Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Murine endothelial serine palmitoyltransferase 1 (SPTLC1) is required for vascular development and systemic sphingolipid homeostasis

Serine palmitoyl transferase (SPT), the rate-limiting enzyme in the de novo synthesis of sphingolipids (SL), is needed for embryonic development, physiological homeostasis, and response to stress. The functions of de novo SL synthesis in vascular endothelial cells (EC), which line the entire circulatory system, are not well understood. Here, we show that the de novo SL synthesis in EC not only regulates vascular development but also maintains circulatory and peripheral organ SL levels. Mice with an endothelial-specific gene knockout of SPTLC1 (Sptlc1 ECKO), an essential subunit of the SPT complex, exhibited reduced EC proliferation and tip/stalk cell differentiation, resulting in delayed retinal vascular development. In addition, Sptlc1 ECKO mice had reduced retinal neovascularization in the oxygen-induced retinopathy model. Mechanistic studies suggest that EC SL produced from the de novo pathway are needed for lipid raft formation and efficient VEGF signaling. Post-natal deletion of the EC Sptlc1 also showed rapid reduction of several SL metabolites in plasma, red blood cells, and peripheral organs (lung and liver) but not in the retina, part of the central nervous system (CNS). In the liver, EC de novo SL synthesis was important for acetaminophen-induced rapid ceramide elevation and hepatotoxicity. These results suggest that EC-derived SL metabolites are in constant flux between the vasculature, circulatory elements, and parenchymal cells of non-CNS organs. Taken together, our data point to the central role of the endothelial SL biosynthesis in maintaining vascular development, neovascular proliferation, non-CNS tissue metabolic homeostasis, and hepatocyte response to stress.
Cumulative consumption of tea is associated with lower risk of liver cancer: Updated results from the Shanghai Women's Health Study

Prospective epidemiological studies have provided limited evidence for an association between tea consumption and liver cancer risk. Based on a population‐based prospective cohort study in middle‐aged Chinese women, we investigated the association between tea consumption and the risk of primary liver cancer. Detailed information on tea drinking habits and other potential confounders was obtained at the baseline interview. Incident liver cancer cases were identified through record linkage with the population‐based cancer registry and verified through home visits and review of medical charts by medical experts. Multiple aspects of tea drinking habits including starting age, duration, intensity and cumulative consumption of any type of tea and green tea were considered. Multivariable‐adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were derived from the Cox regression models. After a median follow‐up time of 18.12 (interquartile range = 1.59) years, 253 incident liver cancer cases were identified from 71 841 cohort members. Compared with never tea drinkers, the risk of liver cancer for participants who have consumed over 30 kg of dried tea leaves cumulatively was 0.56 (95% CI: 0.32‐0.97). For those who drank green tea only, the aHR was 0.54 (95% CI: 0.30‐0.98). This updated study suggested an inverse association between cumulative consumption of tea, especially green tea and the risk of primary liver cancer.
Multi-Objective Design Automation for Microfluidic Capture Chips

Microfluidic capture chips are useful for preparing or analyzing a wide range of different chemical, biological, and medical samples. A typical microfluidic capture chip contains features that capture certain targets (i.e. molecules, particles, cells) as they flow through the chip. However, creating optimal capture chip designs is difficult because of the inherent relationship between capture efficiency and flow resistance: as more capture features are added to the chip, the capture efficiency increases, but the additional features slow the flow of fluid through the chip. This paper introduces the use of multi-objective optimization to generate capture chip designs that balance the trade-off between maximizing target capture efficiency and minimizing resistance to fluid flow. Design automation for this important class of microfluidic chips has not been attempted previously. Our approach automatically produces a Pareto front of non-dominated chip designs in a reasonable amount of time, and most of these designs have comparable capture efficiency to hand-designed chips with far lower flow resistance. By choosing from the chip designs on the Pareto front, a user can obtain high capture efficiency without exceeding the flow resistance constraints of their application.
A literature review of hypertensive retinopathy: systemic correlations and new technologies.

OBJECTIVE Hypertensive retinopathy (HR) is the most common ocular manifestation of systemic arterial hypertension. This paper aims to summarize the current knowledge of HR, reviewing its classical features, such as epidemiology, pathophysiology, clinical manifestations, classifications, management and the most significant systemic correlations. We also provide an update on the latest advances in new technologies focusing on novel instrumental classifications. MATERIALS AND METHODS A literature search was performed to identify articles regarding HR listed in Embase, PubMed, Medline (Ovid) and Scopus database up to 1 December 2021. The reference lists of the analyzed articles were also considered a source of literature information. The following keywords were used in various combinations: hypertensive retinopathy, hypertension and eye, hypertensive retinopathy and systemic correlations, optical coherence tomography (OCT) and hypertensive retinopathy, optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) and hypertensive retinopathy, adaptive optics (AO) and hypertensive retinopathy. The authors analyzed all English articles found using the aforementioned keywords. All the publications were thoroughly reviewed to create a detailed overview of this issue. RESULTS HR signs have a significative association with cardiovascular, cerebrovascular and other systemic diseases. Patients with arteriosclerotic changes and, at the same time, severe HR, are at increased risk for coronary disease, peripheral vascular disease, stroke and dementia. HR is even now diagnosed and classified by its clinical appearance on a fundoscopic exam that is limited by interobserver variability. New technologies, like OCT, OCTA, AO and artificial intelligence may be used to develop a new instrumental classification that could become an objective and quantitative method for the evaluation of this disease. They could be useful to evaluate the subclinical retinal microvascular changes due to hypertension that may reflect the involvement of other vital organs. CONCLUSIONS The eye is the only organ in the human body where changes in the blood vessels due to systemic hypertension can be studied in vivo. All doctors should be familiar with this disease because it has been largely demonstrated that signs of HR are correlated to patient's health and mortality. Researchers should develop a new common, standardized, and objective method to assess hypertensive retinal changes; new technologies may have a significant role in this field. This review takes most of the literature published so far, including the OCTA studies in order to stimulate new points of reference to standardize parameters and new diagnostic markers of this disease.
Characteristics of gastroesophageal reflux disease in children with interstitial lung disease

Childhood interstitial lung disease (chILD) is a rare group of respiratory tract disorders. One of the factors suggested to be associated with its etiopathogenesis is microaspiration related to gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). The aim of the present study was to determine the frequency and characteristics of GERD in children with chILD, with a particular focus on proximal GER episodes.
Association of clinical signs of chorioamnionitis with histological chorioamnionitis and neonatal outcomes

Abstract Background Chorioamnionitis is a risk factor for fetal and neonatal outcomes. Therefore, predicting histological chorioamnionitis (HCA) and neonatal outcomes using clinical parameters could be helpful in management and preventing morbidities. Objective To determine if parameters of clinical chorioamnionitis (CCA) would be associated with HCA and neonatal outcomes. Study design In this cohort study using a retrospective design, we analyzed the performance of signs of CCA in predicting HCA, and neonatal outcomes. Data were extracted from the electronic health record for all neonates with documented CCA delivered at our institution from 2011 to 2016. We compared our findings based on the old ACOG definition of CCA and the new definition released in 2017 – maternal fever plus any of fetal tachycardia, maternal leukocytosis, and purulent vaginal discharge. Maternal tachycardia and uterine tenderness were removed from the new criteria. Neonatal laboratory samples on admission, 12 h and 24 h were used to define the three time points of neonatal suspected sepsis. Results There were 530 mothers-infant dyads with chorioamnionitis. Seventy-three were preterm, and 457 were term. Eighty-eight percent of the preterm mothers had CCA, and HCA was present in 62.5% of 72 preterm placentas. Preterm infants with placental HCA significantly had lower birth weight, gestational age, placental weight, and more infants with lower 5-minute Apgar scores, compared to those with no HCA. In preterm infants, maternal urinary tract infection was significantly associated with decreased odds for HCA (OR 0.22, CI 0.10 − 0.71). More preterm babies with suspected sepsis criteria at the 3 time points had HCA (all p ≤ .01). In the term cohort, 95.4% and 65.6% had CCA and HCA, respectively. In term infants (n = 457), maternal leukocytosis (p = .002) and prolonged rupture of membranes (PROM; p = 002) were associated with HCA. Suspected sepsis was associated with PROM (p = .04), HCA (p = .0001), and maternal leukocytosis (p ≤ .05) in at least 1 of the 3 time points. Conclusion Though maternal leukocytosis was significantly associated with the presence of HCA in the term cohort, there were no CCA criteria that accurately predicted presence of HCA in either the preterm or the term infants.
New mechanisms for bacterial degradation of sulfoquinovose

Abstract Sulfoquinovose (SQ, 6-deoxy-6-sulfo-D-glucose) is a sulfo-sugar with a ubiquitous distribution in the environment due to its production by plants and other photosynthetic organisms. Bacteria play an important role in degradation of SQ and recycling of its constituent sulfur and carbon. Since its discovery in 1963, SQ was noted to have a structural resemblance to glucose-6-phosphate and proposed to be degraded through a pathway analogous to glycolysis, termed sulfoglycolysis. Studies in recent years have uncovered an unexpectedly diverse array of sulfoglycolytic pathways in different bacteria, including one analogous to the Embden–Meyerhof–Parnas pathway (sulfo-EMP), one analogous to the Entner–Doudoroff pathway (sulfo-ED), and two involving sulfo-sugar cleavage by a transaldolase (sulfo-TAL) and transketolase (sulfo-TK), respectively, analogous to reactions in the pentose phosphate (PP) pathway. In addition, a non-sulfoglycolytic SQ degradation pathway was also reported, involving oxygenolytic C-S cleavage catalyzed by a homolog of alkanesulfonate monooxygenase (sulfo-ASMO). Here, we review the discovery of these new mechanisms of SQ degradation and lessons learnt in the study of new catabolic enzymes and pathways in bacteria.
WIDESPREAD NANOFLARE VARIABILITY DETECTED WITH HINODE/X-RAY TELESCOPE IN A SOLAR ACTIVE REGION

It is generally agreed that small impulsive energy bursts called nanoflares are responsible for at least some of the Sun's hot corona, but whether they are the explanation for most of the multimillion-degree plasma has been a matter of ongoing debate. We present here evidence that nanoflares are widespread in an active region observed by the X-Ray Telescope on board the Hinode mission. The distributions of intensity fluctuations have small but important asymmetries, whether taken from individual pixels, multipixel subregions, or the entire active region. Negative fluctuations (corresponding to reduced intensity) are greater in number but weaker in amplitude, so that the median fluctuation is negative compared to a mean of zero. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we show that only part of this asymmetry can be explained by Poisson photon statistics. The remainder is explainable through a tendency for exponentially decreasing intensity, such as would be expected from a cooling plasma produced from a nanoflare. We suggest that nanoflares are a universal heating process within active regions.
Geometry of Two-dimensional Self-shrinkers

We prove a local graphical theorem for two-dimensional self-shrinkers away from the origin. As applications, we study the asymptotic behavior of noncompact self-shrinkers with finite genus. Also, we show uniform boundedness on the second fundamental form of two-dimensional noncompact self-shrinkers with bounded mean curvature and uniform locally finite genus.
Protein pyrrole adducts are associated with elevated glucose indices and clinical features of diabetic diffuse neuropathies

Diabetic neuropathy is the most prevalent complication of diabetes mellitus. Although the precise etiology of this neurological disorder has yet to be defined, elevated blood glucose promotes anerobic glycolysis; this produces excess advanced glycation end‐products, many of which have a pyrrole structure. Here, we test the hypothesis that protein pyrrole adducts are associated with elevated glucose indices and some clinical features of diabetic diffuse neuropathies.
Acceptability and Usability of a Reward-Based Mobile App for Opioid Treatment Settings: Mixed Methods Pilot Study

Background Contingency management is an evidence-based yet underutilized approach for opioid use disorder (OUD). Reasons for limited adoption in real-world practice include ethical, moral, and philosophical concerns regarding use of monetary incentives, and lack of technological innovation. In light of surging opioid overdose deaths, there is a need for development of technology-enabled solutions leveraging the power of contingency management in a way that is viewed by both patients and providers as acceptable and feasible. Objective This mixed methods pilot study sought to determine the perceived acceptability and usability of PROCare Recovery, a reward-based, technology-enabled recovery monitoring smartphone app designed to automate contingency management by immediately delivering micropayments to patients for achieving recovery goals via smart debit card with blocking capabilities. Methods Participants included patients receiving buprenorphine for OUD (n=10) and licensed prescribers (n=5). Qualitative interviews were conducted by 2 PhD-level researchers via video conferencing to explore a priori hypotheses. Thematic analysis of interviews was conducted and synthesized into major themes. Results Participants were overwhelmingly in favor of microrewards (eg, US $1) to incentivize treatment participation (up to US $150 monthly). Participants reported high acceptability of the planned debit card spending restrictions (blocking cash withdrawals and purchases at bars or liquor stores, casinos or online gambling). Quantitative data revealed a high level of perceived usability of the PROCare Recovery app. Conclusions Patients and providers alike appear receptive to microfinancial incentives in standard OUD treatment practices. Further pilot testing of PROCare is underway to determine acceptability, feasibility, and preliminary effectiveness in a rigorous randomized controlled trial.
Transition Fronts in Time Heterogeneous Bistable Equations with Nonlocal Dispersal: Existence, Regularity, Stability and Uniqueness

This dissertation is devoted to the existence, regularity, stability and uniqueness of transition fronts in nonlocal bistable equations in time heterogeneous media. Instead of existence, we start our study with qualitative properties. We first show that any transition front must be regular in space and propagates to the right with a continuously differentiable interface location function; this is also true in space-time heterogeneous media. We then turn to the study of space nonincreasing transition fronts and prove various important properties such as uniform steepness, stability, uniform stability, exponential decaying estimates and so on. Moreover, we show that any transition front, after certain space shift, coincides with a space nonincreasing transition front, verifying the uniqueness, up to space shifts, of transition fronts, and hence, all transition fronts satisfy just mentioned qualitative properties. Also, we show that a transition front must be a periodic traveling wave in time periodic media and the asymptotic speeds of transition fronts exist in time uniquely ergodic media. Finally, we prove the existence of space nonincreasing transition fronts by constructing appropriate approximating front-like solutions with regularities; this is done under certain additional assumptions.
Effects of serum albumin on the photophysical characteristics of synthetic and endogenous protoporphyrin IX

The study of the interaction of synthetic protoporphyrin IX (PpIXs) and protoporphyrin IX extracted from Harderian glands of ssp Rattus novergicus albinus rats (PpIXe) with bovine serum albumin (BSA) was conducted in water at pH 7.3 and pH 4.5 by optical absorption and fluorescence spectroscopies. PpIXs is present as H- and J-aggregates in equilibrium with themselves and with monomers. The PpIXs charge is 2− at pH 7.3 and 1− at pH 4.5. This increases its aggregation at pH 4.5 and shifts the equilibrium in favor of J-aggregates. In spite of electrostatic attraction at pH 4.5, where BSA is positive, the binding constant (K b) of PpIXs to BSA is 20% less than that at pH 7.3, where BSA is negative. This occurs because higher aggregation of PpIXs at pH 4.5 reduces the observed K b value. At both pHs, water-soluble PpIXe exists in the monomeric form with the charge of 1− and its K b exceeds that of PpIXs. At pH 4.5, its K b is 12 times higher than that at pH 7.3 due to electrostatic attraction between the positively charged BSA and the negatively charged PpIXe. The higher probability of PpIXe binding to BSA makes PpIXe more promising as a fluorescence probe for fluorescence diagnostics and as a photosensitizer for photodynamic therapy. The existence of PpIXe in the monomeric form can explain its faster cell internalization. Aggregation reduces quantum yields and lifetimes of the PpIXs excited states, which explains higher phototoxicity of PpIXe toward malignant cells compared with PpIXs.
Patterns of Violence Victimization and Disclosure Among Transgender/Gender Nonconforming and Cisgender Latinx College Students

Although research on sexual violence experiences of minoritized college students has increased in recent years, little is known about the experiences of Latinx students. Even less knowledge is available on whether such violence and disclosure experiences vary by gender identity. The present study addressed this gap by exploring the rates of sexual violence and disclosure patterns after experiences of sexual violence among Latinx college students. Using data from the 2019–2020 Healthy Minds Study, a national sample of Latinx college students was analyzed (n = 6,690). Descriptive statistics, χ2 tests, and one-way analyses of variance were conducted to explore differences in gender identity, sexual violence victimization, and disclosure type. Multiple logistic regression analyses were used to estimate the association between (1) gender identity and sexual violence victimization and (2) gender identity and sexual violence disclosure while controlling for various sociodemographic measures. Results indicated sexual violence victimization occurred at significantly higher rates among transgender/gender nonconforming and cisgender women Latinx students, compared to cisgender men. Transgender/gender nonconforming students who experienced sexual violence were significantly less likely to make any disclosure of sexual violence when compared to cisgender men. These findings highlight the extent to which experiences of sexual violence among Latinx students differ based on their gender identity. It also brings attention to the need for campus programming to attend to students who often face structural barriers because of their intersecting identities, specifically transgender/gender nonconforming Latinx students.
Identification and characterization of miRNAome and target genes in Pseudostellaria heterophylla

miRNAs play a crucial role in the development and growth of plants by inhibiting the function of targeted genes at the post-transcription level. However, no miRNAs in Pseudostellaria heterophylla have been reported and their function in the morphogenesis of organs is still unclear. In this study, a total of 159 conserved miRNAs (belonging to 64 families) and 303 level miRNAs were identified from P. heterophylla. Some of them showed specifically up or down-regulated expression in different tissues and numbers of unigenes involved in Plant-pathogen interaction and MAPK signaling pathway-plant were targeted. The significant negative correlation of expression profiles between 30 miRNAs and their target genes (37 unigenes) was observed, respectively. Further, a large number of genes involved with signal transduction of auxin, zeatin, abscisic acid and, jasmonic acid were targeted. Predicated targets of two miRNAs were validated by 5′RLM-RACE, respectively. A large number of mRNAs from four pathogens were targeted by miRNAs from P. heterophylla and some of them were targeted by miR414. In summary, we reported a population of miRNAs from four different vegetative tissues of P. heterophylla by high throughput sequencing, which was analyzed by combining with the constructed transcriptome. These results may help to explain the function of miRNAs in the morphogenesis of organs and defense of pathogens, and may provide theoretical basis for breeding and genetic improvement of P. heterophylla.
P791: Continued study of heavy flavors at TPL

J.C. Anjos, J.A. Appel, I. Bediaga, S.B. Bracker, L. Cremaldi, C. Darling, S. Dhawan, D. Errede, S. Hansen, J.G. Hissong, C. James, T. Kafka, D. Kaplan, P.E. Karchin, 1. Leedom, P.W. Lucas, L Lueking, R.D. Majka, P.M. Mantsch, J. Marques de Miranda, R. Milburn, J. Torres de Mello, A. Napier, T. Nash, M. Purohit, A. Correa dos Reis, S. Reucroft, F . S. Rotondo, J. Sandweiss, A.F. S. Santoro, J. Schneps, M. Sheaff, A.J. Slaughter, M.H. G. Souza, W.J. Spalding, C. Stoughton, M.E. Streetman, D. Summers, S. Takach, E.J. Wolin