Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Muscle Synergies in Children Walking and Running on a Treadmill

Muscle synergies reflect the presence of a common neural input to multiple muscles. Steering small sets of synergies is commonly believed to simplify the control of complex motor tasks like walking and running. When these locomotor patterns emerge, it is likely that synergies emerge as well. We hence hypothesized that in children learning to run the number of accompanying synergies increases and that some of the synergies’ activities display a temporal shift related to a reduced stance phase as observed in adults. We investigated the development of locomotion in 23 children aged 2–9 years of age and compared them with seven young adults. Muscle activity of 15 bilateral leg, trunk, and arm muscles, ground reaction forces, and kinematics were recorded during comfortable treadmill walking and running, followed by a muscle synergy analysis. We found that toddlers (2–3.5 years) and preschoolers (3.5–6.5 years) utilize a “walk-run strategy” when learning to run: they managed the fastest speeds on the treadmill by combining double support (DS) and flight phases (FPs). In particular the activity duration of the medial gastrocnemius muscle was weakly correlated with age. The number of synergies across groups and conditions needed to cover sufficient data variation ranged between four and eight. The number of synergies tended to be smaller in toddlers than it did in preschoolers and school-age children but the adults had the lowest number for both conditions. Against our expectations, the age groups did not differ significantly in the timing or duration of synergies. We believe that the increase in the number of muscle synergies in older children relates to motor learning and exploration. The ability to run with a FP is clearly associated with an increase in the number of muscle synergies.
Generalized Trust and Social Selection Process

Generalized trust relieves individuals in a socially uncertain situation from dyadic constraints of existing ties and helps them change ties with other individuals to acquire better resources. However, much evidence in the emancipation role of generalized trust as a booster of new relationship formation has been limited to laboratory experiments or cross-sectional surveys. We conducted a four-wave longitudinal survey to test whether individuals high in generalized trust actively switch ties and form open triads in dynamic social networks. Stochastic Actor-Oriented Models were employed to analyze structural changes in advice and personal discussion networks among first-year undergraduates. Results showed the predicted patterns of social selection processes based on generalized trust when the dynamics of the two networks were analyzed simultaneously: only in the advice network, individuals high in generalized trust tended to terminate existing ties, create new ties, and show a decreasing trend toward forming close triads when the degree of local clustering was large. Effective tie-formation strategies of individuals high in generalized trust in a multiplex network structure are discussed.
Transcriptome Analysis of Choroid and Retina From Tree Shrew With Choroidal Neovascularization Reveals Key Signaling Moieties

Pathological neovascularization in choroid, a leading cause of blindness, is a characteristic of many fundus diseases, such as diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration. The present study aimed to elucidate the key signaling pathways in choroidal neovascularization (CNV) by analyzing the mRNA profiles of choroid and retina in tree shrews with CNV. We induced choroidal angiogenesis by laser photocoagulation in 15 tree shrews and obtained mRNA profiles of their choroids and retinas by high-throughput transcriptome sequencing. Hierarchical cluster analysis, weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA), protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis, hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining, CD31 immunohistochemistry (IHC), and reverse transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) were performed. After laser photocoagulation, we obtained a total of 350 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the choroid, including 59 genes in Module-FASN (“ME-FASN”) module and 28 genes in Module-RPL (“ME-RPL”) module. A total of 69 DEGs in retina, including 20 genes in Module-SLC (“ME-SLC”) module. Bioinformatics analysis demonstrated that DEGs in choroid were mainly involved in membrane transport; DEGs in “ME-RPL” were prominent in pathways associated with IgA production, antigen presentation, and cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) signaling. DEGs in “ME-FASN” were involved in fatty acid metabolism and PPAR signaling pathway, while DEGs in “ME-SLC” were involved in GABAergic synapse, neuroactive life receptor interaction, cholinergic synapse, and retrograde endocannabinoid signaling pathway. PPI network analysis demonstrated that the ribosomal protein family genes (RPL31, RPL7, RPL26L1, and RPL19) are key factors of “ME-RPL,” acyl-CoA superfamily genes (ACACA, ACAT1, ACAA2, and ACACB) and FASN are key factors of “ME-FASN” and superfamily of solid carrier genes (SLC17A6, SLC32A1, SLC12A5, and SLC6A1) and complement genes (C4A, C3, and C2) are key factors of “ME-SLC. ” In conclusion, the present study discovered the important signal transductions (fatty acid metabolic pathway and CAMs signaling) and genes (ribosomal protein family and the complement system) in tree shrew CNV. We consider that our findings hold implications in unraveling molecular mechanisms that underlie occurrence and development of CNV.
A PIK3R2 Mutation in Familial Temporal Lobe Epilepsy as a Possible Pathogenic Variant

Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), the most common form of medically refractory focal epilepsy in adults, often requires surgery to alleviate seizures. By using next-generation sequencing, we identified a PIK3R2 mutation (NM_005027.4: c.265C > T; NP_005018.2: p.Arg89Cys) in a family with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy. PIK3R2 encodes p85β, the regulatory subunit of Class IA phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) and the mutation we identified in PIK3R2 seems to function unexpectedly as a possible pathogenic variant. The mutation is predicted to be potentially pathogenic by multiple bioinformatics tools. Through a functional assay, we verified that the mutation enhances the function of PI3K in induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) derived from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of the proband. Finally, pathological testing of the resected temporal lobe cortex showed that the expression of PIK3R2 was significantly higher in patients with refractory temporal lobe epilepsy than in those of non-epileptic diseases as a control group. It can be inferred that PIK3R2 might play an important role in the development of TLE.
Long-Term Bed Rest Delays the Circadian Phase of Core Body Temperature

Spaceflight can be associated with sleep loss and circadian misalignment as a result of non-24 h light-dark cycles, operational shifts in work/rest cycles, high workload under pressure, and psychological factors. Head-down tilt bed rest (HDBR) is an established model to mimic some of the physiological and psychological adaptions observed in spaceflight. Data on the effects of HDBR on circadian rhythms are scarce. To address this gap, we analyzed the change in the circadian rhythm of core body temperature (CBT) in two 60-day HDBR studies sponsored by the European Space Agency [n = 13 men, age: 31.1 ± 8.2 years (M ± SD)]. CBT was recorded for 36 h using a non-invasive and validated dual-sensor heatflux technology during the 3rd and the 8th week of HDBR. Bed rest induced a significant phase delay from the 3rd to the 8th week of HDBR (16.23 vs. 16.68 h, p = 0.005, g = 0.85) irrespective of the study site (p = 0.416, g = −0.46), corresponding to an average phase delay of about 0.9 min per day of HDBR. In conclusion, long-term bed rest weakens the entrainment of the circadian system to the 24-h day. We attribute this effect to the immobilization and reduced physical activity levels associated with HDBR. Given the critical role of diurnal rhythms for various physiological functions and behavior, our findings highlight the importance of monitoring circadian rhythms in circumstances in which gravity or physical activity levels are altered.
Attentional Focus Instructions Do Not Affect Choice Reaction Time

The majority of the studies on attentional focus have shown that participants who were instructed to focus externally performed better than those who were taught to focus internally. However, in most of these studies the participants performed complex motor tasks. Due to the scarcity of data on the effects of attentional focus specifically on simple motor tasks, our purpose in the current study was to examine these effects on two simple reaction time (RT) tasks. The study was conducted on a cloud-based experimental software. Participants were allocated to three experimental groups: an external focus group (n = 44), an internal focus group (n = 46), and a control group (no attentional instructions; n = 47). The participants performed two tasks: a choice-RT task and a Simon task. Participants in all three groups practiced eight blocks of 20 trials from each task in a counterbalanced order – a total of 180 trials for each task. The sole difference between the three groups was the administered attentional focus instructions. The findings suggest that attentional focus instructions do not affect the performance of a choice-RT task or a Simon-task in a computerized online study. It is possible that the simple RT-based tasks in the current study were not sensitive to the attentional focus manipulation, since in such simple tasks there are not many actions that internal focus can disrupt. Although we asked the participants to what extent they followed the instructions, we cannot say whether their responses represent their actual attentional focus when performing the tasks.
Atmospheric pressure plasma jets : characterisation and interaction with human cells and bacteria

A set of diagnostic methods to obtain the plasma parameters including power dissipation, gas temperature and electron density is evaluated for an atmospheric pressure helium or argon RF plasma needle for biomedical applications operated in open air. Different methods are investigated and evaluated to obtain the gas temperature. In this chapter the gas temperatures obtained by rotational spectra of OH(A-X), N+2 (B-X) and N2(C-B) are compared with Rayleigh scattering measurements and measurements of the line broadening of hydrogen and helium emission lines. The obtained gas temperature ranges from 300 to 650 K, depending on the gas. The electron densities are estimated from the Stark broadening of the hydrogen α and β lines which yield values between 10 and 10 m−3. In the case of helium, this is an overestimate as is shown by a power balance from the measured power density in the plasma jet. The obtained plasma parameters enable to explain the radial contraction of the argon plasma compared to the more diffuse helium plasma. The accuracy of all considered diagnostics is discussed in detail. ∗This chapter is a modified version of the publication: S. Hofmann, A.F. H. van Gessel, T. Verreycken, P. Bruggeman Power dissipation, gas temperatures and electron densities of cold atmospheric pressure helium and argon RF plasma jets, Plasma Sources Sci. Technol. 20 (2011) 065010 (12pp) 32 Chapter 2: Power, temperatures and electron densities of RF CAPPJs
Metal-Ions Intercalation Mechanism in Layered Anode From First-Principles Calculation

Layered structure (MoS2) has the potential use as an anode in metal-ions (M-ions) batteries. Here, first-principles calculations are used to systematically investigate the diffusion mechanisms and structural changes of MoS2 as anode in lithium (Li)-, sodium (Na)-, magnesium (Mg)- and Zinc (Zn)-ions batteries. Li and Na ions are shown to be stored in the MoS2 anode material due to the strong adsorption energies (~−2.25 eV), in contrast to a relatively weak adsorption of Mg and Zn ions for the pristine MoS2. To rationalize the results, we evaluate the charge transfer from the M-ions to the MoS2 anode, and find a significant hybridization between the adsorbed atoms and S atoms in the MoS2 anode. Furthermore, the migration energy barriers of M ions are explored using first-principles with the climbing image nudged elastic band (CINEB) method, and the migration energy barrier is in the order of Zn > Mg > Li > Na ions. Our results combined with the electrochemical performance experiments show that Li- and Na-ions batteries have good cycle and rate performance due to low ions migration energy barrier and high storage capability. However, the MoS2 anode shows poor electrochemical performance in Zn- and Mg-ions batteries, especially Zn-ion batteries. Further analysis reveals that the MoS2 structure undergoes the phase transformation from 2H to 1T during the intercalation of Li and Na ions, leading to strong interaction between M ions and the anode, and thus higher electrochemical performance, which, however, is difficult to occur in Mg- and Zn-ions batteries. This work focuses on the theoretical aspects of M-ions intercalation, and our findings may stimulate the experimental work for the intercalation of multi-ions to maximize the capacity of anode in M-ions batteries.
Evaluation of VIIRS and MODIS Snow Cover Fraction in High-Mountain Asia Using Landsat 8 OLI

We present the first application of the Snow Covered Area and Grain size model (SCAG) to the Visible Infrared imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) and assess these retrievals with finer‐resolution fractional snow cover maps from Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI). Because Landsat 8 OLI avoids saturation issues common to Landsat 1–7 in the visible wavelengths, we re-assess the accuracy of the SCAG fractional snow cover maps from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) that were previously evaluated using data from earlier Landsat sensors. Use of the fractional snow cover maps from Landsat 8 OLI shows a negative bias of −0.5% for MODSCAG and −1.3% for VIIRSCAG, whereas previous MODSCAG evaluations found a bias of −7.6% in the Himalaya. We find similar root mean squared error (RMSE) values of 0.133 and 0.125 for MODIS and VIIRS, respectively. The Recall statistic (probability of detection) for cells with more than 15% snow cover in this challenging steep topography was found to be 0.90 for both MODSCAG and VIIRSCAG, significantly higher than previous evaluations based on Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM) and 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+). In addition, daily retrievals from MODIS and VIIRS are consistent across gradients of elevation, slope, and aspect. Different native resolutions of the gridded products at 1 km and 500 m for VIIRS and MODIS, respectively, result in snow cover maps showing a slightly different distribution of values with VIIRS having more mixed pixels and MODIS having 7% more pure snow pixels. Despite the resolution differences, the snow maps from both sensors produce similar total snow-covered areas and snow-line elevations in this region, with R 2 values of 0.98 and 0.88, respectively. We find that the SCAG algorithm performs consistently across various spatial resolutions and that fractional snow cover maps from the VIIRS instruments aboard Suomi NPP, JPPS–1, and JPPS–2 can be a suitable replacement as MODIS sensors reach their ends of life.
An Evaluation of Habitat Uses and Their Implications for the Conservation of the Chinese Bumblebee Bombus pyrosoma (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Bumblebees are important pollinators for many wild plants and crops. However, the bumblebee populations are seriously declining in many parts of the world. Hence, the bumblebee conservation strategy should be urgently addressed, and the species distribution modeling approach can effectively evaluate the potentially suitable areas for their conservation. Here, one of the most abundant and endemic species of bumblebee in China, Bombus pyrosoma, was selected to assess current and future climates’ influence on its distribution with MaxEnt. Nine high-resolution bioclimatic/environmental variables with high contribution rates and low correlations were used. Four of the nine bioclimatic/environmental variables, min temperature of the coldest month (bio_06), annual mean temperature (bio_01), precipitation of wettest month (bio_13) and radiation of warmest quarter (bio_26), were found to be the most critical factors influencing the distribution of B. pyrosoma. The modeling results showed that the areas with high and moderate suitability for B. pyrosoma covered 141,858 and 186,198 km2 under the current climate conditions. More than 85% of the sampling sites in 2019 were found to be suitable under the current scenario. Under the future A1B and A2 scenarios in 2050 and 2100, the areas with low and moderate suitability for B. pyrosoma increased. However, alarmingly, the high suitability areas decreased under the future A1B and A2 scenarios in 2050 and 2100. Furthermore, regions covering seven provinces of northern China were the most crucial for developing nature reserves for B. pyrosoma, with the following order of suitable areas: Gansu, Shanxi, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Hebei and Beijing. Our study highlights the impact of future climate changes on the distribution of B. pyrosoma, and conservation strategies should mitigate the threats posed by environmental changes, particularly in the current high suitability areas.
Women Neuroscientist Disciples of Pío del Río-Hortega: the Cajal School Spreads in Europe and South America

Pio del Rio-Hortega was not only the discoverer of the microglia and oligodendroglia but also possibly the most prolific mentor of all Santiago Ramon y Cajal’s disciples (Nobel awardee in Physiology or Medicine 1906 and considered as the father of modern Neuroscience). Among Río-Hortega’s mentees, three exceptional women are frequently forgotten, chronologically: Pio’s niece Asunción Amo del Río who worked with Río-Hortega at Madrid, Paris, and Oxford; the distinguished British neuropathologist Dorothy Russell who also worked with Don Pío at Oxford; and Amanda Pellegrino de Iraldi, the last mentee in his career. Our present work analyzes the figures of these three women who were in contact and collaborated with Don Pío del Río-Hortega, describing the influences received and the impact on their careers and the History of Neuroscience. The present work completes the contribution of women neuroscientists who worked with Cajal and his main disciples of the Spanish Neurological School both in Spain (previous work) and in other countries (present work).
First Evidence of Retrospective Findings of Microplastics in Harbour Porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) From German Waters

Microplastic ingestion by lower trophic level organisms is well known, whereas information on microplastic ingestion, egestion and accumulation by top predators such as cetaceans is still lacking. This study investigates microplastics in intestinal samples from harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) found along the coastline of Schleswig-Holstein (Germany) between 2014 and 2018. Out of 30 individuals found along the North Sea (NS) and the Baltic Sea (BS) coast, 28 specimens contained microplastic. This study found a relationship between the nutritional status of cetaceans and the amount of found microplastics. Harbour porpoises with a good or moderate nutritional status contained a higher number of microplastics, when compared with specimens in a poor nutritional status. In addition, when individuals died accidently due to suspected bycatch in gillnets, where a feeding event is highly assumed or a pharyngeal entrapment happened, the microplastic burden was higher. In total, 401 microplastics (≥100 μm), including 202 fibres and 199 fragments were found. Intestines of the specimens of the BS contained more microplastics than the ones from the NS. Differences in the share of fibres could be revealed: for BS fibres constituted 51.44% and for NS, fibres constituted 47.97%. The polymers polyester, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyamide, acrylic (with nitrile component) and an acrylic/alkyd paint chip (with styrene and kaolin components) were identified. This is the first study investigating the occurrence of microplastics in harbour porpoises from German waters and will, thus, provide valuable information on the actual burden of microplastics in cetaceans from the North and Baltic Seas.
Historical Biogeography and the Evolution of Hematophagy in Rhodniini (Heteroptera: Reduviidae: Triatominae)

The Rhodniini tribe is one of the five tribes in the subfamily Triatominae and is notorious for its domestic blood-sucking pests and vectors of Trypanosoma cruzi across Latin America. The human and economic costs of the Chagas disease in the American tropics are considerable, and these insects are of unquestionable importance to humans. We used mitochondrial rDNA (16S), nuclear ribosomal RNA (28S) and wingless (Wg) sequences to perform phylogenetic analysis to derive trees based on parsimony and maximum likelihood. Nucleotide sequences were used in molecular-clock analyses to estimate time divergence between species of Rhodniini. The potential distribution of each species was modeled and compared with Kappa statistic. Multivariate niches with bioclimatic variables were used to describe differences between the species using discriminant analysis. The results of this study indicate that the Rhodniini originated 17.91 Mya ago. Rhodnius domesticus is the oldest species having its origin at 9.13 Mya. Rhodniini are closely related to Salyavatinae that are specialist termite predators and diverged from this subfamily 30.43 Mya. Most species are clearly allopatric and have distinct bioclimatic niches. The colonization of bromeliads, palms trees and bird nests represent important events for the speciation of these taxa. The hematophagous habit can be described as a scenario where Rhodniini’s ancestor could be pre-adapted for the invasion of bromeliads, palm trees, and bird nests where they would find significant water availability and thermal damping. These environments are widely used by vertebrate inquilines that would be the source of food for the species of Rhodniini. Lastly, our results show an alternative position of Psammolestes in the phylogenetic tree.
Bayesian bootstrap adaptive lasso estimators of regression models

ABSTRACT This paper proposes a modified adaptive lasso method by the Bayesian bootstrap (BBAL) and approximates the posterior distributions of parameters for a linear and a logistic regression model, respectively. The BBAL estimators are proved to have asymptotic and Oracle properties and they are acquired by the coordinate descent algorithm which could get the solutions at the grid of values of the penalty parameter λ. Three numerical experiments are conducted to demonstrate the BBAL method. Test results show the consistency of the variable selection and result in more robust estimators. And we use the median coefficients of the BBAL estimators to do the prediction with a medical dataset.
Social cognition during and after kindergarten: The relations between first-order and advanced theories of mind

ABSTRACT First-order and advanced theory of mind (ToM and AToM), and their structures and relations were investigated in 229 children aged 5–8 years. ToM was assessed using 6 tasks from the first-order ToM scale, while AToM was measured using an 18-item battery (higher-order false-belief understanding; strange stories; faux pas test; eyes test; interpretation of ambiguous figures). A confirmatory factor analysis replicated a structural AToM model with three distinct abilities: social reasoning, reasoning about ambiguity, and recognizing transgressions of social norms. After controlling for children’s inhibition and language skills, no significant associations were found between the diverse AToM factors. ToM was related to all aspects of AToM, but the correlations were only weak to moderate, suggesting that AToM is a construct in its own right. Substantial progress in AToM was made during early elementary school, showing that theory-of-mind development is not confined to the preschool years.