Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Retinal Microvascular Density Was Associated With the Clinical Progression of Parkinson’s Disease

Background Retinal microvascular density has been studied in neurodegenerative diseases, whereas patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) at different clinical stages have been rarely investigated. The present study aimed to evaluate the microvascular variations in superficial retinal capillary plexus (SCP) in patients with PD on different Hoehn-Yahr (H-Y) stages by optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA), as well as determine their relationships with clinical parameters. Methods In total, 115 patients with PD and 67 healthy controls (HCs) were recruited. The PD group was divided into three groups based on the H-Y stage. The OCTA examination was performed in all participants, and the macular vessel density (m-VD), peripapillary vessel density (p-VD), and foveal avascular zone (FAZ) area were measured. Results The m-VD in all regions, p-VD in center [6.1 (4.8, 6.95) mm–1 in healthy eyes vs. 5.1 (3.7, 6.4) mm–1 in patients], nasal inner (NI) [18.5 (17.8, 19.3) mm–1 in healthy eyes vs. 17.9 (17.1, 18.7) mm–1 in patients], temporal outer (TO) [19.6 (18.9, 20.2) mm–1 in healthy eyes vs. 19.3 (18.5, 19.7) mm–1 in patients] regions and FAZ area [0.36 (0.32, 0.39) mm2 in healthy eyes vs. 0.29 (0.26, 0.33) mm2 in patients] noticeably decreased in PD groups compared with HC (p < 0.05). Moreover, the FAZ area was suggested to decline significantly in patients with PD with H-Y I stage (p < 0.05), while it was more serious in the H-Y III stage in patients. Furthermore, we found that m-VD exhibited a significant negative correlation with age, disease duration, UPDRS scores, NMSS scores, and H-Y stage. Conclusion OCTA has the potential to non-invasively detect the microvascular changes in patients with PD with different clinical stages in vivo, and it may be a valuable tool to monitor the PD progression.
Contrasting Effects of Chronic Anthropogenic Disturbance on Activity and Species Richness of Insectivorous Bats in Neotropical Dry Forest

For prioritizing conservation actions, it is vital to understand how ecologically diverse species respond to environmental change caused by human activity. This is particularly necessary considering that chronic human disturbance is a threat to biodiversity worldwide. Depending on how species tolerate and adapt to such disturbance, ecological integrity and ecosystem services will be more or less affected. Bats are a species-rich and functionally diverse group, with important roles in ecosystems, and are therefore recognized as a good model group for assessing the impact of environmental change. Their populations have decreased in several regions, especially in the tropics, and are threatened by increasing human disturbance. Using passive acoustic monitoring, we assessed how the species-rich aerial insectivorous bats—essential for insect suppression services—respond to chronic human disturbance in the Caatinga dry forests of Brazil, an area potentially harboring ca. 100 bat species (nearly 50% are insectivorous), but with > 60% its area composed of anthropogenic ecosystems under chronic pressure. Acoustic data for bat activity was collected at research sites with varying amounts of chronic human disturbance (e.g., livestock grazing and firewood gathering). The intensity of the disturbance is indicated by the global multi-metric CAD index (GMDI). Using Animal Sound Identifier (ASI) software, we identified 18 different bat taxon units. Using Hierarchical Modeling of Species Communities (HMSC), we found trends in the association of the disturbance gradient with species richness and bat activity: species richness was higher at sites with higher human disturbance, whereas bat activity decreased with increasing human disturbance. Additionally, we observed taxon-specific responses to human disturbance. We conclude that the effects of chronic anthropogenic disturbance on the insectivorous bat fauna in the Caatinga are not homogeneous and a species-specific approach is necessary when assessing the responses of local bats to human disturbances in tropical dry forests, and in other biomes under human pressure.
Highlights of Strategies Targeting Fibroblasts for Novel Therapies for Rheumatoid Arthritis

Synovial fibroblasts of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) play a critical role in perpetuation of chronic inflammation by interaction with immune and inflammatory cells and in cartilage and bone invasion, but current therapies for RA are not directly targeted fibroblasts. Selectively fibroblast targeted therapy has been hampered because of lack of fibroblast specific molecular signature. Recent advancement in technology enabled us to gain insightful information concerning RA synovial fibroblast subpopulations and functions. Exploring fibroblast targeted therapies have been focused on inducing cell death via fibroblast associated proteins; interrupting fibroblast binding to matrix protein; blocking intercellular signaling between fibroblasts and endothelial cells; inhibiting fibroblast proliferation and invasion; promoting cell apoptosis and inducing cellular senescence, and modulating fibroblast glucose metabolism. Translation into clinical studies of these fibroblast targeted strategies is required for evaluation for their clinical application, in particular for combination therapy with current immune component targeted therapies. Here, several strategies of fibroblast targeted therapy are highlighted.
Olfactory Stimulation and the Diagnosis of Patients With Disorders of Consciousness: A Double-Blind, Randomized Clinical Trial

Objectives The aim of this study was to determine whether behavioral responses elicited by olfactory stimulation are a predictor of conscious behavioral response and prognosis of patients with disorders of consciousness (DOC). Methods Twenty-three DOC patients (8 unresponsive wakefulness syndrome [UWS]; 15 minimally conscious state [MCS]) were recruited for this study in which 1-Octen-3-ol (familiar neutral odor) and pyridine were used to test odor behavioral responses, and water was used as an odorless stimulus. One rater presented the three odors in front of each patient’s nose randomly, and another one videotaped all behavioral responses (e.g., pouting, wrinkling nose, slightly shaking head, frowning, etc.). Two independent raters, blind to the stimuli and the patient’s diagnosis, gave the behavioral results according to the recorded videos. One-, 3-, and 6-month follow-up evaluations were conducted to obtain a good prognostic value. Results All MCS patients showed behavioral responses to the 1-Octen-3-ol stimulus; nine MCS and one UWS showed olfactory emotional responses to the pyridine, and two MCS showed olfactory emotional responses to the water stimulus. The incidence of behavioral response was significantly higher using 1-Octen-3-ol than it was for water by McNemar test (p < 0.001), significantly higher using pyridine than it was for water (p < 0.01). The χ2 test results indicated that there were significant differences between MCS and UWS to 1-Octen-3-ol (p < 0.001). For MCS patients, the incidence of behavioral response was no different between using 1-Octen-3-ol and pyridine (p > 0.05). There was no significant relationship between the olfactory behavioral response and the improvement of consciousness based on the χ2 test analysis (p > 0.05). Conclusion Olfactory stimuli, especially for the familiar neutral odor, might be effective for eliciting a conscious behavioral response and estimating the clinical diagnosis of DOC patients. Clinical Trial Registration [https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03732092], [identifier NCT03732092].
Lipidomic Remodeling in Begonia grandis Under Heat Stress

Characterization of the alterations in leaf lipidome in Begonia (Begonia grandis Dry subsp. sinensis) under heat stress will aid in understanding the mechanisms of stress adaptation to high-temperature stress often occurring during hot seasons at southern areas in China. The comparative lipidomic analysis was performed using leaves taken from Begonia plants exposed to ambient temperature or heat stress. The amounts of total lipids and major lipid classes, including monoacylglycerol (MG), diacylglycerol (DG), triacylglycerols (TG), and ethanolamine-, choline-, serine-, inositol glycerophospholipids (PE, PC, PS, PI) and the variations in the content of lipid molecular species, were analyzed and identified by tandem high-resolution mass spectrometry. Upon exposure to heat stress, a substantial increase in three different types of TG, including 18:0/16:0/16:0, 16:0/16:0/18:1, and 18:3/18:3/18:3, was detected, which marked the first stage of adaptation processes. Notably, the reduced accumulation of some phospholipids, including PI, PC, and phosphatidylglycerol (PG) was accompanied by an increased accumulation of PS, PE, and phosphatidic acid (PA) under heat stress. In contrast to the significant increase in the abundance of TG, all of the detected lysophospholipids and sphingolipids were dramatically reduced in the Begonia leaves exposed to heat stress, suggesting that a very dynamic and specified lipid remodeling process is highly coordinated and synchronized in adaptation to heat stress in Begonia plants.
Evaluation of Glucose Monitoring Technologies for Cost Effective and Quality Control/Management of Diabetes

The diabetes epidemic in the United States (U.S.) has become a burden in regards to treatment, disease management, and associated costs. Key advancements in medical technology have been developed in efforts to mitigate this issue. We compare several types of glucose monitoring systems with respect to quality of care, management, and costeffectiveness for type 1 and type 2 diabetics.
Microbial Debromination of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers by Dehalococcoides-Containing Enrichment Culture

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), commonly used as flame retardants in a wide variety of consumer products, are emerging persistent pollutants and ubiquitously distributed in the environment. The lack of proper bacterial populations to detoxify these recalcitrant pollutants, in particular of higher brominated congeners, has confounded the attempts to bioremediate PBDE-contaminated sites. In this study, we report a Dehalococcoides-containing enrichment culture, PB, which completely debrominates 0.44 μM tetra-brominated diphenyl ether (BDE) 47 to diphenyl ether within 25 days (0.07 μM Br–/day) and extensively debrominates 62.4 ± 4.5% of 0.34 μM hepta-BDE 183 (0.006 μM Br–/day) with a predominant generation of penta- through tri-BDEs as well as small amounts of diphenyl ether within 120 days. Later, a marked acceleration rate (0.021 μM Br–/day) and more extensive debromination (87.7 ± 2.1%) of 0.38 μM hepta-BDE 183 was observed in the presence of 0.44 μM tetra-BDE 47, which is achieved via the faster growth rate of responsible bacterial populations on lower BDE-47 and debromination by expressed BDE-47 reductive dehalogenases. Therefore, the PB enrichment culture can serve as a potential candidate for in situ PBDE bioremediation since both BDE-47 and BDE-183 are dominant and representative BDE congeners and often coexist in contaminated sites.
The Effect of Blood Flow Restriction Exercise on Angiogenesis-Related Factors in Skeletal Muscle Among Healthy Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background Blood flow restriction (BFR) exercise may be a potential exercise program to promote angiogenesis. This review aims to compare the effects of exercise with and without BFR on angiogenesis-related factors in skeletal muscle among healthy adults. Methodology Searches were made in Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, and EBSCO databases from January 2001 to June 2021. Studies were screened, quality was evaluated, and data were extracted. The review protocol was registered at PROSPERO (PROSPERO registration number: CRD42021261367). Standardized mean differences (SMD) of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR-2), hypoxia inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptorγcoactivator-1α (PGC-1α) and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) were analyzed using Revman 5.4 software with a 95% confidence interval (95% CI). Results Ten studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria with a total of 75 participants for BFR group and 77 for CON group. BFR exercise elicits greater expression of VEGF (heterogeneity test, P = 0.09, I2 = 44%; SMD, 0.93 [0.38, 1.48], P < 0.05), VEGFR-2 (heterogeneity test, P = 0.81, I2 = 0%; SMD, 0.64 [0.08, 1.21], P < 0.05), HIF-1α (heterogeneity test, P = 0.67, I2 = 0%; SMD, 0.43 [0.03, 0.82], P < 0.05), PGC-1α (heterogeneity test, P = 0.02, I2 = 54%; SMD, 0.74 [0.21, 1.28], P < 0.05) and eNOS (heterogeneity test, P = 0.88, I2 = 0%; SMD, 0.60 [0.04, 1.17], P < 0.05) mRNA than non-BFR exercise. In the sub-group analysis, resistance exercise with BFR elicits greater expression of VEGF (heterogeneity test, P = 0.36, I2 = 6%; SMD, 1.66 [0.97, 2.35], P < 0.05) and HIF-1α (heterogeneity test, P = 0.56, I2 = 0%; SMD, 0.51 [0.01, 1.02], P < 0.05) mRNA than aerobic exercise with BFR. Conclusion Exercise with BFR elicited more angiogenesis-related factors mRNA expression than exercise without BFR, but not VEGF and PGC-1α protein expression. Therefore, BFR training may be a potential training program to improve vascular function. Systematic Review Registration [https://www.crd. york.ac. uk/prospero/], identifier [CRD42021261367].
Hearing Someone Laugh and Seeing Someone Yawn: Modality-Specific Contagion of Laughter and Yawning in the Absence of Others

Laughter and yawning can both occur spontaneously and are highly contagious forms of social behavior. When occurring contagiously, laughter and yawning are usually confounded with a social situation and it is difficult to determine to which degree the social situation or stimulus itself contribute to its contagion. While contagious yawning can be reliably elicited in lab when no other individuals are present, such studies are more sparse for laughter. Moreover, laughter and yawning are multimodal stimuli with both an auditory and a visual component: laughter is primarily characterized as a stereotyped vocalization whereas yawning is a predominantly visual signal and it is not known to which degree the visual and auditory modalities affect the contagion of laughter and yawning. We investigated how these two sensory modalities contribute to the contagion of laughter and yawning under controlled laboratory conditions in the absence of a social situation that might confound their contagion. Subjects were presented with naturally produced laughter and yawning in three sensory modalities (audio, visual, audio-visual), and we recorded their reaction to these stimuli. Contagious responses differed for laughter and yawning: overall, laughter elicited more contagious responses than yawning, albeit mostly smiling rather than overt laughter. While the audio-visual condition elicited most contagious responses overall, laughter was more contagious in the auditory modality, and yawning was more contagious in the visual modality. Furthermore, laughter became decreasingly contagious over time, while yawning remained steadily contagious. We discuss these results based on the ontogenetic and phylogenetic trajectories of laughter and yawning.
Proteasome and Neuroprotective Effect of Hyperbaric Oxygen Preconditioning in Experimental Global Cerebral Ischemia in Rats

Objectives We investigated the involvement of the proteasome in the mechanism of preconditioning with hyperbaric oxygen (HBO-PC). Methods The experiments were performed on male Wistar rats subjected to a transient global cerebral ischemia of 5 min duration (2-vessel occlusion model) and preconditioned or not with HBO for 5 preceding days (1 h HBO at 2.5 atmosphere absolute [ATA] daily). In subgroups of preconditioned rats, the proteasome inhibitor MG132 was administered 30 min prior to each preconditioning session. Twenty-four hours and 7 days post-ischemia, after neurobehavioral assessment, the brains were collected and evaluated for morphological changes and quantitative immunohistochemistry of cell markers and apoptosis-related proteins. Results We observed reduced damage of CA1 pyramidal cells in the HBO preconditioned group only at 7 days post-ischemia. However, both at early (24 h) and later (7 days) time points, HBO-PC enhanced the tissue expression of 20S core particle of the proteasome and of the nestin, diminished astroglial reactivity, and reduced p53, rabbit anti-p53 upregulated modulator of apoptosis (PUMA), and rabbit anti-B cell lymphoma-2 interacting mediator of cell death (Bim) expressions in the hippocampus and cerebral cortex. HBO-PC also improved T-maze performance at 7 days. Proteasome inhibitor abolished the beneficial effects of HBO-PC on post-ischemic neuronal injury and functional impairment and reduced the ischemic alterations in the expression of investigated proteins. Significance Preconditioning with hyperbaric oxygen-induced brain protection against severe ischemic brain insult appears to involve the proteasome, which can be linked to a depletion of apoptotic proteins and improved regenerative potential.
Assessing the Reliability of Template-Based Clustering for Tractography in Healthy Human Adults

Tractography is a non-invasive technique to investigate the brain’s structural pathways (also referred to as tracts) that connect different brain regions. A commonly used approach for identifying tracts is with template-based clustering, where unsupervised clustering is first performed on a template in order to label corresponding tracts in unseen data. However, the reliability of this approach has not been extensively studied. Here, an investigation into template-based clustering reliability was performed, assessing the output from two datasets: Human Connectome Project (HCP) and MyConnectome project. The effect of intersubject variability on template-based clustering reliability was investigated, as well as the reliability of both deep and superficial white matter tracts. Identified tracts were evaluated by assessing Euclidean distances from a dataset-specific tract average centroid, the volumetric overlap across corresponding tracts, and along-tract agreement of quantitative values. Further, two template-based techniques were employed to evaluate the reliability of different clustering approaches. Reliability assessment can increase the confidence of a tract identifying technique in future applications to study pathways of interest. The two different template-based approaches exhibited similar reliability for identifying both deep white matter tracts and the superficial white matter.
Comparative Transcriptome Reveals the Molecular Regulation Mechanism of Charybdis japonica to High- and Low-Temperature Stresses

Intertidal organisms are more sensitive to temperature stresses (whether high or low temperatures). As an intertidal crustacean, the optimal survival temperature ranges of Charybdis japonica are from 20 to 27°C. In this study, C. japonica was selected as the research species to better explore the molecular regulatory mechanisms of intertidal crustaceans to temperature stresses. The transcriptomes of C. japonica exposed to three temperature gradients (12, 20, and 28°C) were sequenced. A total of 69.22 Gb clean transcriptome reads were obtained from nine libraries and then de novo assembled to 52,972 unigenes with a mean length of 1080.23 bp and an N50 length of 1,775 bp. A total of 20,121 unigenes were successfully matched with at least one protein database. The transcriptome structure was predicted, and 12,125 coding sequences and 12,854 simple sequence repeats (SSRs) were obtained. The gene expression level of C. japonica at 20°C was used as control, and 548 and 90 unigenes were significantly differentially expressed at 28 and 12°C, respectively. A total of 720 unigenes were significantly differentially expressed at 28°C compared with 12°C. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) annotation showed that genes related to cell structure, metabolism, and protein folding and hormone synthesis might be involved in the regulation of temperature stress in C. japonica. Our results reveal for the first time the response of C. japonicas to low- and high- temperature stresses at the transcriptome level. The results provide fundamental information for revealing the temperature regulation mechanisms of C. japonica and other intertidal crustaceans. Furthermore, the present study enhances our understanding of how temperature fluctuations will affect the survival of marine crustaceans.
Limited Pairwise Synergistic and Antagonistic Interactions Impart Stability to Microbial Communities

One of the central goals of ecology is to explain and predict coexistence of species. In this context, microbial communities provide a model system where community structure can be studied in environmental niches and in laboratory conditions. A community of microbial population is stabilized by interactions between participating species. However, the nature of these stabilizing interactions has remained largely unknown. Theory and experiments have suggested that communities are stabilized by antagonistic interactions between member species, and destabilized by synergistic interactions. However, experiments have also revealed that a large fraction of all the interactions between species in a community are synergistic in nature. To understand the relative significance of the two types of interactions (synergistic vs. antagonistic) between species, we perform simulations of microbial communities with a small number of participating species using two frameworks—a replicator equation and a Lotka-Volterra framework. Our results demonstrate that synergistic interactions between species play a critical role in maintaining diversity in cultures. These interactions are critical for the ability of the communities to survive perturbations and maintain diversity. We follow up the simulations with quantification of the extent to which synergistic and antagonistic interactions are present in a bacterial community present in a soil sample. Overall, our results show that community stability is largely achieved with the help of synergistic interactions between participating species. However, we perform experiments to demonstrate that antagonistic interactions, in specific circumstances, can also contribute toward community stability.
What Motivates People to Support?: Impacts of Message Valence and Self-Efficacy on Linguistic Features of Response

This study investigates factors that motivate users of social network sites (SNS) to write responses to support-seeking posts on SNS. In particular, support-seeking message valence and support providers’ efficacy perceptions were examined. An online experiment with 209 participants revealed that participants reported lower support provision efficacy and impression management efficacy when responding to a negative post than a positive post. Message valence and efficacy perceptions impacted word count and emotion words in their responses. Theoretical and pragmatic implications for supportive communication and computer-mediated communication were discussed.
Differential Probability Discounting Rates of Gamblers in an American Indian Population

Probability discounting, a subset of behavioral economic research, has a rich history of investigating choice behavior, especially as it pertains to risky decision making. Gambling involves both choice behavior and risky decision making which makes it an ideal behavior to investigate with discounting tasks. With proximity to a casino being one of the biggest risk factors, studies into the American Indian population have been a neglected population of study. Using outcome measures from a pre-scan probability discounting task, the current study equated the scan task to evaluate behavioral and neurobiological differences in gamblers vs. non-gamblers. Gamblers showed differences in behavioral tasks (lower discounting rates) but not in patterns of neural activation.