Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Survival Motor Neuron (SMN) Protein Insufficiency Exacerbates Renal Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury

The survival of motor neuron (SMN) protein is ubiquitously involved in spliceosome assembly and ribonucleoprotein biogenesis. SMN protein is expressed in kidney and can affect cell death processes. However, the role of SMN in acute kidney injury (AKI) is largely unknown. In the current study, we found that the expression of SMN in the kidney was significantly reduced in both clinical ischemic AKI and a mouse model of renal ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI). We then used SMN heterozygous knockout (SMN+/-) mice and found that the declines in renal function, tubular injury, and tubular cell apoptosis after experimental IRI were significantly more severe in SMN+/− mice than those in their wild-type littermates. Concomitantly, the canonical transcription factor nuclear factor-κb (NFκb) signaling was enhanced in ischemic SMN+/− mice. In vitro, cobalt dichloride (CoCl2) treatment reduced SMN expression in proximal tubular epithelial cells. In addition, CoCl2-induced apoptosis and activation of NFκb signaling pathway were enhanced by transient transfection of a small-interfering RNA (siRNA) against SMN while attenuated by transient transfection of a full-length SMN plasmid. Taken together, this study for the first time supported the protective role of SMN in ischemic AKI.
Acoustic Features Influence Musical Choices Across Multiple Genres

Based on a large behavioral dataset of music downloads, two analyses investigate whether the acoustic features of listeners' preferred musical genres influence their choice of tracks within non-preferred, secondary musical styles. Analysis 1 identifies feature distributions for pairs of genre-defined subgroups that are distinct. Using correlation analysis, these distributions are used to test the degree of similarity between subgroups' main genres and the other music within their download collections. Analysis 2 explores the issue of main-to-secondary genre influence through the production of 10 feature-influence matrices, one per acoustic feature, in which cell values indicate the percentage change in features for genres and subgroups compared to overall population averages. In total, 10 acoustic features and 10 genre-defined subgroups are explored within the two analyses. Results strongly indicate that the acoustic features of people's main genres influence the tracks they download within non-preferred, secondary musical styles. The nature of this influence and its possible actuating mechanisms are discussed with respect to research on musical preference, personality, and statistical learning.
Curd-Peptide Based Novel Hydrogel Inhibits Biofilm Formation, Quorum Sensing, Swimming Mortility of Multi-Antibiotic Resistant Clinical Isolates and Accelerates Wound Healing Activity

The search for a bioactive natural antibacterial agent with wound healing properties is a common practice for the development of new-generation molecules. Antimicrobial peptides are a good alternative to antibiotics and easy-to-form hydrogels under self-assembled conditions without pH adjustment. With this in mind, the peptide pool was extracted from a formulated curd composed of a blend of probiotic bacteria such as Streptococcus thermophilus, Lactobacillus casei, and Bifidobacterium bifidum at an optimized ratio of 7:1:2. The water content of curd was collected by the drainage column, centrifuged, filtered through a 0.45-μM filter, and used for hydrogel preparation. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry (MS) analysis confirmed the presence of peptide pool in the extracted water. The prepared hydrogel was freeze dried, and its effect on biofilm formation, swarming mortality, antimicrobials, wound healing, and biocompatibility was subsequently verified. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) images revealed the fibrous network of peptides after self-assembly with non-polar n-hexane solvent and a porous structure after drying, respectively. The observed biocompatibility, antimicrobial activity, and strong wound healing activity of the developed curd-based hydrogel have opened a new platform for antibacterial ointment formulation.
A Pattern-Based Method for Medical Entity Recognition From Chinese Diagnostic Imaging Text

Background: The identification of medical entities and relations from electronic medical records is a fundamental research issue for medical informatics. However, the task of extracting valuable knowledge from these records is challenging due to its high complexity. The accurate identification of entity and relation is still an open research problem in medical information extraction. Methods: A pattern-based method for extracting certain tumor-related entities and attributes from Chinese unstructured diagnostic imaging text is proposed. This method is a composition of three steps. Firstly, an algorithm based on keyword matching is designed to obtain the primary sites of tumors. Then a set of regular expressions is applied to identify primary tumor size information. Finally, a set of rules is defined to acquire metastatic sites of tumors. Results: Our method achieves a recall of 0.697, a precision of 0.825 and an F1 score of 0.755 using an overall weighted metric. For each of the extraction tasks, the F1 scores are 0.784, 0.822 and 0.740. Conclusions: The method proves to be stable and robust with different amounts of testing data. It achieves a comparatively high performance in the CHIP 2018 open challenge, demonstrating its effectiveness in extracting tumor-related entities from Chinese diagnostic imaging text.
The Complete Chloroplast Genome of Euphrasia regelii, Pseudogenization of ndh Genes and the Phylogenetic Relationships Within Orobanchaceae

Euphrasia (Orobanchaceae) is a genus which is widely distributed in temperate regions of the southern and northern hemisphere. The taxonomy of Euphrasia is still controversial due to the similarity of morphological characters and a lack of genomic resources. Here, we present the first complete chloroplast (cp) genome of this taxonomically challenging genus. The cp genome of Euphrasia regelii consists of 153,026 bp, including a large single-copy region (83,893 bp), a small single-copy region (15,801 bp) and two inverted repeats (26,666 bp). There are 105 unique genes, including 71 protein-coding genes, 30 tRNA and 4 rRNA genes. Although the structure and gene order is comparable to the one in other angiosperm cp genomes, genes encoding the NAD(P)H dehydrogenase complex are widely pseudogenized due to mutations resulting in frameshifts, and stop codon positions. We detected 36 dispersed repeats, 7 tandem repeats and 65 simple sequence repeat loci in the E. regelii plastome. Comparative analyses indicated that the cp genome of E. regelii is more conserved compared to other hemiparasitic taxa in the Pedicularideae and Buchnereae. No structural rearrangements or loss of genes were detected. Our analyses suggested that three genes (clpP, ycf2 and rps14) were under positive selection and other genes under purifying selection. Phylogenetic analysis of monophyletic Orobanchaceae based on 45 plastomes indicated a close relationship between E. regelii and Neobartsia inaequalis. In addition, autotrophic lineages occupied the earliest diverging branches in our phylogeny, suggesting that autotrophy is the ancestral trait in this parasitic family.
Mutagenicity Assessment of Organophosphates using Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism Assay

Objectives: In this study we have evaluated the mutagenicity of organophosphate pesticides acephate, chlorpyrifos, and profenofos using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) assay with the mosquito Culex quinquefasciatus taken as an experimental model. Materials and Methods: Second instar larvae were treated with LC 20 of each pesticide for 24 h and mutations induced in the sequence of mitochondrial COII gene (690bp) were studied from restriction patterns generated with AluI, PacI, and PsiI restriction endonucleases. Results: Variations in the number and size of digested fragments were recorded from treated individuals compared with controls showing that the restriction enzymes created a cut at different locations. In addition, sequences of COII gene from control and treated individuals were also used to confirm the RFLP patterns. From the sequence alignment data, it was found that mutations caused the destruction and generation of restriction sites in the gene sequence of treated individuals. Conclusion: This study indicates that all the three pesticides had potential to induce mutations in the normal sequence of COII gene and also advocates the use of PCR-RFLP assay as an efficient, rapid, and sensitive technique to detect mutagenicity of pesticides.
Konzept für eine neue Generation von Landes-Umweltportalen

The federal states of Baden-Wuerttemberg, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia are jointly developing a new generation of environmental portals for these states. Typical problems associated with the implementation of such environmental portals will be analyzed and solutions pointed out. The paper will deal with the indexing of information that is not directly accessible by web crawlers, the integration of structured data from databases and especially of UDK (Environmental Data Catalogue) meta data, the interconnection with PortalU, the definition of technically or organizationally constrained search spaces, and problems of interfaces, in particular embedding of a commercial search engine in a system. First experience gained from the use of the Google Search Appliance as a component of the environmental portals will be reported.
Contribution on Gaussian Mixture Model Order Determination for Voice Conversion

This paper adresses one of the problems in voice conversion system design: the choice of the number of Gaussian components used to determine the conversion function. The adopted strategy integrates three steps that use i) common criteria of Gaussian mixture model order determination, ii) speech quality criteria for converted speech and iii) a statistical analysis based on ANOVA and Bonferroni test to decide on speech quality difference for several values of the number of Gaussian components. The proposed solution is validated for phonemes conversion, namely healthy /A/ phoneme conversion to healthy /I/ phoneme conversion and pathological /A/ phoneme conversion to healthy /A/ phoneme conversion.
The Full-Duplex Device-to-Device Security Communication Under the Coverage of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), acting as mobile base stations (BSs), can be deployed in the typical fifth-generation mobile communications (5G) scenarios for the purpose of substantially enhancing the radio coverage. Meanwhile, UAV aided underlay device-to-device (D2D) communication mode can be activated for further improving the capacity of the 5G networks. However, this UAV aided D2D communication system is more vulnerable to eavesdropping attacks, resulting in security risks. In this paper, the D2D receivers work in full-duplex (FD) mode, which improves the security of the network by enabling these legitimate users to receive their useful information and transmit jamming signal to the eavesdropper simultaneously (with the same frequency band). The security communication under the UAV coverage is evaluated, showing that the system’s (security) capacity can be substantially improved by taking advantage of the flexible radio coverage of UAVs. Furthermore, the closed-form expressions for the coverage probabilities are derived, showing that the cellular users (CUs)’ secure coverage probability in downlink transmission is mainly impacted by the following three factors: its communication area, the relative position with UAV, and its eavesdroppers. In addition, it is observed that the D2D users or DUs’ secure coverage probability is relevant to state of the UAV. The system’s secure capacity can be substantially improved by adaptively changing the UAV’s position as well as coverage.
Short- and Long-Term Learning of Feedforward Control of a Myoelectric Prosthesis with Sensory Feedback by Amputees

Human motor control relies on a combination of feedback and feedforward strategies. The aim of this study was to longitudinally investigate artificial somatosensory feedback and feedforward control in the context of grasping with myoelectric prosthesis. Nine amputee subjects performed routine grasping trials, with the aim to produce four levels of force during four blocks of 60 trials across five days. The electrotactile force feedback was provided in the second and third block using multipad electrode and spatial coding. The first baseline and last validation block (open-loop control) evaluated the effects of long- (across sessions) and short-term (within session) learning, respectively. The outcome measures were the absolute error between the generated and target force, and the number of force saturations. The results demonstrated that the electrotactile feedback improved the performance both within and across sessions. In the validation block, the performance did not significantly decrease and the quality of open-loop control (baseline) improved across days, converging to the performance characterizing closed-loop control. This paper provides important insights into the feedback and feedforward processes in prosthesis control, contributing to the better understanding of the role and design of feedback in prosthetic systems.
Improving Fall Detection Using an On-Wrist Wearable Accelerometer

Fall detection is a very important challenge that affects both elderly people and the carers. Improvements in fall detection would reduce the aid response time. This research focuses on a method for fall detection with a sensor placed on the wrist. Falls are detected using a published threshold-based solution, although a study on threshold tuning has been carried out. The feature extraction is extended in order to balance the dataset for the minority class. Alternative models have been analyzed to reduce the computational constraints so the solution can be embedded in smart-phones or smart wristbands. Several published datasets have been used in the Materials and Methods section. Although these datasets do not include data from real falls of elderly people, a complete comparison study of fall-related datasets shows statistical differences between the simulated falls and real falls from participants suffering from impairment diseases. Given the obtained results, the rule-based systems represent a promising research line as they perform similarly to neural networks, but with a reduced computational cost. Furthermore, support vector machines performed with a high specificity. However, further research to validate the proposal in real on-line scenarios is needed. Furthermore, a slight improvement should be made to reduce the number of false alarms.
Improving efficiency of remote data audit for cloud storage

The cloud storage service becomes a rising trend based on the cloud computing, which promotes the remote data integrity auditing a hot topic. Some research can audit the integrity and correctness of user data and solve the problem of user privacy leakage. However, these schemes cannot use fewer data blocks to achieve better auditing results. In this paper ,we figure out that the random sampling used in most auditing schemes is not well apply to the problem of cloud service provider (CSP) deleting the data that users rarely use, and we adopt the probability proportionate to size sampling (PPS) to handle such situation. A new scheme named improving audit efficiency of remote data for cloud storage is designed. The proposed scheme supports the public auditing with fewer data blocks and constrains the server's malicious behavior to extend the auditing cycle. Compared with the relevant schemes, the experimental results show that the proposed scheme is more effective.
THE ULTRASTRUCTURE OF GERM CELLS IN FOETAL AND NEONATAL MALE RATS.

The Gonads of the rat undergo sex differentiation on the 14th day post coitum ( p.c .), the testis becoming clearly distinguishable by the presence of an incipient tunica albuginea. The male germ cells become incorporated into medullary cords (the precursors of seminiferous tubules). In contrast, the germ cells in ovaries are scattered in cortical nests. Recent quantitative studies have shown that at 14·5 days p.c . , the number of germ cells is somewhat greater in the male than the female (Beaumont & Mandl, 1963; cf. Beaumont & Mandl, 1962). In both sexes mitotic activity ceases at about 18·5 days p.c . Thereafter, the male germ cells remain at prolonged interphase; a proportion of them show histological changes frequently associated with degeneration. Quantitative estimates, on the other hand, indicate that none are eliminated from the testis. In the coeval female, the germ cells enter the prophase of meiosis, whereafter no further mitotic divisions are possible.
Community-Based Participatory Research and Drug Utilization Research to Improve Childhood Diarrhea Case Management in Ujjain, India: A Cross-Sectional Survey

Childhood diarrhea continues to be a major cause of under-five (U-5) mortality globally and in India. In this study, 1571 U-5 children residing in nine rural villages and four urban slums in Ujjain, India were included with the objective to use community participation and drug utilization research to improve diarrheal case management. The mean age was 2.08 years, with 297 (19%), children living in high diarrheal index households. Most mothers (70%) considered stale food, teething (62%), and hot weather (55%) as causes of diarrhea. Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH)-related characteristics revealed that most (93%) households had toilets, but only 23% of the children used them. The study identified ineffective household water treatment by filtration through cloth by most (93%) households and dumping of household waste on the streets (89%). The results revealed low community awareness of correct causes of diarrhea (poor hand hygiene, 21%; littering around the household, 15%) and of correct diarrhea treatment (oral rehydration solution (ORS) and zinc use, 29% and 11%, respectively) and a high antibiotic prescription rate by healthcare providers (83%). Based on the results of the present study, context-specific house-to-house interventions will be designed and implemented.
Copy number variants in kiwifruit ETHYLENE RESPONSE FACTOR/APETALA2 (ERF/AP2)-like genes show divergence in fruit ripening associated cold and ethylene responses in C-REPEAT/DRE BINDING FACTOR-like genes

The ETYHLENE RESPONSE FACTOR/APETALA2 (ERF/AP2) transcription factors have been shown to control a wide range of developmental and environmental responses in plants. These include hormonal responses to ethylene and Abscisic Acid (ABA) as well as to cold and drought. In Actinidia chinensis (kiwifruit), ripening is unusual: although it is sometimes classed as a climacteric fruit (ethylene-associated ripening), much of fruit ripening occurs independently from autocatalytic ethylene production. Initiation of ripening appears to be strongly developmentally controlled and modulated by low temperature. In this study, fruit treated with different temperatures showed an increase in soluble sugar accumulation, and a corresponding increase in ß-AMYLASE (BAM) genes (predominantly BAM3.2 and BAM9) with lower temperatures. To investigate the potential role of the AP2/ERF gene family in the control of fruit ripening in kiwifruit this family was investigated further. Using the new genome annotation and further genome sequence analysis we identified 226 ERF-like genes, 10 AP2L/RAV-like genes and 32 AP2-like genes. An RNA-seq screen from kiwifruit of different maturities, and following treatment with ethylene and temperatures between 0 and 16°C, revealed 4%, 26% and 18% of the ERF-like genes were upregulated by maturation, ethylene and cold temperatures, respectively. Focusing on the C-REPEAT/DRE BINDING FACTOR (CBF) cold master regulators, nine potential genes were identified based on sequence similarity. Five of these CBF-like genes were found in a copy number variant (CNV) cluster of six genes on chromosome 14. Expression analysis showed that two homeologous genes (ERF41 and ERF180) increased in abundance with cold and ethylene, while the cluster of CNV CBF-like genes had lost the ability to respond to cold and increased only with ethylene, suggesting an evolutionary progression of function of these genes.
Gradual replacement of all previously circulating respiratory syncytial virus A strain with the novel ON1 genotype in Lanzhou from 2010 to 2017

Abstract ON1 is a novel genotype of human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) subtype A, in children with acute respiratory tract infections (ARTIs). However, there is not much data on the prevalence and clinical and molecular characterization in China. Our study is based on the children who had respiratory infections positive for RSV-A admitted by Gansu Provincial Maternity and Child-care Hospital in Lanzhou (northwestern China) during the last 7 epidemic seasons from 2010 to 2017. In our study, different strains of the novel RSV-A genotype ON1, first identified in Canada in December 2010, were first detected in Gansu Provincial Maternity and Child-care Hospital in August 2012 and then followed by an abrupt expansion in the number of ON1 variants in the beginning of 2014 and eventually replaced all other RSV-A strains from 2015 to 2017. ON1 is characterized by a 72-nt duplication in the C-terminal region of the highly variable attachment glycoprotein (G), predicted to lengthen the polypeptide with 24 amino acids, including a 23-aa duplication, which likely changes antigenicity. New N-glycosylation sites occurred within the 23-aa duplication and 24-aa insertion of the ON1 viruses in our study. Notably, RSV infections occurred later, but peaked sooner from the 2014/2015 to 2016/2017 epidemic seasons, compared with the previous 4 seasons. Our study concluded that genotype ON1 has caused larger outbreaks and became the predominate genotype for HRSV subgroup A in Lanzhou from 2013 to 2017, and became the sole genotype of RSV-A in 2015/2016 and 2016/2017. Our data indicate that northwest of China and the world will eventually be dominated by the ON1 RSV-A genotype, including the possibility for vaccine development. Based on trends seen in RSV-B BA genotype, which predominated for decades, there is a possibility to develop a vaccine for children in the next 10 years.