Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of Aflatoxin on AgNOR Activity of Cells in Different Hepatic Zones of Liver , and Protective Effectiveness of Esterified Glucomannan in Ram

In this study, the effects of total aflatoxin (AF) given orally on silver-staining nucleolus organizer regions (AgNORs) activity were studied on epithelial cells (hepatocytes) in the 3 functionally different hepatic zones of liver. In addition, this study was conducted in order to evaluate the efficacy of an esterified glucomannan (EG) for protection against to aflatoxicosis. As materials, 1 year-old 32 Merino rams were used. Control group (C) fed with the commercial feed. AF group fed with commercial feed added 250 μg/day of total AF. EG group fed with commercial feed added 2 g/day of EG daily. AF+EG group fed with commercial feed added 250 μg/day of total AF and 2 g/day of EG. At the end of the 92 day the animals were sacrificed, and tissue samples were taken from the liver. Liver tissue samples were evaluated in terms of the AgNOR areas, nuclear areas and the ratio to the nuclear area of the AgNOR area in the hepatocytes. In conclusion, the adverse effects causing by aflatoxicosis on the liver AgNOR activity could be ameliorated by adding EG to the ration.
Aerosol Dosimetry In Asthmatics: From Mri Data To Numerical Simulations.

Reducing the frequency of exacerbations is the primary goal of asthma disease management. Severe asthmatics (~15% of asthmatics) are challenging to treat, as this cohort of patients do not respond well to inhaled therapeutics. Computational fluid dynamics and particle transport (CFD-PT) simulations provide unique insight on factors that may lead to abnormal airflow distributions and insufficient therapeutic delivery. CFD-PT has the potential to uncover structural/functional abnormalities beyond what can be feasibly measured in vivo. In this study, we perform CFD-PT simulations in six subjects by coupling image-based airway geometries with measurements of segmental ventilation defect percent (SVDP) collected from hyperpolarized (HP) 3He magnetic resonance images (MRI). Dosimetry is then predicted for each of the six subjects, which allows for the correlation between asthma severity and anatomical features to be quantified. The particle trajectories were calculated by numerically solving a reduced form of the Maxey-Riley equation. The influence of particle diameter coupled with initial time and location of particles on regional and total deposition was studied. Simulation results highlight the link between geometry, asthma severity, particle size, particle initial location, and particle release time with regional deposition concentration. At the end, we improved particle deposition in the lobe of interest of a severe asthmatic subject by using a modified release time and location of particles.
www.econstor.eu An Intersection Test for Panel Unit Roots

This paper proposes a new panel unit root test based on Simes’ [Biometrika 1986, “An Improved Bonferroni Procedure for Multiple Tests of Significance”] classical intersection test. The test is robust to general patterns of cross-sectional dependence and yet straightforward to implement, only requiring p-values of time series unit root tests of the series in the panel, and no resampling. Monte Carlo experiments show good size and power properties relative to existing panel unit root tests. Unlike previously suggested tests, the new test allows to identify the units in the panel for which the alternative of stationarity can be said to hold. We provide two empirical applications to panels of real gross domestic product (GDP) and real exchange rate data.
Procedural Text Generation from a Photo Sequence

Multimedia procedural texts, such as instructions and manuals with pictures, support people to share how-to knowledge. In this paper, we propose a method for generating a procedural text given a photo sequence allowing users to obtain a multimedia procedural text. We propose a single embedding space both for image and text enabling to interconnect them and to select appropriate words to describe a photo. We implemented our method and tested it on cooking instructions, i.e., recipes. Various experimental results showed that our method outperforms standard baselines.
Nanoparticles for Brain Drug Delivery

The central nervous system, one of the most delicate microenvironments of the body, is protected by the blood-brain barrier (BBB) regulating its homeostasis. BBB is a highly complex structure that tightly regulates the movement of ions of a limited number of small molecules and of an even more restricted number of macromolecules from the blood to the brain, protecting it from injuries and diseases. However, the BBB also significantly precludes the delivery of drugs to the brain, thus, preventing the therapy of a number of neurological disorders. As a consequence, several strategies are currently being sought after to enhance the delivery of drugs across the BBB. Within this review, the recently born strategy of brain drug delivery based on the use of nanoparticles, multifunctional drug delivery systems with size in the order of one-billionth of meters, is described.The review also includes a brief description of the structural and physiological features of the barrier and of the most utilized nanoparticles for medical use. Finally, the potential neurotoxicity of nanoparticles is discussed, and future technological approaches are described. The strong efforts to allow the translation from preclinical to concrete clinical applications are worth the economic investments.
ParallelClosure : A Parallel Design Optimizer for Timing Closure

Timing-driven optimization is essential for the success of closure flows. In this contest, we explore existing efficient buffer insertion and gate sizing algorithms to fix timing violations; and minimize area, leakage power, and clock period for a design without altering its functionality. Using the Galois infrastructure for parallelization, we prototype a fast timing-driven design optimizer, ParallelClosure, to effectively and efficiently optimize designs with a small number of timing violations.
Protective Effects of Orange Juice Extract on Chromium-Induced Oxidative Damage in Saccharomyces Cerevisiae

Chromium is a highly toxic non-essential metal which is used in the production of steel and other alloys, in metal finishes and leather tanning. Chromium exposure has been linked to inhibition of growth or metabolic activity and may arise due to enhanced generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and oxidative damage in metal-treated micro-organisms. The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae provides an attractive alternative system for elucidating the mechanism(s) of metal toxicity. In this study, seven groups were created. i: Control group, ii: K2Cr2O7 group, iii: 5 mM K2Cr2O7+ orange juice (OJ) group, iv: 10 mM K2Cr2O7 + OJ group, v: 15 mM K2Cr2O7 + OJ group, vi: 20 mM K2Cr2O7 + OJ group, vii: 25 mM K2Cr2O7 + OJ group. After sterilization, fruit juice (20%) and K2Cr2O7 were added at different concentrations to Saccharomyces cerevisiae (S. cerevisiae) cultures which were developed at 30°C for 1h, 3h, 5h and 24 hours (overnight). S. cerevisiae cell growth was analyzed by spectrophotometer, total protein alterations was identified by SDSPAGE electrophoresis and measured with biuret method. As a results; cell growth increased in OJ groups to which OJ was taken in comparison to the positive control (K2Cr2O7) group at different growing times (1, 3, 5 and 24 hours) (p<0,05). As a result OJ has a protective effect for reduce the oxidative damage and raised cell growing and improve protein synthesis in S. cerevisiae culture.
From Pluripotent Stem Cells to Lineage-Specific Chondrocytes: Essential Signalling and Cellular Intermediates

Cartilage is a type of connective tissue found throughout the body. The three major types of cartilage are distinguished by their physical properties, which reflect their relative contents of the extracellular matrices: proteoglycan, elastin fiber and collagen. Hyaline cartilage, which makes smooth joint surfaces at the ends of bone, is hard and translucent. It is rich in type II collagen and hydrophilic proteoglycans, and highly resistance to pressure and shear forces. Elastic cartilage, found in the epiglottis and the Eustachian tube, contains large amounts of elastin fibers throughout the matrix, making it stiff but elastic. Fibrocartilage is often found in areas subjected to frequent compressive stress, such as intervertebral discs and menisci. It contains more collagen (especially type I collagen) and less proteoglycan than hyaline cartilage, enabling fibrocartilage to resist pressure effectively. Among the many orthopedic conditions, osteoarthritis is one of the most common degenerative joint disorders. Osteoarthritis progresses slowly but steadily to the stage where articular cartilage has to be entirely regenerated or replaced with an artificial joint. Traditional treatments for osteoarthritis deal with the symptoms. While current treatments might offer transient relief of pain, no regenerative therapy has yet been established. Instead, the best available treatment for patients with advanced osteoarthritic disease is surgery to provide an artificial joint. Joint articular cartilage lacks blood vessels and nerves, so damaged cartilage is not spontaneously healed by resident, (if they exist), or nearby (e.g. synovial) chondroprogenitors. In the current climate, chondroprogenitor transplantation is considered a promising therapy for the regeneration of articular cartilage. Focal damage to articular cartilage, such as that caused by sports injury, can be repaired by regenerative surgery such as the microfracture method, which has been performed for many years. Injured cartilage is removed, subchondral bone is exposed and several tiny holes (microfractures) are created in the bone to cause bone marrow cells and blood to clot and cover the cleared area, thereby promoting healing and tissue repair. Osteochondral grafting is also performed, in which full-thickness cylindrical plugs of articular cartilage attached to the subchondral bone are directly inserted into matching holes drilled in the chondral defect. Recently, cell-based therapies such as autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI) have been developed for use in various clinical settings (Brittberg et al.,
Life histories of guppies (Poecilia reticulata Peters, 1869; Poeciliidae) from the Pitch Lake in Trinidad

Abstract. Trinidadian guppies (Poecilia reticulata) are able to adapt to various environmental conditions and are even among the few species that can tolerate extensive pollution. In the Pitch Lake of Trinidad they live in highly toxic waters due to natural seepage of oil and bitumen. In this paper, we describe phenotypic divergence in several life-history traits between guppies from the Pitch Lake and from a nearby reference site with waters not polluted by bitumen/oil. We show that guppies from the Pitch Lake were (i) smaller and (ii) had a higher reproductive investment than those from the reference site. Furthermore, they (iii) produced more and smaller offspring. These results are congruent with a scenario of high mortality caused probably by a combination of water toxicity and higher predation than at the reference site. We therefore propose the Pitch Lake as an ideal system to study the effects of long-term (natural) water pollution on fishes, which might provide interesting insights into adaptation to extreme environments, and might further help to predict fish responses to anthropogenic pollution.
Update on the Desecheo Island Flora

Abstract. The introduction of non-native organisms has caused changes in island ecosystems world-wide. Two of the main drivers of island extinctions and ecosystem changes are goats and black rats. These organisms alter considerably the flora of island ecosystems by limiting propagule production and dispersal as well as constant herbivory. Even so, island floras can still be diverse if human contact is limited and removal of non-native organisms is carried out. This can start regeneration of the damaged ecosystem and begin the process of ecosystem restoration. The goal of our research was to update the flora of the island from the last 16 or more years. Plants were opportunistically observed, and some collected along trails, ridges, coastal areas, and in the most accessible valleys where other restoration efforts were taking place. Each collected plant was identified in the field, photographed, described, and its GPS coordinates were recorded. A total of 69 species were observed in the field, 17 of which were collected and vouchered in the UPR-Mayagüez Herbarium. Populations of some native plants, such as Harrisia portoricensis Britton (Cactaceae) seemed to be abundant while others, such as the Mammillaria nivosa Link. (Cactaceae) were found in marginal areas with a highly-restricted population. New populations of previously unknown non-natives Spathodea campanulata P. Beauv. (Bignoniaceae), Cenchrus ciliaris L. (Poaceae), and Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit (Fabaceae) in Desecheo are of conservation concern. Control or quick removal of these invasive species would help the restoration process of the island.
The Formation of Symmetrical Gestalts Is Task-Independent, but Can Be Enhanced by Active Regularity Discrimination

The brain can organize elements into perceptually meaningful gestalts. Visual symmetry is a useful tool to study gestalt formation, and we know that there are symmetry-sensitive regions in the extrastriate cortex. However, it is unclear whether symmetrical gestalt formation happens automatically, whatever the participant's current task is. Does the visual brain always organize and interpret the retinal image when possible, or only when necessary? To test this, we recorded an ERP called the sustained posterior negativity (SPN). SPN amplitude increases with the proportion of symmetry in symmetry + noise displays. We compared the SPN across five tasks with different cognitive and perceptual demands. Contrary to our predictions, the SPN was the same across four of the five tasks but selectively enhanced during active regularity discrimination. Furthermore, during regularity discrimination, the SPN was present on hit trials and false alarm trials but absent on miss and correct rejection trials. We conclude that gestalt formation is automatic and task-independent, although it occasionally fails on miss trials. However, it can be enhanced by attention to visual regularity.
Alpha-band Activity Tracks the Zoom Lens of Attention

Voluntary control over spatial attention has been likened to the operation of a zoom lens, such that processing quality declines as the size of the attended region increases, with a gradient of performance that peaks at the center of the selected area. Although concurrent changes in activity in visual regions suggest that zoom lens adjustments influence perceptual stages of processing, extant work has not distinguished between changes in the spatial selectivity of attention-driven neural activity and baseline shift of activity that can increase mean levels of activity without changes in selectivity. Here, we distinguished between these alternatives by measuring EEG activity in humans to track preparatory changes in alpha activity that indexed the precise topography of attention across the possible target positions. We observed increased spatial selectivity in alpha activity when observers voluntarily directed attention toward a narrower region of space, a pattern that was mirrored in target discrimination accuracy. Thus, alpha activity tracks both the centroid and spatial extent of covert spatial attention before the onset of the target display, lending support to the hypothesis that narrowing the zoom lens of attention shapes the initial encoding of sensory information.
Human Depth Sensitivity Is Affected by Object Plausibility

Using behavioral and fMRI paradigms, we asked how the physical plausibility of complex 3-D objects, as defined by the object's congruence with 3-D Euclidean geometry, affects behavioral thresholds and neural responses to depth information. Stimuli were disparity-defined geometric objects rendered as random dot stereograms, presented in plausible and implausible variations. In the behavior experiment, observers were asked to complete (1) a noise-based depth task that involved judging the depth position of a target embedded in noise and (2) a fine depth judgment task that involved discriminating the nearer of two consecutively presented targets. Interestingly, results indicated greater behavioral sensitivities of depth judgments for implausible versus plausible objects across both tasks. In the fMRI experiment, we measured fMRI responses concurrently with behavioral depth responses. Although univariate responses for depth judgments were largely similar across cortex regardless of object plausibility, multivariate representations for plausible and implausible objects were notably distinguishable along depth-relevant intermediate regions V3 and V3A, in addition to object-relevant LOC. Our data indicate significant modulations of both behavioral judgments of and neural responses to depth by object context. We conjecture that disparity mechanisms interact dynamically with the object recognition problem in the visual system such that disparity computations are adjusted based on object familiarity.
When Temporal Certainty Doesn't Help

In a dynamically changing environment, the ability to capture regularities in our sensory input helps us generate predictions about future events. In most sensory systems, the basic finding is clear: Knowing when something will happen improves performance on it [Nobre, A. C. , & van Ede, F. (2017). Anticipated moments: Temporal structure in attention. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 19, 34–48, 2017]. We here examined the impact of temporal predictions on a less-explored modality: touch. Participants were instructed to detect a brief target embedded in an ongoing vibrotactile stimulus. Unbeknownst to them, the experiment had two timing conditions: In one part, the time of target onset was fixed and thus temporally predictable, whereas in the other, it could appear at a random time within the ongoing stimulation. We found a clear modulation of detection thresholds due to temporal predictability: Contrary to other sensory systems, detecting a predictable tactile target was worse relative to unpredictable targets. We discuss our findings within the framework of tactile suppression.
Predicting the difficult airway

### Key points The difficult airway (DA) has been defined as ‘the clinical situation in which a conventionally trained anesthesiologist experiences difficulty with face mask ventilation of the upper airway, difficulty with tracheal intubation, or both’. 1 A more complete definition would include airway instrumentation (e.g. with supraglottic airway devices), direct tracheal access, and consideration of the airway at extubation. The 4th National Audit Project found that failure to assess for and identify potential difficulty, or the application of poor judgement in management planning, may contribute to a poor outcome.2 Airway assessment must go beyond carrying out a series of bedside tests; it must attempt to identify problems in each facet of airway management and incorporate these logically into a strategy. This should take into account anatomical variations, airway pathology, and previous strategies. Of great importance is the consideration of how these factors may impact on the likely success of any given technique or equipment used. The skills of the anaesthetist and the equipment available must also be accounted for. Before anaesthesia, the anaesthetist should be able to answer key questions.
Changes in neurological and pathological outcomes in a modified rat spinal cord injury model with closed canal

Most animal spinal cord injury models involve a laminectomy, such as the weight drop model or the transection model. However, in clinical practice, many patients undergo spinal cord injury while maintaining a relatively complete spinal canal. Thus, open spinal cord injury models often do not simulate real injuries, and few previous studies have investigated whether having a closed spinal canal after a primary spinal cord injury may influence secondary processes. Therefore, we aimed to assess the differences in neurological dysfunction and pathological changes between rat spinal cord injury models with closed and open spinal canals. Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into three groups. In the sham group, the tunnel was expanded only, without inserting a screw into the spinal canal. In the spinal cord injury with open canal group, a screw was inserted into the spinal canal to cause spinal cord injury for 5 minutes, and then the screw was pulled out, leaving a hole in the vertebral plate. In the spinal cord injury with closed canal group, after inserting a screw into the spinal canal for 5 minutes, the screw was pulled out by approximately 1.5 mm and the flat end of the screw remained in the hole in the vertebral plate so that the spinal canal remained closed; this group was the modified model, which used a screw both to compress the spinal cord and to seal the spinal canal. At 7 days post-operation, the Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan scale was used to measure changes in neurological outcomes. Hematoxylin-eosin staining was used to assess histopathology. To evaluate the degree of local secondary hypoxia, immunohistochemical staining and western blot assays were applied to detect the expression of hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Compared with the spinal cord injury with open canal group, in the closed canal group the Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan scores were lower, cell morphology was more irregular, the percentage of morphologically normal neurons was lower, the percentages of HIF-1α- and VEGF-immunoreactive cells were higher, and HIF-1α and VEGF protein expression was also higher. In conclusion, we successfully established a rat spinal cord injury model with closed canal. This model could result in more serious neurological dysfunction and histopathological changes than in open canal models. All experimental procedures were approved by the Institutional Animal Care Committee of Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, China (approval No. HKDL201810) on January 30, 2018.
Extracellular matrix and biomimetic engineering microenvironment for neuronal differentiation

Extracellular matrix (ECM) influences cell differentiation through its structural and biochemical properties. In nervous system, neuronal behavior is influenced by these ECMs structures which are present in a meshwork, fibrous, or tubular forms encompassing specific molecular compositions. In addition to contact guidance, ECM composition and structures also exert its effect on neuronal differentiation. This short report reviewed the native ECM structure and composition in central nervous system and peripheral nervous system, and their impact on neural regeneration and neuronal differentiation. Using topographies, stem cells have been differentiated to neurons. Further, focussing on engineered biomimicking topographies, we highlighted the role of anisotropic topographies in stem cell differentiation to neurons and its recent temporal application for efficient neuronal differentiation.