Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
EZH2 Regulates ANXA6 Expression via H3K27me3 and Is Involved in Angiotensin II-Induced Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Senescence

Objectives Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) has a high risk of rupture of the aorta and is one of the leading causes of death in older adults. This study is aimed at confirming the influence and mechanism of the abnormally expressed ANXA6 gene in AAA. Methods Clinical samples were collected for proteome sequencing to screen for differentially expressed proteins. An Ang II-induced vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) aging model as well as an AAA animal model was used. Using RT-qPCR to detect the mRNA levels of EZH2, ANXA6, IK-6, and IL-8 in cells and tissues were assessed. Western blotting and immunohistochemistry staining were used apply for the expression of associated proteins in cells and tissues. SA-β-gal staining, flow cytometry, and DHE staining were used to detect senescent cells and the level of ROS. The cell cycle was assessed by flow cytometry. Arterial pathology was observed by HE staining. The aging of VSMCs in arterial tissue was assessed by coimmunofluorescence for α-SMA and p53. Results There were 24 differentially expressed proteins in the AAA clinical samples, including 10 upregulated protein and 14 downregulated protein, and the differential expression of ANXA6 was associated with vascular disease. Our study found that ANXA6 was highly expressed and EZH2 was lowly expressed in an Ang II-induced VSMC aging model. Knockdown of ANXA6 or overexpression of EZH2 inhibited Ang II-induced ROS, inhibited cell senescence, decreased Ang II evoked G1 arrest, and increased cells in G2 phase, while overexpression of ANXA6 played the opposite role. Overexpression of EZH2 inhibited ANXA6 expression by increasing H3K27me3 modification at the ANXA6 promoter. Simultaneous overexpression of EZH2 and the protective effect of EZH2 on cell senescence were partially reversed by ANXA6. Similarly, ANXA6 was highly expressed and EZH2 was lowly expressed in an Ang II-induced AAA animal model. Knockdown of ANXA6 and overexpression of EZH2 alleviated Ang II-induced VSMC senescence and inhibited AAA progression, while simultaneous overexpression of EZH2 and ANXA6 partially reversed the protective effect of EZH2 on AAA. Conclusion EZH2 regulates the ANXA6 promoter H3K27me3 modification, inhibits ANXA6 expression, alleviates Ang II-induced VSMC senescence, and inhibits AAA progression.
Wild Chrysanthemums Core Collection: Studies on Leaf Identification

Wild chrysanthemums mainly present germplasm collections such as leaf multiform, flower color, aroma, and secondary compounds. Wild chrysanthemum leaf identification is critical for farm owners, breeders, and researchers with or without the flowering period. However, few chrysanthemum identification studies are related to flower color recognition. This study contributes to the leaf classification method by rapidly recognizing the varieties of wild chrysanthemums through a support vector machine (SVM). The principal contributions of this article are: (1) an assembled collection method and verified chrysanthemum leaf dataset that has been achieved and improved; (2) an adjusted SVM model that is offered to deal with the complex backgrounds presented by smartphone pictures by using color and shape classification results to be more attractive than the original process. As our study presents, the proposed method has a viable application in real-picture smartphones and can help to further investigate chrysanthemum identification.
Water Quality Index Prediction for Improvement of Treatment Processes on Drinking Water Treatment Plant

In order to improve the treatment processes of the drinking water treatment plant (DWTP) located near the Butoniga reservoir in Istria (Croatia), a prediction of the water quality index (WQI) was done. Based on parameters such as temperature, pH, turbidity, KMnO4, NH4, Mn, Al and Fe, the calculation of WQI was conducted, while for the WQI prediction models, along with the mentioned parameters, O2, TOC and UV254 were additionally used. Four models were built to predict WQI with a time step of one, five, ten, and fifteen days in advance, in order to improve treatment processes of the DWTP regarding the changes in raw water quality in the Butoniga reservoir. Therefore, obtained models can help in the optimization of treatment processes, which depend on the quality of raw water, and overall, in the sustainability of the treatment plant. Results showed that the obtained correlation coefficients for all models are relatively high and, as expected, decrease as the number of prediction days increases; conversely, the number of rules, and related linear equations, depends on the parameters set in the WEKA modelling software, which are set to default settings which give the highest values of correlation coefficient (R) for each model and the optimal number of rules. In addition, all models have high accuracy compared to the measured data, with a good prediction of the peak values. Therefore, the obtained models, through the prediction of WQI, can help to manage the treatment processes of the DWTP, which depend on the quality of raw water in the Butoniga reservoir.
Susceptibility of Domestic Goat (Capra aegagrus hircus) to Experimental Infection with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) B.1.351/Beta Variant

A wide range of animal species are susceptible to the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Natural and/or experimental infections have been reported in pet, zoo, farmed and wild animals. Interestingly, some SARS-CoV-2 variants, such as B.1. 1.7/Alpha, B.1. 351/Beta, and B.1. 1.529/Omicron, were demonstrated to infect some animal species not susceptible to classical viral variants. The present study aimed to elucidate if goats (Capra aegagrus hircus) are susceptible to the B.1. 351/Beta variant. First, an in silico approach was used to predict the affinity between the receptor-binding domain of the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 B.1. 351/Beta variant and angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 from goats. Moreover, we performed an experimental inoculation with this variant in domestic goat and showed evidence of infection. SARS-CoV-2 was detected in nasal swabs and tissues by RT-qPCR and/or immunohistochemistry, and seroneutralisation was confirmed via ELISA and live virus neutralisation assays. However, the viral amount and tissue distribution suggest a low susceptibility of goats to the B.1. 351/Beta variant. Therefore, although monitoring livestock is advisable, it is unlikely that goats play a role as SARS-CoV-2 reservoir species, and they are not useful surrogates to study SARS-CoV-2 infection in farmed animals.
Polarimetric Scattering Spectrum Analysis for Target Characterization

This study proposes the spectrum analysis of the scattering-type parameter, $\theta _{\text {FP}}$ , to characterize different land cover targets. Many orthonormal projections of the scattering information onto distinct polarization bases have been proposed in the literature. However, these conventional orthonormal basis projection techniques often provide various target characterization ambiguities and classification. In this work, we propose projecting the target coherency matrix onto several random realizations of the normalized scattering configuration without restriction to the orthogonality constraint. This unique approach helps enhanced target characterization from polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data. We show the efficacy of our proposed technique over different land cover types using the C-band RADARSAT-2 data over San Francisco (SF) and the L-band ALOS-2 data over Mumbai.
Radiological Features for Frailty Assessment in Patients Requiring Emergency Laparotomy

Introduction: As the number of elderly patients requiring surgical intervention rises, it is believed that frailty syndrome has a greater impact on perioperative course than on chronological age. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of various imaging features for frailty assessment in patients undergoing emergency laparotomy. Methods: The study included all patients that qualified for emergency surgery with preoperative CT scans between 2016 and 2020 in the Second Department of General Surgery. Multiple trauma patients were excluded from the analysis. The modified frailty index and brief geriatric assessment were used in the analysis. CT images were reviewed for the assessment of osteopenia, sarcopenia, sarcopenic obesity, renal volume and abdominal aorta calcification rate. Results: A total of 261 patients were included in the analysis. Multivariate logistic regression identified every next ASA class (OR: 4.161, 95%CI: 1.672–10.355, p = 0.002), intraoperative adverse events (OR: 12.397, 95%CI: 2.166–70.969, p = 0.005) and osteopenia (OR: 4.213, 95%CI: 1.235–14.367, p = 0.022) as a risk factor for 30-day mortality. Our study showed that every next ASA class (OR: 1.952, 95%Cl: 1.171–3.256, p = 0.010) and every point of the BGA score (OR: 1.496, 95%Cl: 1.110–2.016, p = 0.008) are risk factors for major complications. Conclusions: Osteopenia was the best parameter for perioperative mortality risk stratification in patients undergoing emergency surgical intervention. Sarcopenia (measured as psoas muscle area), sarcopenic obesity, aortic calcifications and mean kidney volume do not predict poor outcomes in those patients. None of the radiological markers appeared to be useful for the prediction of perioperative morbidity.
The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health): An Underused Resource for Developmental Science

The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) represents a data treasure for developmental psychologists working in both adolescent and life-span development. Add Health is a nationally representative sample of more than 20,000 adolescents in grades 7–12 in 1994–1995, who were followed for 25 years into early midlife over five interview waves. The innovative multilevel design collected direct measures of the social contexts of adolescent life and tracked developmental outcomes in health, health behaviors, cognition, achievement, and relationships over time. Biological data appropriate to the developmental stages of the cohort and relevant biosocial processes were integrated into the longitudinal waves of data collection. This review describes Add Health's design and data contents and highlights illustrative Add Health articles that examine developmental processes and outcomes in the areas of mental health, health behavior, cognition, and relationships. We conclude with new opportunities for developmental analyses and suggest future areas of research. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Developmental Psychology, Volume 4 is December 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews. org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.
In Vitro Assessment of Azole and Amphotericin B Susceptibilities of Malassezia spp. Isolated from Healthy and Lesioned Skin

Malassezia yeasts have recently gained medical importance as emerging pathogens associated with a wide range of dermatological and systemic infections. Since standardized methods for in vitro antifungal susceptibility testing have not yet been established for Malassezia spp. , related diseases are always treated empirically. As a result, a high rate of recurrence and decreased antifungal susceptibility have appeared. Thus, the aims of the study were to assess and analyze the in vitro susceptibility of Malassezia isolated from pityriasis versicolor (PV) lesions and healthy controls. A total of 58 Malassezia strains isolated from PV patients and healthy controls were tested. In vitro antifungal susceptibility testing was conducted using the CLSI broth microdilution with some modifications. Candida spp. criteria established in accordance with CLSI guidelines were used for data interpretation. Ketoconazole and posaconazole seemed to be the most effective molecules against Malassezia species. However, considerable percentages of itraconazole, fluconazole, and amphotericin B ‘‘resistant’’ strains (27.6%, 29.3%, and 43.1%, respectively) were revealed in this study. Malassezia furfur, M. sympodialis, and M. globosa showed different susceptibility profiles to the drugs tested. These results emphasize the importance of accurately identifying and evaluating the antifungal susceptibility of Malassezia species in order to guide a specific and effective treatment regimen.
Cobinamide is a strong and versatile antioxidant that overcomes oxidative stress in cells, flies, and diabetic mice

Abstract Increased oxidative stress underlies a variety of diseases, including diabetes. Here, we show that the cobalamin/vitamin B12 analog cobinamide is a strong and multifaceted antioxidant, neutralizing superoxide, hydrogen peroxide, and peroxynitrite, with apparent rate constants of 1.9 × 108, 3.7 × 104, and 6.3 × 106 M−1 s−1, respectively, for cobinamide with the cobalt in the +2 oxidation state. Cobinamide with the cobalt in the +3 oxidation state yielded apparent rate constants of 1.1 × 108 and 8.0 × 102 M−1 s−1 for superoxide and hydrogen peroxide, respectively. In mammalian cells and Drosophila melanogaster, cobinamide outperformed cobalamin and two well-known antioxidants, imisopasem manganese and manganese(III)tetrakis(4-benzoic acid)porphyrin, in reducing oxidative stress as evidenced by: (i) decreased mitochondrial superoxide and return of the mitochondrial membrane potential in rotenone- and antimycin A-exposed H9c2 rat cardiomyocytes; (ii) reduced JNK phosphorylation in hydrogen-peroxide-treated H9c2 cells; (iii) increased growth in paraquat-exposed COS-7 fibroblasts; and (iv) improved survival in paraquat-treated flies. In diabetic mice, cobinamide administered in the animals’ drinking water completely prevented an increase in lipid and protein oxidation, DNA damage, and fibrosis in the heart. Cobinamide is a promising new antioxidant that has potential use in diseases with heightened oxidative stress.
Comparative study of four optimization algorithms applied to stock price forecasting

—The proposed work presents an innovative investment strategy, capable of making a proﬁt on a regular basis with low associated risk. The investment strategy is based on a forecast for the rise or fall of a company’s share price, calculated using various technical indicators. The intelligent trading system developed was optimized by 4 algorithms separately, in order to compare the performance of the algorithms: Cuckoo Search (CS), Genetic Algorithm (GA), Gray Wolf Optimization (GWO) and Moth Flame Optimization (MFO). To ensure that the results obtained are valid, tests were carried out for 104 companies from various areas, present in the NASDAQ 100 index (NDX). The algorithm that obtained the best overall performance of the tests performed was GA, although the other algorithms had very similar results. Even so, the MFO algorithm managed to accumulate an average of 60.3% proﬁt over a 6-year period, reaching an average hit rate of 58.4% in the predictions made, being the algorithm that managed to accumulate more proﬁt in a speciﬁc case study.
What About Mom? Teen: Usability of a Postpartum App for Teen Mothers

Abstract Introduction There exists a paucity of literature on availability of health literate, virtual postpartum symptom education empowering adolescent moms to seek urgent medical care when needed. With few postpartum health-related Apps on the market, a gap remains in research of their potential to deliver postpartum symptom instruction. This study examined the usability of the What About Mom App? for adolescent mothers to identify and act on urgent complications potentially reducing morbidity and mortality for this high-risk group. Methods Participants were recruited via email lists and social media of community partners serving new mothers in both English and Spanish in the United States. Participants completed a survey that assessed their e-health literacy and perception of the quality and usability of the What About Mom Apps ? using the User Version Mobility Assessment Rating Scale (uMARS). Results After data cleaning, 159 credible responses were retained for analysis. Participant mean total score for eHEALS was 30.2 (range 9–40; SD 5.9) indicating adequate e-health literacy. The uMARS scores indicate the quality and usability of the app. Compared with the norms in each of the uMARS domains, Functionality was the only category that scored below the standard. Qualitative suggestions were made from the participants to improve Functionality. Discussion The uMARS scores added valuable information to modify the What About Mom App? to improve ease of delivery of health literate postpartum health information. Apps including The What About Mom App? offer promising interventions that can help increase healthcare engagement for moms of all ages to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality.
Extending the R-2R lens to 360°

The R.2R lens is a remarkable microwave device that provides perfect focusing, giving multiple simultaneous antenna beams from a circular or cylindrical array. However, the perfect focusing of the R-2R brings with it a serious limitation on angular coverage as a result of the angular doubling that enters when the array elements in the antenna are connected to the launcher elements on the lens periphery. We have now found a way to modify the R-2R concept so that a full circle of array elements can be mapped onto a full circle of beam ports. The new mapping makes use of hybrid junctions and either four or six physical lenses. The interconnections result in 360\deg of simultaneous antenna beams, each of which can be used both for transmission and for reception.
Three-Dimensional Arenas for the Assessment of Caenorhabditis elegans Behavior

Caenorhabditis elegans nematode is a well-established model organism in numerous fields of experimental biology. In nature, C. elegans live in a rich three-dimensional (3D) environment. However, their behavior has been assessed almost exclusively on the open, flat surface of nematode growth medium (NGM) plates, the golden standard for C. elegans culture in the laboratory. We present two methods to build 3D behavioral arenas for C. elegans, by casting and by directly 3D-printing NGM hydrogel. The latter is achieved using a highly customized fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printer, modified to employ NGM hydrogel as ink. The result is the advancement of 3D complexity of behavioral assays. To demonstrate the potential of our method, we use the 3D-printed arenas to assess C. elegans physical barriers crossing. C. elegans decision to cross physical obstacles is affected by aging, physiological status (i.e., starvation), and prior experience. The 3D-printed structures can be used to spatially confine C. elegans behaviors, that is, egg laying. We consider these findings a decisive step toward characterizing C. elegans 3D behavior, an area long overlooked due to technical constrains. We envision our method of 3D-printing NGM arenas as a powerful tool in behavioral neurogenetics, neuroethology, and invertebrate model organisms’ neurobiology.
Effects of Chronic Kidney Disease on Nanomechanics of the Endothelial Glycocalyx Are Mediated by the Mineralocorticoid Receptor

Endothelial mechanics control vascular reactivity and are regulated by the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) and its downstream target, the epithelial Na+ channel (ENaC). Endothelial dysfunction is a hallmark of chronic kidney disease (CKD), but its mechanisms are poorly understood. We hypothesized that CKD disrupts endothelial mechanics in an MR/ENaC-dependent process. Methods: Primary human endothelial cells were cultured with uremic serum derived from children with stage 3–5 (predialysis) CKD or adult hemodialysis (HD) patients or healthy controls. The height and stiffness of the endothelial glycocalyx (eGC) and cortex were monitored by atomic force microscopy (AFM) using an ultrasensitive mechanical nanosensor. Results: In a stage-dependent manner, sera from children with CKD induced a significant increase in eGC and cortex stiffness and an incremental reduction of the eGC height. AFM measurements were significantly associated with individual pulse wave velocity and serum concentrations of gut-derived uremic toxins. Serum from HD patients increased MR expression and mechanical stiffness of the endothelial cortex, an effect reversed by MR and ENaC antagonists, decreased eNOS expression and NO bioavailability, and augmented monocyte adhesion. Conclusion: These data indicate progressive structural damage of the endothelial surface with diminishing kidney function and identify the MR as a mediator of CKD-induced endothelial dysfunction.
Complexity-Theoretic Aspects of Interactive Proof Systems

In 1985, Goldwasser, Micali and Racko formulated interactive proof systems as a tool for developing cryptographic protocols. Indeed, many exciting cryptographic results followed from studying interactive proof systems and the related concept of zero-knowledge. Interactive proof systems also have an important part in complexity theory merging the well established concepts of probabilistic and nondeterministic computation. This thesis will study the complexity of various models of interactive proof systems. A perfect zero-knowledge interactive protocol convinces a veri er that a string is in a language without revealing any additional knowledge in an information theoretic sense. This thesis will show that for any language that has a perfect zero-knowledge proof system, its complement has a short interactive protocol. This result implies that there are not any perfect zero-knowledge protocols for NP-complete languages unless the polynomial-time hierarchy collapses. Thus knowledge complexity can show a language is easy to prove. Interesting models of interactive proof systems arise by restricting the power of the veri er. This thesis examines the proof systems with a veri er required to run in logarithmic space as well as polynomial time. Relationships with circuit complexity and log-space Turing machines are developed. We can increase the power of interactive proof systems by allowing many provers that can not communicate among themselves during the protocol. This thesis shows the equivalence between this multi-prover model and probabilistic Turing machines with an untrustworthy oracle. We additionally give an oracle under which co-NP does not have multi-prover interactive protocols. This result implies an oracle where co-NP does not have standard interactive protocols. Another natural model occurs when the veri er has only linear time. Towards this direction, this thesis examines probabilistic machines and linear time. We show an oracle under which linear time probabilistic Turing machines can accept all BPP languages, an unusual collapse of a complexity time hierarchy. We exhibit many other related relativized results. Finally we show probabilistic linear time does not contain all languages accepted by interactive proof systems.
Multiple imputation of incomplete zero‐inflated count data

Empirical count data are often zero‐inflated and overdispersed. Currently, there is no software package that allows adequate imputation of these data. We present multiple‐imputation routines for these kinds of count data based on a Bayesian regression approach or alternatively based on a bootstrap approach that work as add‐ons for the popular multiple imputation by chained equations (mice) software in R (van Buuren and Groothuis‐Oudshoorn, Journal of Statistical Software, vol. 45, 2011, p. 1). We demonstrate in a Monte Carlo simulation that our procedures are superior to currently available count data procedures. It is emphasized that thorough modeling is essential to obtain plausible imputations and that model mis‐specifications can bias parameter estimates and standard errors quite noticeably. Finally, the strengths and limitations of our procedures are discussed, and fruitful avenues for future theory and software development are outlined.