Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Social Participation of Students With a Migration Background—A Comparative Analysis of the Beginning and End of a School Year in German Primary Schools

The social participation of students can be defined as one of the fundamental goals of inclusion. However, current literature shows that (a) children from minorities can belong to groups at risk of low social participation and (b) relatively little is known as yet about changes in social participation over time (longitudinal study). This study therefore seeks to investigate more closely the stability of social participation for students with a migration background. A total of 353 year 4 students (45% girls, including 16% with German as their second language) from North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany) were surveyed about their social participation (friendships, interactions, etc.) using a paper-and-pencil questionnaire at the beginning (September 2018) and at the end (June/July 2019) of a school year. All schools of common learning in North Rhine-Westphalia were contacted and asked to participate voluntarily. Only students who participated in the survey at both measurement points were considered. At the first measurement point, students had an average age of 9 years (SD = 0.42; range 8–11). At the second measurement point, students had an average age of 10 years (SD = 0.57; range 9–12). Student responses were largely in the form of sociometric ratings or sociometric nominations. One finding of the variance analyses (ANOVA with repeated measures) was that, for the most part, there was no difference longitudinally between students with and those without a migration background. However, students with a migration background were found to have significantly fewer stable friendships than their peers. No other differences in relation to changes over time were recorded in any other areas. The findings thus also illustrate that a possible lack of social participation by students with a migration background remains constant, and that the period when students first come into contact with each other appears to be of fundamental importance.
Women Underrepresentation in Editorial Boards of Geology Journals and the Utopia of Gender Equality

The 5th goal of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development aims at promoting gender equality and empowering all women and girls at all levels of decision making. This includes editorial decisions in the frame of the dissemination of scientific knowledge as a result of research and development activities. This work analyses the women representation in the editorial boards of 53 subscription or open access geology journals of all quartile rankings included in the Web of Science Core Collection™ in 2020 in order to assess how far female geoscientists are from the 2030 Agenda targets concerning gender equality. Among the analyzed journals, in 85% the position of editor(s)-in-chief is (are) occupied by a man or a group of men, and in the remaining 15% by women. Moreover, 80% of the people that make up the editorial board of the same journals are men and 20% are women. Only one journal indicates the editor(s)-in-chief gender and the number of members per gender that make up the editorial board. The strong gender gap detected in this study shows that the goal of gender equality in the editorial boards of geological journals still remains a long way off, and publishers should therefore increase gender diversity in editorial teams and referee pools.
Simulation of Glacial Lake Outburst Flood in Southeastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau—A Case Study of JiwenCo Glacial Lake

Glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) is one of the main natural disasters in alpine areas, which can cause extreme destruction to downstream settlements and infrastructures. A moraine-dammed lake named JiwenCo glacial lake (JGL) in the southeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau failed on 26 June 2020, destroying many buildings, roads, bridges, and farmlands along the flow path. We reconstructed the process of this GLOF event by the Hydrological Engineering Center’s River Analysis System (HEC-RAS) and examined the JGL’s evolution (area, length, and volume) before its outburst, based on the measured cross sections and hydrological data, videos, and pictures taken by inhabitants, DEM data, and Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM)/Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM+)/Operational Land Imager (OLI) images. The result showed that area, length, and volume of the JGL increased by 0.20 ± 0.07 km2, 0.66 ± 0.03 km, and 0.03 ± 0.001 km3 from 1988 to 2020 (before the outburst), respectively. Approximately 0.05 km3 of water volume was discharged with the dropped water level of 15.63 m after the outburst. The peak flow was 534.4 m3/s at breach and increased to 1,408.11 m3/s at Zhongyu town. The difference between the simulated and measured peak flows in Zhongyu town was 41.88 m3/s (3.53%), showing the high accuracy of the modeling results. For villages along the river-channel, the highest velocity was found in Yiga village (14.23 m/s) and the lowest was in Gongwa village (1.22 m/s). The maximum depth was gradually increased as the river reached downstream, 8.03 m in Yiga village and 50.96 m in Duiba village. The combination of landslide, high temperature, and extremely heavy precipitation resulted in this GLOF disaster. An integrated disaster prevention and mitigation plan needs to be developed for susceptible areas such as Niduzangbo basin that experienced two GLOFs in recent 10 years.
Single-Cell Transcriptomics Identifies Heterogeneity of Mouse Mammary Gland Fibroblasts With Distinct Functions, Estrogen Responses, Differentiation Processes, and Crosstalks With Epithelium

Fibroblasts have been shown to be one of the essential players for mammary gland organization. Here, we identify two major types of mouse mammary gland fibroblasts through single-cell RNA sequencing analysis: Dpp4 + fibroblasts and Dpp4 - fibroblasts. Each population exhibits unique functional characteristics as well as discrete localization in normal mouse mammary glands. Remarkably, estrogen, a crucial mediator of mammary gland organization, alters the gene expression profiles of fibroblasts in a population-specific manner, without distinct activation of estrogen receptor signaling. Further integrative analysis with the inclusion of five other publicly available datasets reveals a directional differentiation among the mammary gland fibroblast populations. Moreover, the combination with the mouse mammary epithelium atlas allows us to infer multiple potential interactions between epithelial cells and fibroblasts in mammary glands. This study provides a comprehensive view of mouse mammary gland fibroblasts at the single-cell level.
Validation of New Gene Variant Classification Methods: a Field-Test in Diagnostic Cardiogenetics

Background: In the molecular genetic diagnostics of Mendelian disorders, solutions are needed for the major challenge of dealing with the large number of variants of uncertain significance (VUSs) identified using next-generation sequencing (NGS). Recently, promising approaches using constraint metrics to calculate case excess scores (CE), etiological fractions (EF), and gnomAD-derived constraint scores have been reported that estimate the likelihood of rare variants in specific genes or regions that are pathogenic. Our objective is to study the usability of these constraint data into variant interpretation in a diagnostic setting, using our cardiomyopathy cohort. Methods and Results: Patients (N = 2002) referred for clinical genetic diagnostics underwent NGS testing of 55–61 genes associated with cardiomyopathies. Previously classified likely pathogenic (LP) and pathogenic (P) variants were used to validate the use of data from CE, EF, and gnomAD constraint analyses for (re)classification of associated variant types in specific cardiomyopathy subtype-related genes. The classifications corroborated in 94% (354/378) of cases. Next, we reclassified 23 unique VUSs to LP, increasing the diagnostic yield by 1.2%. In addition, 106 unique VUSs (5.3% of patients) were prioritized for co-segregation or functional analyses. Conclusions: Our analysis confirms that the use of constraint metrics data can improve variant interpretation, and we, therefore, recommend using constraint scores on other cohorts and disorders and its inclusion in variant interpretation protocols.
Bottom-Up and Top-Down Attention Impairment Induced by Long-Term Exposure to Noise in the Absence of Threshold Shifts

Objective We aimed to assess the effect of noise exposure on bottom-up and top-down attention functions in industrial workers based on behavioral and brain responses recorded by the multichannel electroencephalogram (EEG). Method In this cross-sectional study, 563 shipyard noise-exposed workers with clinical normal hearing were recruited for cognitive testing. Personal cumulative noise exposure (CNE) was calculated with the long-term equivalent noise level and employment duration. The performance of cognitive tests was compared between the high CNE group (H-CNE, >92.2) and the low CNE group; additionally, brain responses were recorded with a 256-channel EEG from a subgroup of 20 noise-exposed (NG) workers, who were selected from the cohort with a pure tone threshold <25 dB HL from 0.25 to 16 kHz and 20 healthy controls matched for age, sex, and education. P300 and mismatch negativity (MMN) evoked by auditory stimuli were obtained to evaluate the top-down and bottom-up attention functions. The sources of P300 and MMN were investigated using GeoSource. Results The total score of the cognitive test (24.55 ± 3.71 vs. 25.32 ± 2.62, p < 0.01) and the subscale of attention score (5.43 ± 1.02 vs. 5.62 ± 0.67, p < 0.001) were significantly lower in the H-CNE group than in the L-CNE group. The attention score has the fastest decline of all the cognitive domain dimensions (slope = −0.03 in individuals under 40 years old, p < 0.001; slope = −0.06 in individuals older than 40 years old, p < 0.001). When NG was compared with controls, the P300 amplitude was significantly decreased in NG at Cz (3.9 ± 2.1 vs. 6.7 ± 2.3 μV, p < 0.001). In addition, the latency of P300 (390.7 ± 12.1 vs. 369.4 ± 7.5 ms, p < 0.001) and MMN (172.8 ± 15.5 vs. 157.8 ± 10.5 ms, p < 0.01) was significantly prolonged in NG compared with controls. The source for MMN for controls was in the left BA11, whereas the noise exposure group's source was lateralized to the BA20. Conclusion Long-term exposure to noise deteriorated the bottom-up and top-down attention functions even in the absence of threshold shifts, as evidenced by behavioral and brain responses.
Improved Purification of Human Granzyme A/B and Granulysin Using a Mammalian Expression System

Cytotoxic lymphocytes release proteins contained within the cytoplasmic cytolytic granules after recognition of infected or tumor target cells. These cytotoxic granular proteins (namely granzymes, granulysin, and perforin) are key immunological mediators within human cellular immunity. The availability of highly purified cytotoxic proteins has been fundamental for understanding their function in immunity and mechanistic involvement in sepsis and autoimmunity. Methods for recovery of native cytotoxic proteins can be problematic leading to: 1) the co-purification of additional proteins, confounding interpretation of function, and 2) low yields of highly purified proteins. Recombinant protein expression of individual cytolytic components can overcome these challenges. The use of mammalian expression systems is preferred for optimal post-translational modifications and avoidance of endotoxin contamination. Some of these proteins have been proposed for host directed human therapies (e.g. - granzyme A), or treatment of systemic infections or tumors as in granulysin. We report here a novel expression system using HEK293T cells for cost-effective purification of high yields of human granzymes (granzyme A and granzyme B) and granulysin with enhanced biological activity than previous reports. The resulting proteins are free of native contaminants, fold correctly, and remain enzymatically active. Importantly, these improvements have also led to the first purification of biologically active recombinant human granulysin in high yields from a mammalian system. This method can be used as a template for purification of many other secreted cellular proteins and may lead to advances for human medicine.
Apolipoprotein E Isoform-Dependent Effects on Human Amyloid Precursor Protein/Aβ-Induced Behavioral Alterations and Cognitive Impairments and Insoluble Cortical Aβ42 Levels

Mice expressing human amyloid precursor protein (APP) containing the dominant Swedish and Iberian mutations (AppNL–F) or also Arctic mutation (AppNL–G–F) show neuropathology and hippocampus-dependent cognitive impairments pertinent to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in mouse models at 18 and 6 months of age, respectively. Apolipoprotein E, involved in cholesterol metabolism, plays an important role in maintaining the brain. There are three human apolipoprotein E isoforms: E2, E3, and E4. Compared to E3, E4 increases while E2 protects against AD risk. At 6 months of age, prior to the onset of plaque pathology, E3, but not E4, protected against hAPP/Aβ-induced impairments in spatial memory retention in the Morris water maze. However, these earlier studies were limited as hapoE was not expressed outside the brain and E3 or E4 was not expressed under control of an apoE promotor, E2 was often not included, hAPP was transgenically overexpressed and both mouse and hAPP were present. Therefore, to determine whether apoE has isoform-dependent effects on hAPP/Aβ-induced behavioral alterations and cognitive impairments in adult female and male mice at 6 and 18 months of age, we crossed AppNL–G–F and AppNL–F mice with E2, E3, and E4 mice. To distinguish whether genotype differences seen at either time point were due to main effects of hAPP, hapoE, or hAPP × hapoE genetic interactions, we also behavioral and cognitively tested E2, E3, and E4 female and male mice at 6 and 18 months of age. We also compared behavioral and cognitive performance of 18-month-old AppNL–G–F and AppNL–F female and male mice on a murine apoE background along with that of age—and sex-matched C57BL/6J wild-type mice. For many behavioral measures at both time points there were APP × APOE interactions, supporting that apoE has isoform-dependent effects on hAPP/Aβ-induced behavioral and cognitive performance. NL-G-F/E3, but not NL-G-F/E2, mice had lower cortical insoluble Aβ42 levels than NL-G-F/E4 mice. NL-F/E3 and NL-F/E2 mice had lower cortical insoluble Aβ42 levels than NL-F/E4 mice. These results demonstrate that there are apoE isoform-dependent effects on hAPP/Aβ-induced behavioral alterations and cognitive impairments and cortical insoluble Aβ42 levels in mouse models containing only human APP and apoE.
Proteomic Identification of a Gastric Tumor ECM Signature Associated With Cancer Progression

The extracellular matrix (ECM) plays an undisputable role in tissue homeostasis and its deregulation leads to altered mechanical and biochemical cues that impact cancer development and progression. Herein, we undertook a novel approach to address the role of gastric ECM in tumorigenesis, which remained largely unexplored. By combining decellularization techniques with a high-throughput quantitative proteomics approach, we have performed an extensive characterization of human gastric mucosa, uncovering its composition and distribution among tumor, normal adjacent and normal distant mucosa. Our results revealed a common ECM signature composed of 142 proteins and indicated that gastric carcinogenesis encompasses ECM remodeling through alterations in the abundance of 24 components, mainly basement membrane proteins. Indeed, we could only identify one de novo tumor-specific protein, the collagen alpha-1(X) chain (COL10A1). Functional analysis of the data demonstrated that gastric ECM remodeling favors tumor progression by activating ECM receptors and cellular processes involved in angiogenesis and cell-extrinsic metabolic regulation. By analyzing mRNA expression in an independent GC cohort available at the TGCA, we validated the expression profile of 12 differentially expressed ECM proteins. Importantly, the expression of COL1A2, LOX and LTBP2 significantly correlated with high tumor stage, with LOX and LTBP2 further impacting patient overall survival. These findings contribute for a better understanding of GC biology and highlight the role of core ECM components in gastric carcinogenesis and their clinical relevance as biomarkers of disease prognosis.
Irritable bowel syndrome prevalence and health-related quality of life in women with polycystic ovary syndrome at tertiary hospitals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Objective: To assess the prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and its subtypes in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), determine its associated factors, and compare the quality of life (QOL) of PCOS patients with and without IBS. Method: The cross-sectional study was conducted between February 2021 and June 2021 on patients attending outpatient family medicine and Obstetrics and Gynecology clinics at a tertiary hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The participants comprised women aged ≥18 years with a confirmed PCOS diagnosis. They completed an online questionnaire about their sociodemographic information, body mass index, the Rome IV Diagnostic Questionnaire (R4DQ), and IBS-QOL questionnaire; the Bristol Stool Scale was also used. Results: Of the 291 participants, the majority (92.4%) was below 45 years old, 61.9% were unmarried, and 47.8% were students. IBS was diagnosed in 49 (16.8%) patients, which was associated with poor sleep quality (p = 0.005) and emotional stress (p = 0.006). IBS-constipation and IBSdiarrhea accounted for 24.5% and 12.2% of participants, respectively. In PCOS patients, the IBS subgroup obtained the lowest QOL scores (p = 0.009). In addition, a low QOL score was associated with dysphoria (p < 0.001), interference with activity (p < 0.02), and relationship (p < 0.003). Conclusion: Women who have PCOS are more likely to suffer from IBS. Poor sleep quality and emotional stress are two factors that contribute to IBS development. Both conditions have a significantly lower quality of life, particularly those affected by dysphoria, interference with activity, and interpersonal relationships.
HIGH FREQUENCY APPLIANCE DISAGGREGATION ANALYSIS

Project: HFADA HIGH FREQUENCY APPLIANCE DISAGGREGATION ANALYSIS Pattern Mining © 2017 Bournemouth University. The information in this document is the property of Bournemouth University and may not be copied or communicated to a third party or used for any purpose other than that for which it is supplied without the express written consent of Bournemouth University. HFADA Bournemouth University
Prevalence of Gender Role Reversal among spouses in Nyeri County, Kenya

Although there is a growing concern about reversal of gender roles among spouses in patriarchal societies in the developed and developing world, not much is known about the extent of the prevalence of the reversal and the factors contributing to it in Nyeri County Kenya. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to establish the extent of prevalence of reversal of the provider, decision making, childcare and home keeping roles among spouses in Nyeri County, and the factors contributing to it. The study used a descriptive survey design with mixed methods. The target population was married Kikuyu men and women with dependent children and not necessarily couples. Multi-stage sampling was used to select a sample of 392 participants constituting of 200 women and 192 men. 68 focus group participants were purposively sampled from the 392. Data was collected using questionnaire and focus group discussions. Descriptive statistics were used in the analysis of quantitative data while qualitative data was thematically analysed. The findings revealed a 48.2% and a 48% prevalence of reversal of the provider and decision making roles respectively and a 7.7% prevalence of reversal of childcare and home keeping roles. Alcohol abuse and inadequate gender role socialization were found to be the main contributing factors to the role reversal. The highest ranked suggested interventions by both gender were psychosocial, namely, family life education, marital counselling, and reverting to traditional socialization practices
Efficacy of curcumin in cognitive functions and inflammatory markers of major depressive disorder

Objective: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is associated with cognitive deficits and inflammation which predict treatment resistance. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of Curcumin in cognitive functions and inflammation in depression. Methods: The present study was a double-blind, randomized clinical trial design. One hundred twenty MDD outpatients, aged 18 to 55, were selected regarding the inclusion and exclusion criteria and randomly assigned to Curcumin (n = 60) and control groups (n = 60). Participants were assessed at baseline, sixth and twelfth week for depressive symptoms and cognitive functions. Inflammatory markers (IL-6, IL-1β) were measured at baseline and the twelfth week. Both groups received sertraline. Experimental group received Curcumin while the control group received placebo. Data were analyzed by repeated measures MANOVA. Results: Curcumin out performed control on trial making test-B (P= 0.011), backward digit span, verbal fluency task and Tower of London (P< 0.001) at the twelfth week of assessment and forward digit span (P<0.001) and trial making test-A (P=0.041) at the sixth and twelfth week of assessment. Moreover, inflammatory markers reduced in the curcumin group more than in the control group (P< 0.011). Conclusion: According to the results of this study, Curcumin could be considered as an antidepressant to bring more therapeutic benefits in improving clinical symptoms and cognitive deficits, especially the executive functions of MDD patients. Moreover, it could lead to reduction of inflammatory markers and would target cognitive function more than conventional treatments.
Risk Analysis of Exposure to Chlorpyrifos and Diazinon from Greenhouse-Grown Tomatoes during Pre-Harvest Interval and Post-Harvest Processing

This study aimed to investigate the residue levels and dissipation rates of chlorpyrifos, diazinon, and their oxon derivatives in greenhouse-grown tomatoes and to evaluate the acute and chronic Hazard Quotients (HQ) for consumption of these products. The quantification analyses of chlorpyrifos and diazinon and their degradation products were performed using Gas Chromatography Coupled with Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS/MS). The Monte Carlo simulation technique was used to evaluate the variability and uncertainty of the data and to achieve more accurate results in the health risk assessment process. The chronic HQ values of chlorpyrifos and diazinon residues ranged from 0.24 to 0.85 and 0.06 to 1.09 for adults, 0.45 to 1.34 and 0.12 to 1.66 for adolescents, and 0.71 to 1.80 and 0.21 to 3.78 for children, respectively. After five days of storage in room and refrigerator temperatures, the HQ values of diazinon and chlorpyrifos were higher than the acceptable limits. According to the Monte Carlo simulation, the HQ and the estimated daily intake (EDI) values were more affected by the consumption rate followed by pesticide concentration and body weight. Therefore, due to the high frequency of tomato consumption, it is necessary to reduce the concentration of pesticides in this product in order to reduce human health risk.