Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cell orientation characteristics of the natural combs of honey bee colonies

The cell orientation characteristics of the natural combs of honey bees have received much research attention. Although natural combs have been shown to be composed of cells with three orientations—vertical, intermediate (oblique), and horizontal—the proportion of comb cells in these three orientations varies. Knowledge of the comb-building preferences of honey bees is essential for the installation of wax comb foundations, and clarification of the cell orientation characteristics of natural honey bee combs is important for beekeeping. The purpose of this study was to determine the cell orientation characteristics of natural combs of Eastern honey bees (Apis cerana cerana) and Western honey bees (Apis mellifera ligustica). Newly built combs were used to measure the orientation of hexagonal cells and calculate the proportion of cells in different orientations relative to the total number of cells. The number of eggs laid by queens in the cells of different orientations was also determined. The orientation of cells in the natural combs of Eastern and Western honey bees was determined based on the value of the minimum included angle between the pair of parallel cell walls and a vertical line connecting the top and bottom bars of the movable frame in the geometric plane of the comb: 0°≤θ≤10°, 10°<θ≤20°, and 20°<θ≤30° for vertical, intermediate, and horizontal orientations, respectively. Natural combs were composed of cells with at least one orientation (vertical or horizontal), two orientations (vertical + intermediate (oblique) or vertical + horizontal), or three orientations (vertical + intermediate + horizontal), and the proportions of combs with the three aforementioned configurations differed. Both Eastern honey bees and Western honey bees preferred building combs with cells in a vertical orientation. Queens showed no clear preference for laying eggs in cells of specific orientations. The results of this study provide new insight that could aid the production and cutting of wax comb foundations of Eastern and Western honey bees. Our study highlights the importance of installing wax comb foundations compatible with the comb-building preferences of bees.
Characteristic Modeling of NGW-S Planet Gear Speed Reducer Based on Pro/E

By taking the Pro/ENGINEER characteristic modeling software as the design platform,the paper proposes a method of modeling NGW-S planet gear speed reducer,analyses the assembly of NGW-S planet gear speed reducer and the combinative relation of main parts and components,builds the solid model and actualizes the automation and visualization for the designing process of NGW-S planet gear speed reducer.In this way,an important significance to advance the designing efficiency of NGW-S planet gear speed reducer can be found.
Next-generation sequencing of the whole mitochondrial genome identifies functionally deleterious mutations in patients with multiple sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an immune-mediated disease of the central nervous system with genetics and environmental determinants. Studies focused on the neurogenetics of MS showed that mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations that can ultimately lead to mitochondrial dysfunction, alter brain energy metabolism and cause neurodegeneration. We analyzed the whole mitochondrial genome using next-generation sequencing (NGS) from 47 Saudi individuals, 23 patients with relapsing-remitting MS and 24 healthy controls to identify mtDNA disease-related mutations/variants. A large number of variants were detected in the D-loop and coding genes of mtDNA. While distinct unique variants were only present in patients or only occur in controls, a number of common variants were shared among the two groups. The prevalence of some common variants differed significantly between patients and controls, thus could be implicated in susceptibility to MS. Of the unique variants only present in the patients, 34 were missense mutations, located in different mtDNA-encoded genes. Seven of these mutations were not previously reported in MS, and predicted to be deleterious with considerable impacts on the functions and structures of encoded-proteins and may play a role in the pathogenesis of MS. These include two heteroplasmic mutations namely 10237T>C in MT-ND3 gene and 15884G>C in MT-CYB gene; and three homoplasmic mutations namely 9288A>G in MT-CO3 gene, 14484T>C in MT-ND6 gene, 15431G>A in MT-CYB gene, 8490T>C in MT-ATP8 gene and 5437C>T in MT-ND2 gene. Notably some patients harboured multiple mutations while other patients carried the same mutations. This study is the first to sequence the entire mitochondrial genome in MS patients in an Arab population. Our results expanded the mutational spectrum of mtDNA variants in MS and highlighted the efficiency of NGS in population-specific mtDNA variant discovery. Further investigations in a larger cohort are warranted to confirm the role of mtDNA MS.
The influence of metabolic syndrome on atrial fibrillation recurrence: five-year outcomes after a single cryoballoon ablation procedure

BACKGROUND Metabolic syndrome (MetS) has been reported as a risk factor of atrial fibrillation (AF) recurrence after radiofrequency catheter ablation. This study aimed to investigate the long-term influence of MetS on paroxysmal AF recurrence after a single cryoballoon ablation procedure, which was scarcely investigated yet in Chinese population. METHODS In total, 137 paroxysmal AF patients who had successfully completed a single cryoballoon ablation procedure at Fuwai Hospital, Beijing, China from December 2013 to October 2015 were enrolled. Excepting for patients with AF recurrence, all patients were followed up for no less than five years. Independent predictors of AF recurrence were determined by Cox proportional hazards regression analysis. RESULTS Among 137 paroxysmal AF patients, 91 patients (66.4%) had successfully achieved overall five-year follow-up after a single cryoballoon ablation procedure, and 44 patients (32.1%) had MetS. Patients with MetS had a significant lower incidence of freedom from AF recurrence than those without MetS (50.0% vs. 74.2%, log-rank P < 0.01) during the five-year follow-up. MetS (HR = 1.95, 95% CI: 1.069−3.551, P = 0.030) was an independent predictor of AF recurrence after adjusting for multiple factors. After the second year post cryoballoon ablation procedure, the recurrence rate of AF gradually increased in patients with MetS, in contrast, decreased recurrence rate of AF in patients without MetS. CONCLUSIONS MetS is an independent predictor for five-year AF recurrence after a single cryoballoon ablation procedure in paroxysmal AF patients. Combination therapy of AF and MetS may improve the long-term outcomes of AF patients.
Evaluation of different super-resolution techniques for automotive applications

This work presents results of the application of different super-resolution techniques to real world scenarios. The sensor used for the measurements utilizes a synthetic aperture with two independent transmit elements. For better exploitation of the given aperture super-resolution techniques are used, namely linear prediction, ESPRIT, MUSIC and Root-MUSIC. These algorithms are compared in simulation with respect to their ability to separate targets and their computational effort. Finally measurement results from scenarios using corner reflectors and real life environment are presented. (6 pages)
A distinct RNA recognition mechanism governs Np4 decapping by RppH

Significance Dinucleoside tetraphosphate alarmones function in bacteria as precursors to 5′-terminal nucleoside tetraphosphate (Np4) caps, becoming incorporated at high levels into RNA during stress and thereby influencing transcript lifetimes. However, little is known about how these noncanonical caps are removed as a prelude to RNA degradation. Here, we report that the RNA pyrophosphohydrolase RppH assumes a leading role in decapping those transcripts under conditions of disulfide stress and that it recognizes Np4-capped 5′ ends by an unexpected mechanism, generating a triphosphorylated RNA intermediate that must undergo further deprotection by RppH to trigger degradation. These findings help to explain the uneven distribution of Np4 caps on bacterial transcripts and have important implications for how gene expression is reprogrammed in response to stress. Dinucleoside tetraphosphates, often described as alarmones because their cellular concentration increases in response to stress, have recently been shown to function in bacteria as precursors to nucleoside tetraphosphate (Np4) RNA caps. Removal of this cap is critical for initiating 5′ end-dependent degradation of those RNAs, potentially affecting bacterial adaptability to stress; however, the predominant Np4 decapping enzyme in proteobacteria, ApaH, is inactivated by the very conditions of disulfide stress that enable Np4-capped RNAs to accumulate to high levels. Here, we show that, in Escherichia coli cells experiencing such stress, the RNA pyrophosphohydrolase RppH assumes a leading role in decapping those transcripts, preferring them as substrates over their triphosphorylated and diphosphorylated counterparts. Unexpectedly, this enzyme recognizes Np4-capped 5′ ends by a mechanism distinct from the one it uses to recognize other 5′ termini, resulting in a one-nucleotide shift in substrate specificity. The unique manner in which capped substrates of this kind bind to the active site of RppH positions the δ-phosphate, rather than the β-phosphate, for hydrolytic attack, generating triphosphorylated RNA as the primary product of decapping. Consequently, a second RppH-catalyzed deprotection step is required to produce the monophosphorylated 5′ terminus needed to stimulate rapid RNA decay. The unconventional manner in which RppH recognizes Np4-capped 5′ ends and its differential impact on the rates at which such termini are deprotected as a prelude to RNA degradation could have major consequences for reprogramming gene expression during disulfide stress.
Neutrophil Extracellular Traps as an Exacerbating Factor in Bacterial Pneumonia

Neutrophils are capable of extruding neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), a network of granule proteins and chromatin material, upon activation. NETs provide defense against extracellular microbes, but histones in NETs can also induce cytotoxicity and activate inflammatory responses. ABSTRACT Neutrophils are capable of extruding neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), a network of granule proteins and chromatin material, upon activation. NETs provide defense against extracellular microbes, but histones in NETs can also induce cytotoxicity and activate inflammatory responses. The relevance of NETs to bacterial pneumonias is beginning to be defined. In the present study, we found that the extracellular concentration of citrullinated histone H3, a component of NETs, was elevated in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid recovered from mice with diverse bacterial pneumonias and correlated with neutrophil infiltration and cell death in the lungs as well as levels of H4. Because the histone H4 component of NETs is sufficient to stimulate inflammation, we tested its effects in the air spaces of the lungs. Recombinant histone H4 in the noninflamed lung produced only modest effects, but in the setting of neutrophilic inflammation, H4 substantially increased pulmonary neutrophils, NETs, necrosis, and edema. However, blockade of histone H4 with a monoclonal antibody during pneumonia did not significantly alter measures of lung damage. Taken together, these results implicate NETs and extracellular histone H4 in exacerbating the lung injury resulting from bacterial pneumonia.
An RDH‐Plin2 axis modulates lipid droplet size by antagonizing Bmm lipase

The size of lipid droplets varies greatly in vivo and is determined by both intrinsic and extrinsic factors. From an RNAi screen in Drosophila, we found that knocking down subunits of COP9 signalosome (CSN) results in enlarged lipid droplets under high‐fat, but not normal, conditions. We identified CG2064, a retinol dehydrogenase (RDH) homolog, as the proteasomal degradation target of CSN in regulating lipid droplet size. RDH/CG2064 interacts with the lipid droplet‐resident protein Plin2 and the RDH/CG2064‐Plin2 axis acts to reduce the overall level and lipid droplet localization of Bmm/ATGL lipase. This axis is important for larval survival under prolonged starvation. Thus, we discovered an RDH‐Plin2 axis modulates lipid droplet size.
Emotion work and feeling rules: Coping strategies of family caregivers of people with end stage dementia in Israel—A qualitative study

Background End stage dementia is an inevitable phase following a prolonged deterioration. Family caregivers for people with end stage dementia who live in their home can experience an emotional burden. Emotion work and “feeling-rules” refers to socially shared norms and self-management of feelings, as well as projecting emotions appropriate for the situation, aiming at achieving a positive environment as a resource for supporting others’ wellbeing. Objectives Exploring and describing the experience of family caregivers of people with end stage dementia at home, in Israel, unpacking their emotional coping and the emotional-strategies they use, and placing family caregivers' emotion work in a cultural context. Method We conducted fifty qualitative interviews using semi structured interviews analyzed through a thematic content analysis approach. Findings Four characteristics of emotion work were identified: (1) sliding between detachment and engagement, (2) separating the person from their condition (3), adoption of caregiving as a social role and a type of social reinforcement, and (4) using the caregiving role in coping with loneliness and emptiness. The emotional coping strategies are culturally contextualized, since they are influenced by the participants’ cultural background. Discussion This article’s focus is transparent family caregivers' emotion work, a topic which has rarely been discussed in the literature is the context of caring for a family member with dementia at home. In our study, emotion work appears as a twofold concept: the emotion work by itself contributed to the burden, since family caregivers' burden experience can evolve from the dissonance between their “true” feelings of anger and frustration and their expected “acceptable” feelings (“feeling-rules”) formed by cultural norms. However, emotion work was also a major source of coping and finding strength and self-meaning. Understanding and recognizing the emotion work and the cultural and religious influence in this coping mechanism can help professionals who treat people with end stage dementia to better support family-caregivers.
Evidence for the early emergence of piperaquine-resistant Plasmodium falciparum malaria and modeling strategies to mitigate resistance

Multidrug-resistant Plasmodium falciparum parasites have emerged in Cambodia and neighboring countries in Southeast Asia, compromising the efficacy of first-line antimalarial combinations. Dihydroartemisinin + piperaquine (PPQ) treatment failure rates have risen to as high as 50% in some areas in this region. For PPQ, resistance is driven primarily by a series of mutant alleles of the P. falciparum chloroquine resistance transporter (PfCRT). PPQ resistance was reported in China three decades earlier, but the molecular driver remained unknown. Herein, we identify a PPQ-resistant pfcrt allele (China C) from Yunnan Province, China, whose genotypic lineage is distinct from the PPQ-resistant pfcrt alleles currently observed in Cambodia. Combining gene editing and competitive growth assays, we report that PfCRT China C confers moderate PPQ resistance while re-sensitizing parasites to chloroquine (CQ) and incurring a fitness cost that manifests as a reduced rate of parasite growth. PPQ transport assays using purified PfCRT isoforms, combined with molecular dynamics simulations, highlight differences in drug transport kinetics and in this transporter’s central cavity conformation between China C and the current Southeast Asian PPQ-resistant isoforms. We also report a novel computational model that incorporates empirically determined fitness landscapes at varying drug concentrations, combined with antimalarial susceptibility profiles, mutation rates, and drug pharmacokinetics. Our simulations with PPQ-resistant or -sensitive parasite lines predict that a three-day regimen of PPQ combined with CQ can effectively clear infections and prevent the evolution of PfCRT variants. This work suggests that including CQ in combination therapies could be effective in suppressing the evolution of PfCRT-mediated multidrug resistance in regions where PPQ has lost efficacy.
Aberrant expression of the extracellular matrix component Biglycan regulated by Hedgehog signalling promotes colorectal cancer cell proliferation

Hedgehog (Hh) signalling plays essential roles in regulating embryonic development and contributes to tumour initiation, growth and progression in multiple cancers. The detailed mechanism by which Hh signalling participates in tumour growth warrants thorough study, although several downstream target genes have been identified. Herein, a set of novel targets of Hh signalling was identified in multiple types of tumour cells via RNA-Seq analysis. Among these targets, the expression regulation and oncogenic function of the extracellular matrix component biglycan (BGN) were investigated. Further investigation verified that Hh signalling activates the expression of BGN via the transcription factor Gli2, which directly binds to the promoter region of BGN. Functional assays revealed that BGN facilitates tumour cell growth and proliferation in colorectal cancer (CRC) cells, and xenograft assays confirmed that BGN also promotes tumour growth in vivo. Moreover, analysis of clinical CRC samples showed that both the protein and mRNA levels of BGN are increased in CRC tissues compared to those in adjacent tissues, and higher expression of BGN is correlated with poorer prognosis of CRC patients, further confirming the function of BGN in CRC. Taken together, aberrantly activated Hh signalling increases the expression of BGN, possibly regulates the extracellular matrix, and thereby promotes tumour growth in CRC.
Improving mammography lesion classification by optimal fusion of handcrafted and deep transfer learning features

Objective. Handcrafted radiomics features or deep learning model-generated automated features are commonly used to develop computer-aided diagnosis schemes of medical images. The objective of this study is to test the hypothesis that handcrafted and automated features contain complementary classification information and fusion of these two types of features can improve CAD performance. Approach. We retrospectively assembled a dataset involving 1535 lesions (740 malignant and 795 benign). Regions of interest (ROI) surrounding suspicious lesions are extracted and two types of features are computed from each ROI. The first one includes 40 radiomic features and the second one includes automated features computed from a VGG16 network using a transfer learning method. A single channel ROI image is converted to three channel pseudo-ROI images by stacking the original image, a bilateral filtered image, and a histogram equalized image. Two VGG16 models using pseudo-ROIs and 3 stacked original ROIs without pre-processing are used to extract automated features. Five linear support vector machines (SVM) are built using the optimally selected feature vectors from the handcrafted features, two sets of VGG16 model-generated automated features, and the fusion of handcrafted and each set of automated features, respectively. Main Results. Using a 10-fold cross-validation, the fusion SVM using pseudo-ROIs yields the highest lesion classification performance with area under ROC curve (AUC = 0.756 ± 0.042), which is significantly higher than those yielded by other SVMs trained using handcrafted or automated features only (p < 0.05). Significance. This study demonstrates that both handcrafted and automated futures contain useful information to classify breast lesions. Fusion of these two types of features can further increase CAD performance.
Immigrants’ perspectives on healthy life and healthy lifestyle counseling: a focus group study

Background: Immigrants have a higher risk of developing chronic diseases than the general population, but there is a lack of knowledge about appropriate counseling models to promote their health. This study aimed to explore Asian and Russian immigrants’ perspectives in Finland on healthy lifestyle and healthy lifestyle counseling to improve the quality of the counseling in primary health care services to prevent type 2 diabetes and other chronic diseases. Methods: We conducted a qualitative study using semi-structured questions for eight focus groups. The participants were 46 adult immigrants (21 Asian and 25 Russian) living legally in Finland. Interviews were transcribed verbatim, coded, and analyzed using deductive content analysis. Results: We identified three themes regarding healthy lifestyle: (1) limited knowledge on different dimensions of healthy lifestyle, (2) understanding the impact of culture and community on healthy living, and (3) changing the lifestyle to live healthier after immigration. Moreover, we found three themes regarding healthy lifestyle counseling: (1) shortcomings in health care for providing healthy lifestyle counseling, such as lack of educational materials and miscommunication, (2) influential individual factors for using healthy lifestyle counseling, such as stress, and (3) positive outcomes of healthy lifestyle counseling. Conclusion: Developing a culturally tailored healthy lifestyle counseling program for the enhancement of immigrants’ knowledge regarding healthy lifestyle with consideration of cultural and linguistic aspects is recommended for preventing chronic diseases among immigrants.
Tumor-infiltrating exhausted CD8+ T cells dictate reduced survival in premenopausal estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer

CD8+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) are associated with improved survival in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) yet have no association with survival in estrogen receptor–positive (ER+) BC. The basis for these contrasting findings remains elusive. We identified subsets of BC tumors infiltrated by CD8+ T cells with characteristic features of exhausted T cells (TEX). Tumors with abundant CD8+ TEX exhibited a distinct tumor microenvironment marked by amplified interferon-γ signaling–related pathways and higher programmed death ligand 1 expression. Paradoxically, higher levels of tumor-infiltrating CD8+ TEX associated with decreased overall survival of patients with ER+ BC but not patients with TNBC. Moreover, high tumor expression of a CD8+ TEX signature identified dramatically reduced survival in premenopausal, but not postmenopausal, patients with ER+ BC. Finally, we demonstrated the value of a tumor TEX signature score in identifying high-risk premenopausal ER+ BC patients among those with intermediate Oncotype DX Breast Recurrence Scores. Our data highlight the complex relationship between CD8+ TILs, interferon-γ signaling, and ER status in BC patient survival. This work identifies tumor-infiltrating CD8+ TEX as a key feature of reduced survival outcomes in premenopausal patients with early-stage ER+ BC.