics of Glass Fiber-Reinforced Polymers (GFRP). Stepwise loading was applied in this study to understand the multi-static loading effect on the laminates before final failure. The loading was set three times to reach 10 kN with loading–unloading movement before final load until failure. The results showed that the angle of the GFRP UD laminates’ position significantly impacts the system’s failure. The results were analyzed using theoretical calculation experiment analysis, and then the failure sample was identified using ASTM D3039 standard failure. The laminates with 0° layer on edge ([0/90]S laminates) underwent preliminary failure before final failure. The mechanism of stepwise loading can be used to detect the effect of preliminary failure on the laminates. The [0/90]S laminates are subjected to stress concentration on the edge due to fiber alignment and discontinued fibers in the 0-degree direction. This fiber then fails due to debonding between the fiber and the matrix. The laminates’ strength showed that [90/0]S specimens have an average higher strength with 334.45 MPa than the [0/90]S laminates with 227.8 MPa. For surface roughness, the value of Ra increases more than six times in the 0° direction and three times in the 90° direction. Moreover, shore D hardness showed that the hardness was decreased from 85.6 SD then decreased to 70.4 SD for [0/90]S and 65.9 SD for [90/0]S. The matrix debonding, layer delamination and fiber breakage were reported as the failure mode behavior of the laminates.
Fostering Youth Female Athletes’ Decision-Making Skills through Competitive Volleyball: A Mixed Methods Design

Decision-making is one of the most important life skills for young athletes to succeed in their daily lives and can be improved through Positive Youth Development (PYD) programs. Although the application of this type of programs has increased within educational and recreational sports, there is a lack of research relating PYD through competitive sports. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine whether an intervention with competitive female youth players improves their decision-making. A hybrid PYD program was applied (37 trainings and 14 games) using convergent mixed methods. 15 girls (8–10 years) and a male coach participated in the study. Semi-structured interviews and field notes were used to collect qualitative data and the Decision-Making Style in Sport questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data. The results showed a positive perception of the improvement in decision-making in both the players and the coach; however, there was no statistical significance between the pretest and the posttest, and the integration between qualitative and quantitative data was mostly discrepant. Despite the lack of significance in the statistical analysis, the findings suggest that the intervention program appears to have beneficial effects on the development of decision-making skills in the players.
Uncertainty Analysis in Statistical Matching

Among the goals of statistical matching, a very important one is the estimation of the jointdistribution of variables not jointly observed in a sample survey but separately available fromindependent sample surveys. The absence of joint information on the variables of interestleads to uncertainty about the data generating model. The present article reviews the conceptof uncertainty in statistical matching and how to measure it by providing a uniﬁed frameworkfortheparametricandnonparametricsetting.Furthermore,thereductionofuncertainty duetothe introduction of logical constraints is investigated and a simulation experiment isperformed.Key words: Data fusion; synthetical matching.
Power Approximations for Overall Average Effects in Meta-Analysis With Dependent Effect Sizes

Meta-analytic models for dependent effect sizes have grown increasingly sophisticated over the last few decades, which has created challenges for a priori power calculations. We introduce power approximations for tests of average effect sizes based upon several common approaches for handling dependent effect sizes. In a Monte Carlo simulation, we show that the new power formulas can accurately approximate the true power of meta-analytic models for dependent effect sizes. Lastly, we investigate the Type I error rate and power for several common models, finding that tests using robust variance estimation provide better Type I error calibration than tests with model-based variance estimation. We consider implications for practice with respect to selecting a working model and an inferential approach.
A CONVEX REPRESENTATION OF MAXIMAL MONOTONE OPERATORS

In this note, we prove that the set of maximal monotone operators between a normed linear space X and its continuous dual X ∗ can be identified as some subset of the set Γ(X × X∗) of all lower semicontinuous convex proper functions on X ×X∗. Throughout this note, X will stand for a Banach space, X for its continuous dual and 〈·, ·〉 for the duality pairing between X and X and defined by 〈x, x〉 = x(x). By the symbol T : X −−→ −→ X ∗ we denote a set-valued mapping T that associates with each x ∈ X a (possibly empty) set T (x) in X. Recall that T is declared monotone if x1 ∈ T (x1), x ∗ 2 ∈ T (x2) =⇒ 〈x1 − x2, x ∗ 1 − x ∗ 2〉 ≥ 0. A monotone mapping T which cannot be properly extended to another monotone mapping is called maximal monotone. Such mappings are very important in variational analysis and optimization. Equivalently, denoting by gph T := {(x, x) ∈ X ×X | x ∈ T (x)} the graph of the set-valued mapping T , maximal monotone operators are those monotone operators satisfying the property : (1) If 〈x− y, x − y〉 ≥ 0 for all (x, x) ∈ gph T, then (y, y) ∈ gph T. A typical example of maximal monotone operator is the subdifferential of a lower semicontinuous convex function; see Rockafellar [1] and the monograph by Simons [3]. Following the standard notations in Convex Analysis (for instance [2]), Γ(X×X) is the set of lower semicontinuous convex functions φ : X×X → R = [−∞,+∞], which are proper, i.e., φ is not identically equal to +∞. Given φ ∈ Γ(X ×X), define b(φ) = {(x, x) ∈ X ×X| φ(x, x) ≤ 〈x, x〉} 1991 Mathematics Subject Classification. 47H05, 49J53 .
Association Between Secure Attachment Style and Subjective Well-being: Examining the sequential mediation effects

Attachments are an integral element of the human experience from birth to death. Early experiences with caregiver and adult attachments are crucial for human emotional and cognitive development and it is a strong basis for mental health and psychological adjustment. Despite this, little research on the relationship of these attachments has been undertaken on subjective well-being. This study intended to investigate the relation of secure attachment style with subjective well-being through serial mediation effect of self-esteem and emotional intelligence. Process macro version 3.4 in SPSS 23 and AMOS 21.0 were used to evaluate survey data of 266 respondents. The findings of the study revealed that secure attachment style play a significant role in enhancing the subjective well-being of people and a positive significant relation was found between them. Also, this relationship was mediated by both self-esteem and emotional intelligence which supports the serial mediation model. Hence, the results exhibit that secure attachment style predicts self-esteem and emotional intelligence, which in turn influences the subjective well-being of persons. Furthermore, both direct and indirect effects were statistically significant. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed based on the findings of the study.
Functional-group approach with scarab beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae): a low-cost alternative for monitoring biodiversity in El Salvador

Summary Planning, implementing, and systematic revision of conservation policies are necessary to protect the biodiversity of a territory. This is critical in countries heavily impacted by anthropogenic activities, like El Salvador, where conserving biodiversity remnants must be a priority. Monitoring indicator groups represents a feasible option to review the status of biodiversity and the processes taking place in the country's conservation areas. We evaluated the suitability of Scarabaeidae beetle functional groups as ecological indicators to detect differences in the conservation status of two protected areas in El Salvador. We conducted monthly sampling for one year at each site, using pitfall, aerial, and UV-light traps to capture beetles. We detected differences in species richness, abundance, species composition, and turnover between the two areas. The results suggest the possibility of using this approach to monitor protected areas, to estimate the forest conservation status, and to evaluate the conservation strategies implemented to date. For the future, it is essential to determine if this is possible by replicating studies throughout the territory using standardized methodologies to obtain comparable results. The cost–benefit ratio of using a single indicator group is key in countries like El Salvador, where the economic aspect is a limiting factor for biological prospecting.
Do teacher and classroom characteristics affect the way in which girls and boys are graded?

Abstract Teachers’ evaluations of students do not consider only academic competence, but are imbued with social considerations related to individual teacher and student characteristics, their interactions, and the surrounding context. The aim of this paper is understanding the extent to which teachers grade girls more generously than boys, and which characteristics of teachers and classrooms are likely to reduce this gender grading gap. We use Italian data from INVALSI-SNV, providing information on 10th-grade students linked with their teachers. The analysis relies on grade equation models in multilevel regression analysis, with students as first level, teachers/classrooms as second level, and schools as third level. Results show that, when comparing students who have identical subject-specific competence, teachers are more likely to give higher grades to girls. Furthermore, they demonstrate for the first time that this grading premium favouring girls is systemic, as teacher and classroom characteristics play a negligible role in reducing it.
Electrophysiological patterns of visual word recognition in deaf and hearing readers: an ERP mega-study

ABSTRACT Deaf and hearing readers have different access to spoken phonology which may affect the representation and recognition of written words. We used ERPs to investigate how a matched sample of deaf and hearing adults (total n = 90) responded to lexical characteristics of 480 English words in a go/no-go lexical decision task. Results from mixed effect regression models showed (a) visual complexity produced small effects in opposing directions for deaf and hearing readers, (b) similar frequency effects, but shifted earlier for deaf readers, (c) more pronounced effects of orthographic neighbourhood density for hearing readers, and (d) more pronounced effects of concreteness for deaf readers. We suggest hearing readers have visual word representations that are more integrated with phonological representations, leading to larger lexically-mediated effects of neighbourhood density. Conversely, deaf readers weight other sources of information more heavily, leading to larger semantically-mediated effects and altered responses to low-level visual variables.
Transport in the Brain Extracellular Space: Diffusion, but Which Kind?

The mechanisms of transport of substances in the brain parenchyma have been a hot topic in scientific discussion in the past decade. This discussion was triggered by the proposed glymphatic hypothesis, which assumes a directed flow of cerebral fluid within the parenchyma, in contrast to the previous notion that diffusion is the main mechanism. However, when discussing the issue of “diffusion or non-diffusion”, much less attention was given to the question that diffusion itself can have a different character. In our opinion, some of the recently published results do not fit into the traditional understanding of diffusion. In this regard, we outline the relevant new theoretical approaches on transport processes in complex random media such as concepts of diffusive diffusivity and time-dependent homogenization, which expands the understanding of the forms of transport of substances based on diffusion.
The Effect of FIFA 11 based warm up program on „Y” Balance Test in Teenager football players

Background. The FIFA 11 program was designed and introduced for the team of footballers and its goal was reduction of injuries in footballers. Moreover, the FIFA 11 warm up program introduced in the group of teenage footballers can contribute to improvement of body balance and “Y” test results. Therefore, the main goal of this paper was assessment of FIFA 11 program effectiveness in improvement of „Y” balance test in the sample of teen­age footballers. Material and methods. 30 subjects were selected for the study and the sample was next randomly divided into 2 equal groups: the experimental group and the control group. The participants’ age ranged from 16 to17 years. In order to assess body balance the test was performed twice prior to FIFA11 warm up program an on completion of the 10-weeks’ workout program. Next, the competitors’ body balance was assessed using „Y” test. In the experimental group, the competitors participated in FIFA warm up program instead of doing standard warm up. Results. The results indicate body balance improvement in the teenager footballers after the 10-day FIFA 11 program, and the “Y” test revealed an improvement of dynamic balance (the right and left lower limbs, mean forward movement p<0.05 and the overall result p<0.05). Moreover, the applied FIFA 11 program contributed to improvement of the total normalized value (as compared with the result of the first test) and the final assessment of 50% of participants (as compared with the first study) revealed that the total result obtained in the experimental group during “Y” test was above 89.6%. Conclusions. The 10 day FIFA 11 program contributed to the improvement of selected parameters of “Y” balance test in teenage football players. Moreover, the introduced FIFA 11 program contributed to the improvement of the normalized value obtained in “Y” test, which was above 89.6%. The presented experimental research has confirmed the potential of FIFA 11 in improvement of selected balance parameters.
Optimizing Earthquake Nowcasting With Machine Learning: The Role of Strain Hardening in the Earthquake Cycle

Nowcasting is a term originating from economics, finance, and meteorology. It refers to the process of determining the uncertain state of the economy, markets or the weather at the current time by indirect means. In this paper, we describe a simple two‐parameter data analysis that reveals hidden order in otherwise seemingly chaotic earthquake seismicity. One of these parameters relates to a mechanism of seismic quiescence arising from the physics of strain‐hardening of the crust prior to major events. We observe an earthquake cycle associated with major earthquakes in California, similar to what has long been postulated. An estimate of the earthquake hazard revealed by this state variable time series can be optimized by the use of machine learning in the form of the Receiver Operating Characteristic skill score. The ROC skill is used here as a loss function in a supervised learning mode. Our analysis is conducted in the region of 5° × 5° in latitude‐longitude centered on Los Angeles, a region which we used in previous papers to build similar time series using more involved methods (Rundle & Donnellan, 2020, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020EA001097; Rundle, Donnellan et al., 2021, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021EA001757; Rundle, Stein et al., 2021, https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6633/abf893). Here we show that not only does the state variable time series have forecast skill, the associated spatial probability densities have skill as well. In addition, use of the standard ROC and Precision (PPV) metrics allow probabilities of current earthquake hazard to be defined in a simple, straightforward, and rigorous way.
Effectiveness of COVID-19 Vaccination Mandates and Incentives in Europe

During 2021–2022 many countries in the European region of the World Health Organization (WHO) adopted mandatory and incentive-based vaccination measures to stimulate immunization against COVID-19. The measures ranged from positive incentive-based programs (i.e., cash incentives, meal discounts, and lotteries) to introducing COVID-19 certificates and enforcing the universal mandatory vaccination with fines. We assessed the effect of such interventions on COVID-19 vaccine uptake in the population of eight countries within the region. An interrupted time series (ITS) analysis was performed using an autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) approach to account for autocorrelation and seasonality. The results showed the immediate positive impact of vaccination incentives on vaccine uptake in most cases, with the highest impact being cash incentives for the population (1197 per million population per day). Discount incentives did not show any significant impact. The introduction of COVID-19 certificates was associated with a significant immediate or gradual increase in daily administered vaccine doses in all the countries included in the study, up to 117,617 doses gained per million per month. The effect of mandatory vaccination for all or some groups of the population varied from a continuous decrease in daily administered doses (332 per million capita per day), no significant effect, or a delayed or temporary increase (1489 per million capita per day).