Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
PRRSV Vaccine Strain-Induced Secretion of Extracellular ISG15 Stimulates Porcine Alveolar Macrophage Antiviral Response against PRRSV

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) has disrupted the global swine industry since the 1980s. PRRSV-host interactions are largely still unknown but may involve host ISG15 protein. In this study, we developed a monoclonal antibody (Mab-3D5E6) specific for swine ISG15 (sISG15) by immunizing mice with recombinant sISG15. A sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) incorporating this sISG15-specific Mab was developed to detect sISG15 and provided a lower limit of sISG15 detection of 200 pg/mL. ELISA results demonstrated that infection of porcine alveolar macrophages (PAMs) with low-virulence or attenuated PRRSV vaccine strains induced intracellular ISG15 expression that was independent of type I IFN production, while PAMs infection with a PRRSV vaccine strain promoted extracellular ISG15 secretion from infected PAMs. Conversely, the addition of recombinant sISG15 to PAMs mimicked natural extracellular ISG15 effects whereby sISG15 functioned as a cytokine by activating PAMs. Once activated, PAMs could inhibit PRRSV replication and resist infection with PRRSV vaccine strain TJM. In summary, a sandwich ELISA incorporating homemade anti-ISG15 Mab detected ISG15 secretion induced by PAMs infection with a PRRSV vaccine strain. Recombinant ISG15 added to cells exhibited cytokine-like activity that stimulated PAMs to assume an anti-viral state that enabled them to inhibit PRRSV replication and resist viral infection.
Models Predictions: Evaluation and Intercomparison for the Ebro Valley

Daily Temperature Changes and Variability in ENSEMBLES Regional 1 Models Predictions: Evaluation and Intercomparison for the Ebro Valley 2 (NE Iberia) 3 4 5 A. El Kenawy1, 4*, J.I. López-Moreno2, M. F. McCabe1, N.A. Brunsell3 & S.M. Vicente6 Serrano2 7 8 9 1. Hydrological Modeling & Earth Observation Group, WDRC, King Abdullah University of Science and 10 Technology, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia. 11 2. Instituto Pirenaico de EcologíaCSIC, Campus de Aula Dei, P.O. Box 13034, Zaragoza, 50059, Spain. 12 3. Department of Geography Atmospheric Sciences Program, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 6604513 7613, USA. 14 4. Department of Geography, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt. 15 16 * kenawy@mans.edu. eg 17
Unraveling the Reaction Mechanism of FeS2 as a Li-ion Battery Cathode.

Iron pyrite (FeS2) is a promising lithium ion battery cathode material because of its low cost and ultra-high energy density (1671 Wh kg-1). However, its reaction mechanisms are still controversial. In this work, we find that different from the conventional beliefs that a formation of an intermediate phase Li2FeS2 and then Fe/Li2S composites at the initial discharge, it undergoes a one-step reaction (FeS2 → Fe + Li2S) or a two-step reaction (FeS2 → FeS + Li2S→ Fe + Li2S), which depends on current rate and temperature. In the charge process, it undergoes a two-step reaction: a phase transition Fe + Li2S → FeS at about 1.74 V; a generation of elemental sulfur (Li2S → S, 2.30 V). FeS is a mackinawite phase which is formed on the interface of Li2S via a hetero-epitaxial growth. In the subsequent cycles, it is a combination reaction behavior of FeS and S. The reaction mechanism suggests that FeS2 suffers from the challenges of conversion reaction materials both FeS and S, such as big volume change, voltage hysteresis, and polysulfide dissolution. These findings would help understand the intrinsic capacity fading of FeS2 and provide guidelines to improve its electrochemical performances.
Spheroid formation of human keratinocyte: Balancing between cell-substrate and cell-cell interaction.

BACKGROUND The formation of spheroids is tightly regulated by intrinsic cell-cell and cell-substrate interactions. OBJECTIVE The chitosan (CS)-coating was applied to investigate the driven force directed the spheroid formation. METHODS The effects of CS on cell functions were studied. Atomic force microscopy was employed to measure the cell- biomaterial interplay at single cell level. RESULTS HaCaT cells shifted from their flattened sheet to a compact 3D spheroidal morphology when increasing CS coating concentration. The proliferative capacity of HaCaT was preserved in the spheroid. The expression and activation of integrin β1 (ITGB1) were enhanced on CS modified surfaces, while the active to total ratio of ITGB1 was decreased. The adhesive force of a single HaCaT cell to the tissue culture plate (TCP) was 4.84±0.72 nN. It decreased on CS-coated surfaces as CS concentration increased, from 2.16±0.26 nN to 0.96±0.17 nN. The adhesive force between the single HaCaT cell to its neighbor cell increased as CS concentration increased, from 1.15±0.09 nN to 2.60±0.51 nN. CONCLUSIONS Conclusively, the decreased cell- substrate adhesion was the main driven force in the spheroid formation. This finding might serve as a design criterion for biomaterials facilitating the formation of epithelial spheroids.
A comparative study for the rate of adverse outcomes in unilateral and bilateral abdominal flap breast reconstruction

Abstract Background: Adverse outcomes after unilateral vs bilateral breast reconstruction involve an unknown level of risk that warrants thorough investigation. Methods: To address this research need, PubMed, Ovid, Medline, EMBASE, and Scopus databases were searched through systematically from January 1, 1990, to January 1, 2019 to retrieve the relevant studies on the risk of postoperative complications after unilateral vs bilateral abdominal flap breast reconstruction. According to the pre-designed inclusion criteria, available data were extracted from the relevant studies, and then analyzed comparatively in order to identify the relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) applying either a random or a fixed effects model. Results: Eventually, 20 studies involving 8122 female subjects met the inclusion criteria. It was found that unilateral reconstruction involved a significantly higher risk of flap loss (RR: 1.56, 95% CI: 1.21–2.00; P < .05) and fat necrosis (RR: 1.60, 95% CI: 1.23–2.09; P < .05) compared to bilateral reconstruction, while bilateral reconstruction involved a greater risk of abdominal hernia/bulge (RR: 1.67, 95% CI: 1.25–2.24; P < .05). The risk was found to be higher following bilateral free transverse rectus abdominis myocutaneous (fTRAM) flaps in comparison with deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP) flaps (RR: 2.62, 95% CI: 1.33–5.15; P < .05). Conclusion: The risk of postoperative flap complications in unilateral breast reconstruction is significantly higher than that in bilateral reconstruction. Contrarily, the abdominal complications were significantly higher in the bilateral group vs the unilateral group. Meanwhile, the risk of abdominal hernia/bulge complication after bilateral breast reconstruction was significantly higher with fTRAM vs DIEP. Therefore, DIEP flaps are recommended in priority for bilateral breast reconstruction, unless specifically contraindicated.
Climate warming alters photosynthetic responses to elevated CO2 in prairie plants.

PREMISE The impact of elevated CO2 concentration ([CO2 ]) and climate warming on plant productivity in dryland ecosystems is influenced strongly by soil moisture availability. We predicted that the influence of warming on the stimulation of photosynthesis by elevated [CO2 ] in prairie plants would operate primarily through direct and indirect effects on soil water. METHODS We measured light-saturated photosynthesis (Anet ), stomatal conductance (gs ), maximum Rubisco carboxylation rate (Vcmax ), maximum electron transport capacity (Jmax ) and related variables in four C3 plant species in the Prairie Heating and CO2 Enrichment (PHACE) experiment in southeastern Wyoming. Measurements were conducted over two growing seasons that differed in the amount of precipitation and soil moisture content. RESULTS Anet in the C3 subshrub Artemisia frigida and the C3 forb Sphaeralcea coccinea was stimulated by elevated [CO2 ] under ambient and warmed temperature treatments. Warming by itself reduced Anet in all species during the dry year, but stimulated photosynthesis in S. coccinea in the wet year. In contrast, Anet in the C3 grass Pascopyrum smithii was not stimulated by elevated [CO2 ] or warming under wet or dry conditions. Photosynthetic downregulation under elevated [CO2 ] in this species countered the potential stimulatory effect under improved water relations. Warming also reduced the magnitude of CO2 -induced down-regulation in this grass, possibly by sustaining high levels of carbon utilization. CONCLUSIONS Direct and indirect effects of elevated [CO2 ] and warming on soil water was an overriding factor influencing patterns of Anet in this semi-arid temperate grassland, emphasizing the important role of water relations in driving grassland responses to global change.
Identification of the SUT Gene Family in Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) and Functional Analysis of PgL0145810.1

Sucrose, an important sugar, is transported from source to sink tissues through the phloem, and plays important role in the development of important traits in plants. However, the SUT gene family is still not well characterized in pomegranate. In this study, we first identified the pomegranate sucrose transporter (SUT) gene family from the whole genome. Then, the phylogenetic relationship of SUT genes, gene structure and their promoters were analyzed. Additionally, their expression patterns were detected during the development of the seed. Lastly, genetic transformation and cytological observation were used to study the function of PgL0145810.1. A total of ten pomegranate SUT genes were identified from the whole genome of pomegranate ‘Tunisia’. The promoter region of all the pomegranate SUT genes contained myeloblastosis (MYB) elements. Four of the SUT genes, PgL0328370.1, PgL0099690.1, PgL0145810.1 and PgL0145770.1, were differentially expressed during seed development. We further noticed that PgL0145810.1 was expressed most prominently in the stem parts in transgenic plants compared to other tissue parts (leaves, flowers and silique). The cells in the xylem vessels were small and lignin content was lower in the transgenic plants as compared to wild Arabidopsis plants. In general, our result suggests that the MYB cis-elements in the promoter region might regulate PgL0145810.1 expression to control the structure of xylem, thereby affecting seed hardness in pomegranate.
Establishment of Hairy Root Cultures of Atropa belladonna

In vitro cultural systems of medical plant, A. belladonna was established, bacteria-free leaves were used as explants for genetic transformation by A. rhizogenes strain A4. The result showed that all the infected leaves could produce hairy roots from the wound sites. The hairy roots shown a typical phenotype characterized by plagio-tropic growth, high incidence of lateral branching and faster growth than untransformed roots in phytohormone-free medium. PCR analysis showed that the rooting genes including rolB and rolC were confirmed integrated into the genome of A. belledonna hairy roots. Three root lines were investigated for growth rate and alkaloid productivity after cultured in liquid MS medium 35 days, the maximum biomass of hairy roots increased up to 7. 5 times. The maximum amount of hyoscyamine (5. 61 mg · g-1) was present in the hairy root lines T6, which had almost 7 times than that recorded in untransformed mature plant roots (0. 84 mg · g-1) , the maximum amount of scopolamine (2. 35 mg · g-1) was present in the hairy root lines T2, which had more than 9 times than that recorded in mature plant roots (0. 25 mg · g-1). Results revealed that the rol genes seemed sufficient to induce the hairy root phenotype, including fast growth rate and a high level of secondary metabolite accumulation. This work shows that hairy root culture of A. belladonna. is a good way to produce tropane alkaloid.
Seasonality and First Ever Ischemic Stroke , In Sohag University Hospital , Sohag , Egypt

Introduction: The effect of Seasonality on stroke has been reported in several regions worldwide. Nevertheless, there is inadequate data related to these phenomena in other areas. The aim of the present study was to investigate the possible effect of seasonality on first ever ischemic stroke (FEIS). Patients and Methods: A total of 350 patients with first ever ischemic stroke (FEIS) admitted, within 24 hours of onset. Admission rates, risk factors, stroke severity, in hospital mortality and clinical and laboratory parameters on admission were compared in relation to different seasons. Results: The admission rate for FEIS was highest in summer. Patients were more likely to be hypertensive during winter. The highest rate of cardiac diseases was found during winter. The most severe stroke was recorded during winter. Significantly, the highest value of leukocytic count and mean platelet volume and the lowest value of activated partial thromboplastin time were recorded during winter. The highest rates of inhospital mortality were reported during winter. Conclusion: Seasonality has a paramount effect on first ever ischemic stroke. Different risk factors have different influences on ischemic stroke in relation to seasonality.
Tree stand structure and floristic composition of tropical forests in Garo hills, Meghalaya, North-East India

Fifty-one sampling plots were enumerated in 5.1 ha area in different forest categories and elevations ranging from 100 to 1250 m, for monitoring tree stand structure and floristic composition in tropical forests of Garo hills of Meghalaya, north-east India. Enumeration of all tree stands ≥ 10 cm GBH (girth at breast height) equivalent to 3.18 cm DBH (diameter at breast height) yielded a total of 2843 individuals ranging from 2 to 223 individuals per plot (0.1 ha) belonging to 132 species, 118 genera and 63 families. Euphorbiaceae was the dominant family in the forest with 12 species, 11 genera and family important value index (FIV) of 42.7. Tree stand density, species richness, diversity index and basal area were found to be highest in evergreen forest and least in mixed moist deciduous forest. We carried out spatial analysis of spread of species richness, basal area, tree density, and tree biodiversity. We found higher basal area, tree density and biodiversity in protected areas of the region. This demonstrates the conservation value of protected areas in the region. Schima wallichii (280 individuals), Macaranga denticulata (275 individuals) and Michelia oblonga (238 individuals) were some of predominant species having species important values (SIV) 26.48, 17.36, 14.41, respectively, representing all together 28% of the total tree stand density. The total basal area from all the sampling plots was 254.62 m2 out of which, the highest contribution of 64.80 m2 ha–1 (50%) was by evergreen forest and lowest, 22.43 m2 ha–1 (17%) was contributed by deciduous forest. At the species level, Schima wallichi has contributed 13% of the total basal area. The smaller 10–20 cm diameter class showed maximum tree density implying regenerating forest and highest basal area (9.80 m2 ha–1) for overall study site. However, in evergreen forest 40–50 cm diameter class exhibited highest basal area of 64.80 m2 ha–1 and greater diversity (4.06) leading to higher stability of the community. It was found that elevation is directly proportional to tree density, species richness and basal area. This study provides useful baseline data to conserve the native flora of forests in Garo hills.
Response of extreme precipitation to climate warming in quasi-global aquaplanet simulations at high resolution

Projections of changes in precipitation extremes in simulations with global climate models remain very uncertain in the tropics, at least partly because of the use of parameterizations of deep convection. Global climate models are also typically run at too coarse a resolution to properly simulate convective organization which can be important for generating heavy rainfall. Here we analyze precipitation extremes in high-resolution simulations run without a convective parameterization in a quasi-global aquaplanet configuration for both a control and warmer climate. The frequency distributions of precipitation rates and precipitation cluster sizes in the tropics of the control simulation are similar to the observed distributions. In response to climate warming, 3-hourly precipitation extremes increase at rates of up to 9% K−1 in the tropics because of a combination of positive thermodynamic and dynamic contributions, although this remains much smaller than the large tropical rates of increase found in some global climate models. The response of precipitation extremes to climate warming is stronger at high latitudes and weaker in the tropics if the precipitation rates are first averaged to a daily timescale and spatially coarsegrained to typical global climate-model resolution prior to calculating extremes. Changes in moist static stability are found to be helpful for understanding the dynamical contribution to changes in precipitation extremes at different latitudes.
A Novel Accurate 3D Surfaces Description Using the Arc-Length Reparametrized Level curves of the Three-Polar Representation

This paper studies the problem of the 3D surfaces representation. Our starting point is the extraction of the three-polar representation from the 3D shapes. It consists on a level curves set of the superposition of the three geodesic potentials generated from three reference points of the surface. These curves are characterized by their invariance under the M ( 3 ) group of R 3 displacements. We intend to make the arc-length reparametrization of each level curve to ensure its independence to the initial parametrization. The novel representation is materialized by the points of the arc-length reparametrization of all the level curves. Therefore, we obtain an invariant representation under the M ( 3 ) transformations group and independent to the initial parametrization. In this work, we implement it on 3D faces since this type of surfaces knows actually a growing interest for the identities determination especially after the many terrorist acts occurred around the world. We experiment, in this context, the identiﬁcation scenario on a part of the BU-3DFE database. The obtained results show the accuracy of the novel representation.
Offline Camera Movement Tracking from Video Sequences

In this paper, we propose a method to track the movement of camera from the video sequences. This method is useful for video analysis and can be applied as pre-processing step in some application such as video stabilizer and marker-less augmented reality. First, we extract the features in each frame using corner point detection. The features in current frame are then compared with the features in the adjacent frames to calculate the optical flow which represents the relative movement of the camera. The optical flow is then analyzed to obtain camera movement parameter. The final step is camera movement estimation and correction to increase the accuracy. The method performance is verified by generating a 3D map of camera movement and embedding 3D object to the video. The demonstrated examples in this paper show that this method has a high accuracy and rarely produce any jitter.
Geo-Agriculture: Reviewing Opportunities through Which the Geosphere Can Help Address Emerging Crop Production Challenges

The agricultural sector faces looming challenges including dwindling fertiliser reserves, environmental impacts of conventional soil inputs, and increasingly difficult growing conditions wrought by climate change. Naturally-occurring rocks and minerals may help address these challenges. In this case, we explore opportunities through which the geosphere could support viable agricultural systems, primarily via a literature review supplemented by data analysis and preliminary-scale experimentation. Our objective is to focus on opportunities specifically relating to emerging agricultural challenges. Our findings reveal that a spectrum of common geological materials can assist across four key agricultural challenges: 1. Providing environmentally-sustainable fertiliser deposits especially for the two key elements in food production, nitrogen (via use of slow release N-rich clays), and phosphorus (via recovery of the biomineral struvite) as well as through development of formulations to tap into mineral nutrient reserves underlying croplands. 2. Reducing contamination from farms—using clays, zeolites, and hydroxides to intercept, and potentially recycle nutrients discharged from paddocks. 3. Embedding drought resilience into agricultural landscapes by increasing soil moisture retention (using high surface area minerals including zeolite and smectite), boosting plant availability of drought protective elements (using basalts, smectites, and zeolites), and decreasing soil surface temperature (using reflective smectites, zeolites, and pumices), and 4. mitigating emissions of all three major greenhouse gases—carbon dioxide (using fast-weathering basalts), methane (using iron oxides), and nitrous oxide (using nitrogen-sorbing clays). Drawbacks of increased geological inputs into agricultural systems include an increased mining footprint, potential increased loads of suspended sediments in high-rainfall catchments, changes to geo-ecological balances, and possible harmful health effects to practitioners extracting and land-applying the geological materials. Our review highlights potential for ‘geo-agriculture’ approaches to not only help meet several key emerging challenges that threaten sustainable food and fiber production, but also to contribute to achieving some of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals—‘Zero Hunger,’ ‘Life on Land,’ and ‘Climate Action. ’
Involvement of the Phosphoinositide Signal System in Methyl Viologen Inducing Stomatal Movement of Vicia faba L.

By using epidermal strip bioassay the paper investigates the involvement of the phosphoinositide signal transduction pathway in methyl viologen inducing stomatal movement of Vicia faba. Methyl viologen affects stomatal movements, including promoting stmata closure and inhibiting stomata opening, but the effects are reversible partially by neomycin (the inhibitor of PI PLC), Heparin (a competitive inhibitor of Ins(1,4,5P 3), and LiCl (the inhibitor of inositol monophosphatase). Effects of Mastoparan, which stimulates Ins(1,4,5P 3) production, on stomatal aperture are similar to the effects of methyl viologen. Our data suggest a critical role for the PI signaling pathway in mediating methyl viologen inducing stomatal movements.
Emittance Growth Saturation Effect in Synchrotron Machines Due to Point-Like Perturbations Superconducting Super Collider

Analytical estimation of the transverse emittance growth due to a point-like perturbation is performed for a proton synchrotron machine. This emittance growth is caused by the tune spread within the bunch. However, the emittance growth suffers a saturation effect caused by the same tune spread. Computer simulations on the emittance growth due to resistive wall instabilities and feedback systems verify qualitatively this emittance growth saturation effect. These simulations were accomplished in the Medium Energy Booster of the Superconducting Super Collider using the TADIMMI computer code.