Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reduction of dual-species biofilm after sonic- or ultrasonic-activated irrigation protocols: a laboratory study.

AIM To evaluate the antibacterial effect of sonic and ultrasonic activated irrigation on bacterial reduction of a dual-species biofilm in root canals compared to non-activated irrigation in a laboratory study. METHODOLOGY Two hundred and fourty extracted human single-rooted maxillary anterior teeth were divided into two main groups (G, n = 120) according to the initial preparation size of the root canal (G1: size 25, .06 taper, G2: size 40, .06 taper). Root canals were inoculated with E. faecalis and S. oralis. After 5 days, G1 received combined instrumentation (up to size 40, .06 taper) and irrigation/activation, whereas G2 received solely irrigation/activation protocols. In both groups, irrigation was performed with sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl 1 %) or physiological saline (NaCl 0.9 %), using non-activated syringe irrigation, sonic activation (2 x 30 s), or ultrasonic activation (2 x 30 s). Logarithmic reduction factors (LRFs) of colony-forming units were analyzed separately for dentine-adherent and planktonic bacteria immediately after irrigation/activation protocols (timepoint 1) or after 5 days of further incubation (timepoint 2) by analysis of variance (ANOVA) and post-hoc tests (Tukey HSD, t-Test). The significance level was set at 0.05. RESULTS In G1 subgroups (combined instrumentation with irrigation/activation), LRFs were significantly affected by the applied irrigation solution (P < 0.0001), but not by the activation method (P > 0.05; ANOVA). In G2 subgroups (solely irrigation/activation), both, irrigant solution and activation, significantly affected LRFs (P < 0.0001, ANOVA). Sonic activation resulted in significantly higher LRFs than ultrasonic activation (P < 0.0001) which had significantly greater reductions than non-activated irrigation (P < 0.05; Tukey HSD). At T2, strong bacterial regrowth was observed in all groups; however, a significant bacterial reduction was detected for factors instrumentation, irrigant solution and activation (P < 0.0001; ANOVA). Similar LRFs were found for dentine-adherent and planktonic bacterial cells in all groups (r = 0.91 at T1, r = 0.8 at T2). CONCLUSIONS In this laboratory study on extracted maxillary anterior teeth high-frequency sonic activation resulted in a greater bacterial reduction compared to ultrasonic activation in groups receiving solely irrigation/activation protocols, however, irrigation using NaOCl and ultrasonic activation also contributed significantly to bacterial reduction compared to the control groups.
Determining the contributions of protein synthesis and breakdown to muscle atrophy requires non‐steady‐state equations

Ageing and cachexia cause a loss of muscle mass over time, indicating that protein breakdown exceeds protein synthesis. Deuterium oxide (D2O) is used for studies of protein turnover because of the advantages of long‐term labelling, but these methods introduce considerations that have been largely overlooked when studying conditions of protein gain or loss. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the importance of accounting for a change in protein mass, a non‐steady state, during D2O labelling studies while also exploring the contribution of protein synthesis and breakdown to denervation‐induced muscle atrophy.
Hypertension and renal outcomes in normotensive kidney donors with multiple renal arteries

Having multiple renal arteries (MRA) has been linked to hypertension development. Whether kidney donors who are left with MRA in the nondonated kidney incur a higher risk of hypertension has not been studied. We compared the development of hypertension, reduced estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), cardiovascular disease, and mortality in 2624 normotensive kidney donors with MRA in the nondonated kidney and to 2624 propensity score matched normotensive donor controls with a single renal artery. In total, 35% of donors had MRA. Donors with MRA were less likely to have undergone a left nephrectomy (51% vs. 83%). Postdonation hypertension was associated with age, male gender, non‐White ethnicity, obesity, and family history of hypertension. Having MRA was not associated with risk of hypertension; aHR 0.92 (95% CI 0.82–1.03), P = 0.16. After 17 ± 11 years from donation, a similar proportion of donors with and without MRA developed cardiovascular disease, proteinuria and eGFR <30, <45 and <60 mL/min/1.73 m2 and the multivariable risks of developing these outcomes were similar in the two groups. Our study did not show increased risk for hypertension, reduced eGFR, proteinuria or cardiovascular disease in donors with MRA in the remaining kidney and without hypertension at donation.
Development of drug‐induced psoriasiform alopecia in a pediatric patient on ustekinumab

Therapeutic monoclonal antibodies inhibit key proinflammatory cytokines and have dramatically improved outcomes in patients with chronic autoimmune disorders. Paradoxically, these agents may induce or exacerbate a range of inflammatory conditions. The development of psoriasiform alopecia is one such reaction, most commonly encountered with inhibitors of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha). Ustekinumab, an inhibitor of interleukin-12 (IL-12) and IL-23, has a favorable safety profile and has rarely been associated with inflammatory adverse effects. We herein present the first case in the literature, to our knowledge, of drug-induced psoriasiform alopecia developing in a patient on ustekinumab.
Late endosomal/lysosomal accumulation of a neurotransmitter receptor in a cellular model of Smith‐Lemli‐Opitz syndrome

Smith‐Lemli‐Opitz syndrome (SLOS) is a congenital and developmental malformation syndrome associated with defective cholesterol biosynthesis. It is characterized by accumulation of 7‐dehydrocholesterol (the immediate biosynthetic precursor of cholesterol in the Kandutsch‐Russell pathway) and an altered cholesterol to total sterol ratio. Because SLOS is associated with neurological malfunction, exploring the function and trafficking of neuronal receptors and their interaction with membrane lipids under these conditions assume significance. In this work, we generated a cellular model of SLOS in HEK‐293 cells stably expressing the human serotonin1A receptor (an important neurotransmitter G‐protein coupled receptor) using AY 9944, an inhibitor for the enzyme 3β‐hydroxy‐steroid‐∆7‐reductase (7‐DHCR). Using a quantitative flow cytometry based assay, we show that the plasma membrane population of serotonin1A receptors was considerably reduced under these conditions without any change in total cellular expression of the receptor. Interestingly, the receptors were trafficked to sterol‐enriched LysoTracker positive compartments, which accumulated under these conditions. To the best of our knowledge, our results constitute one of the first reports demonstrating intracellular accumulation and misregulated traffic of a neurotransmitter GPCR in SLOS‐like conditions. We believe these results assume relevance in our overall understanding of the molecular basis underlying the functional relevance of neurotransmitter receptors in SLOS.
Tissue factor expression, extracellular vesicles, and thrombosis after infection with the respiratory viruses influenza A virus and coronavirus

Tissue factor (TF) is induced in a variety of cell types during viral infection, which likely contributes to disseminated intravascular coagulation and thrombosis. TF‐expressing cells also release TF‐positive extracellular vesicles (EVs) into the circulation that can be measured using an EVTF activity assay. This review summarizes studies that analyze TF expression, TF‐positive EVs, activation of coagulation, and thrombosis after infection with influenza A virus (IAV) and coronaviruses (CoVs), including severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2), SARS‐CoV, and Middle East respiratory syndrome CoV (MERS‐CoV). The current pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) is caused by infection with SARS‐CoV‐2. Infection of mice with IAV increased TF expression in lung epithelial cells as well as increased EVTF activity and activation of coagulation in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF). Infection of mice with MERS‐CoV, SARS‐CoV, and SARS‐CoV‐2 also increased lung TF expression. Single‐cell RNA sequencing analysis on the BALF from severe COVID‐19 patients revealed increased TF mRNA expression in epithelial cells. TF expression was observed in peripheral blood mononuclear cells infected with SARS‐CoV. TF was also expressed by peripheral blood mononuclear cells, monocytes in platelet‐monocyte aggregates, and neutrophils isolated from COVID‐19 patients. Elevated circulating EVTF activity was observed in severe IAV and COVID‐19 patients. Importantly, EVTF activity was associated with mortality in severe IAV patients and with plasma D‐dimer, severity, thrombosis, and mortality in COVID‐19 patients. These studies strongly suggest that increased TF expression in patients infected with IAV and pathogenic CoVs contributes to thrombosis.
Multilevel rhythms in multimodal communication

It is now widely accepted that the brunt of animal communication is conducted via several modalities, e.g. acoustic and visual, either simultaneously or sequentially. This is a laudable multimodal turn relative to traditional accounts of temporal aspects of animal communication which have focused on a single modality at a time. However, the fields that are currently contributing to the study of multimodal communication are highly varied, and still largely disconnected given their sole focus on a particular level of description or their particular concern with human or non-human animals. Here, we provide an integrative overview of converging findings that show how multimodal processes occurring at neural, bodily, as well as social interactional levels each contribute uniquely to the complex rhythms that characterize communication in human and non-human animals. Though we address findings for each of these levels independently, we conclude that the most important challenge in this field is to identify how processes at these different levels connect. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Synchrony and rhythm interaction: from the brain to behavioural ecology’.
Mapping between sound, brain and behaviour: four-level framework for understanding rhythm processing in humans and non-human primates

Humans perceive and spontaneously move to one or several levels of periodic pulses (a meter, for short) when listening to musical rhythm, even when the sensory input does not provide prominent periodic cues to their temporal location. Here, we review a multi-levelled framework to understanding how external rhythmic inputs are mapped onto internally represented metric pulses. This mapping is studied using an approach to quantify and directly compare representations of metric pulses in signals corresponding to sensory inputs, neural activity and behaviour (typically body movement). Based on this approach, recent empirical evidence can be drawn together into a conceptual framework that unpacks the phenomenon of meter into four levels. Each level highlights specific functional processes that critically enable and shape the mapping from sensory input to internal meter. We discuss the nature, constraints and neural substrates of these processes, starting with fundamental mechanisms investigated in macaque monkeys that enable basic forms of mapping between simple rhythmic stimuli and internally represented metric pulse. We propose that human evolution has gradually built a robust and flexible system upon these fundamental processes, allowing more complex levels of mapping to emerge in musical behaviours. This approach opens promising avenues to understand the many facets of rhythmic behaviours across individuals and species. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Synchrony and rhythm interaction: from the brain to behavioural ecology’.
On the Distributed Complexity of Large-Scale Graph Computations

Motivated by the increasing need to understand the distributed algorithmic foundations of large-scale graph computations, we study some fundamental graph problems in a message-passing model for distributed computing where k ≥ 2 machines jointly perform computations on graphs with n nodes (typically, n >> k). The input graph is assumed to be initially randomly partitioned among the k machines, a common implementation in many real-world systems. Communication is point-to-point, and the goal is to minimize the number of communication rounds of the computation. Our main contribution is the General Lower Bound Theorem, a theorem that can be used to show non-trivial lower bounds on the round complexity of distributed large-scale data computations. This result is established via an information-theoretic approach that relates the round complexity to the minimal amount of information required by machines to solve the problem. Our approach is generic, and this theorem can be used in a “cookbook” fashion to show distributed lower bounds for several problems, including non-graph problems. We present two applications by showing (almost) tight lower bounds on the round complexity of two fundamental graph problems, namely, PageRank computation and triangle enumeration. These applications show that our approach can yield lower bounds for problems where the application of communication complexity techniques seems not obvious or gives weak bounds, including and especially under a stochastic partition of the input. We then present distributed algorithms for PageRank and triangle enumeration with a round complexity that (almost) matches the respective lower bounds; these algorithms exhibit a round complexity that scales superlinearly in k, improving significantly over previous results [Klauck et al., SODA 2015]. Specifically, we show the following results: PageRank: We show a lower bound of Ὼ(n/k2) rounds and present a distributed algorithm that computes an approximation of the PageRank of all the nodes of a graph in Õ(n/k2) rounds. Triangle enumeration: We show that there exist graphs with m edges where any distributed algorithm requires Ὼ(m/k5/3) rounds. This result also implies the first non-trivial lower bound of Ὼ(n1/3) rounds for the congested clique model, which is tight up to logarithmic factors. We then present a distributed algorithm that enumerates all the triangles of a graph in Õ(m/k5/3 + n/k4/3) rounds.
Driver drowsiness evaluation by means of thermal infrared imaging: preliminary results

Driver’s drowsiness is one of the major causes of traffic accidents worldwide. An early detection of episodes of sleepiness becomes of fundamental importance for safety purposes. Several studies demonstrated that PERCLOS, that is the percentage of eyelid closure over the pupil across time, is one of the most accurate parameters for drowsiness state assessment. However, since PERCLOS is typically computed from the visible video of the subjects, its evaluation is strictly dependent on the lighting conditions and it is not accessible if the driver wears sunglasses. The objective of this study is to overcome these limitations, evaluating drowsy states using a low-cost and high-resolution thermal infrared technology. Ten sleep-deprived subjects were recruited for the experiment, consisting in one-hour driving task on a driving static simulator. During the experiment, facial skin temperature was recorded by means of the thermal camera Device Alab SmartIr640, together with facial visible videos of the subjects. Relevant thermal features were estimated from facial regions of interest (i.e., nose tip, glabella) whereas PERCLOS was performed on visible videos. Features were extracted over a time window of 30 seconds. A data-driven multivariate machine learning approach based on a three-level Support Vector Classification of the drowsy state (AWAKE class: PERCLOS<0.15, FATIGUE class: 0.150.15) was employed. The average classification accuracy was 0.65±0.09 (mean ± standard deviation). Although preliminary, these results indicate the possibility to assess driver's drowsiness based on facial thermal features, overcoming the limitation related to lighting condition and eyes detection, typical of standard methods.
Quality perception and discrimination thresholds in quantised triangle meshes

At certain stages of the graphics pipeline, and most notably during compression for transmission and storage, triangle meshes may undergo a fixed-point arithmetic quantisation of their vertex coordinates. This paper presents the results of a psychophysical experiment, where discrimination thresholds between the original unquantised triangle meshes, and the quantised at various levels of quantisation versions of them, were estimated. The experiment had a two-alternative forced choice design. Our results show that the amount of geometric information of a mesh, as measured by its filesize after compression, correlates with the discrimination threshold. On the other hand, we did not find any correlation between the discrimination thresholds and the quality of the underlying meshing, as measured by the mean aspect ration of the mesh triangles.
Lock-in phenomenon of vortex shedding in flows excited with two commensurate frequencies: a theoretical investigation pertaining to combustion instability

Abstract An analytical investigation is performed to study the dynamics of vortex shedding behaviour during two commensurate frequency velocity excitations, with an emphasis on the phenomenon of lock-in. We attempt to theoretically study the dynamical features of lock-in under two-frequency excitations and contrast the behaviour with single-frequency excitation. We employ an existing low-order model to characterise the vortex shedding process behind a step/bluff-body. The continuous-time domain model is transformed to a nonlinear dynamical map that relates time instances of successive vortex shedding. Further, these time instances are converted to phase instances, involving which criteria for a generic p : q phase lock-in is obtained. Four parameters are involved: amplitude and frequency of the two excitation components termed as primary and secondary. Bifurcations occurring are investigated using return maps. The inclusion of secondary excitation leads to the existence of two orders of lock-in within a single lock-in boundary. Furthermore, our results indicate that secondary excitation can be used as a control in order to tailor the 1:1 lock-in region formed by the primary excitation. Finally, analytical expressions are obtained to identify lock-in boundaries and their salient geometrical features. Interesting features such as the occurrence of bistability and change in the order of lock-in are observed, which can be explored further with future experiments.
Voices of the unsung: The role of social presence and interactivity in building empathy in 360 video

360 video is considered an “empathy machine,” in part because it places audiences in the perspective of the other. Despite its popularity, its influence on empathy is not fully understood. Two possible mechanisms driving empathy within 360 video are social presence (sense of being with others) and interactivity (degree of control over media content). To elucidate how 360 videos can encourage empathic outcomes through these factors, a 2 (social presence: high/low) × 2 (interactivity: high/low) between-subjects experiment (N = 110) was conducted testing 360 videos about Alaskan climate change refugees. Results demonstrate that social presence contributes to prosocial behaviors (donations) through empathic concern, an effect augmented by interactivity. Unexpectedly, the social presence manipulation also contributed to greater perceived interactivity. Collectively, results are promising and elucidate the role of social presence and interactivity in immersive storytelling.
How to Be an Antiracist: Youth of Color’s Critical Perspectives on Antiracism in a Youth Participatory Action Research Context

This study is part of a larger Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) project engaging youth of color (YOC; aged 16–24 years) in a planning a multilevel health promotion campaign for a large safety net hospital. Analyses focus on youths’ conceptualizations of antiracism, and their recommendations on how to facilitate an intentionally antiracist YPAR. We answer the following questions: (a) How do YOC engaged in a YPAR project conceptualize and define antiracism? and (b) How do youth and adult allies conceptualize an antiracist YPAR project and what strategies do they use and/or recommend to this end? We employed instrumental case study methods and thematic analyses to code project data sources. Findings indicate that youths’ definitions of antiracism include elevating marginalized voices, actively resisting racism, incorporating an intersectional approach, and examining privilege, power, and positionality. YPAR members recommended strategies for creating an antiracist YPAR including prioritizing people of color in YPAR processes, creating space to acknowledge and process positionality and racialized dynamics, and engaging in ongoing education and dialogue. Moreover, both youth members and adult allies recognized that antiracist YPAR projects require time and resources to remain consistently antiracist, and such a goal can only be accomplished through a reiterative and reflexive process.
“Oh, You’re Pretty for a Dark-Skinned Girl”: Black Adolescent Girls’ Identities and Resistance to Colorism

The current analysis explored the relevance of colorism among Black girls enrolled at a predominately Black, all-girls high school, with a specific focus on their identities and well-being. Fifty-nine Black girls (Mage = 16.97) completed a survey and semi-structured interview. Results from a two-step quant-qual analysis indicate a strong positive association between rejecting colorist ideology and positive self-esteem. Open coding of semi-structured interviews showed that 75% (n = 44) of the sample spontaneously mentioned colorist ideology when describing their racial and gender identities, including references to skin color (56%), hair texture/style (50%), attractiveness/femininity (38%), and body type (18%). More importantly, 74% of these discussions indicated resistance to colorism illustrating Black girls’ engagement with and denouncement of ideologies of white supremacy, patriarchy, and anti-blackness. This critical qualitative analysis illustrates and offers guidance for practicing anti-racist adolescent research. We offer four insights: (a) consider the research spaces in which Black youth in our research are situated to better represent the diversity (and potential) of Black youth; (b) listen to and and follow the voices of Black girls; (c) attend to agency and resistance in development; and (d) recognize intersectionality as integral to anti-racist research.
Does pollen limitation limit plant ranges? Evidence and implications

Range limits often involve declines in sexual reproduction, reducing fitness, dispersal, and adaptive potential at range edges. For plants, sexual reproduction is frequently limited by inadequate pollination. While case studies show that pollen limitation can limit plant distributions, the extent to which pollination commonly declines toward plant range edges is unknown. Here, we leverage global databases of pollen-supplementation experiments and plant occurrence data to test whether pollen limitation increases toward plant range edges, using a phylogenetically controlled meta-analysis. While there was significant pollen limitation across studies, we found little evidence that pollen limitation increases toward plant range edges. Pollen limitation was not stronger toward the tropics, nor at species’ equatorward vs poleward range limits. Meta-analysis results are consistent with results from targeted experiments, in which pollen limitation increased significantly toward only 14% of 14 plant range edges, suggesting that pollination contributes to range limits less often than do other interactions. Together, these results suggest pollination is one of the rich variety of potential ecological factors that can contribute to range limits, rather than a generally important constraint on plant distributions.