Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Depth-of-interaction study of a dual-readout detector based on TOFPET2 application-specific integrated circuit

Depth-of-interaction (DOI) capability is important for achieving high spatial resolution and sensitivity in dedicated organ and small animal positron emission tomography (PET) scanners. The dual-ended readout is one of the common methods that can achieve good DOI resolution. The aim of this study is to evaluate a dual-ended readout detector based on silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) and TOFPET2 application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC). The detector is based on 4 4 lutetium–yttrium oxyorthosilicate (LYSO) units, each unit contained 6 6 LYSO crystals, and the crystal size was 1 1 20 mm3. The four lateral surfaces of LYSO crystals were mechanically ground to W14 (surface roughness 10–14 m), and the two ended surfaces were polished (surface roughness <0.5 m). The reflector was Toray Lumirror E60, and the packing fraction of the LYSO block was 86.5%. Each LYSO unit was read out from both ends with two Hamamatsu S13361-3050AE-08 SiPM arrays. The analog output signals of SiPM were digitized by PETsys TOFPET2 ASIC and acquired by PETsys SiPM Readout System. The ASIC and SiPM were cooled by a fan and a Peltier element. To investigate the crystal resolvability, different light guide thicknesses including 0.8, 1, 1.2 and 2 mm were tested. The light guide was made of optical glass (H-K9L-Foctek Photoincs), and the size and refractive index were 6.45 6.45 mm2 and 1.53 (at 420 nm), respectively. To characterize the detector performance at different depths, another 1 25.8 20 mm3 single LYSO slab was used. Data were acquired at 10 depths (1, 3, …, 19 mm), and each depth had a 10 min acquisition time and about 40 thousand coincidence events. During the experiment, the SiPM temperature was controlled as 27.6 0.4 °C. The results showed that the 1.2 mm light guide offered the best crystal resolvability. The energy, coincidence time, and DOI resolution full-width at half-maximum of the detector were characterized as 15.66% 0.66%, 602.98 10.58 ps, and 2.33 0.07 mm, respectively. The good DOI resolution indicates the potential of utilizing the detector for high-resolution PET applications.
Stress-induced suppression of food intake in overweight and obese adolescents.

OBJECTIVE Overweight adolescents exhibit greater cortisol reactivity in response to acute stress and are more likely to eat in response to emotional cues, which suggest an increased susceptibility to stress-induced eating. The purpose of this study was to examine the biological (cortisol and alpha-amylase reactivity) and behavioral (caloric intake) responses to an acute stressor in overweight adolescents. METHODS Fifty-one adolescents ages 14-19 (47% female, 55% white, BMI: 31.2±0.8 kg/m) were exposed to the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) and a control condition on separate days. Immediately following each condition, participants were provided with snacks to eat at their leisure. Reactivity was assessed via salivary cortisol and alpha-amylase area under the curve (AUC), and adolescents were categorized as high or low reactors. RESULTS Cortisol AUC was higher during the stress condition (19.6±0.2 ug/dl*min) compared to the control condition ((11.4±0.9 ug/dl*min, p<0.001). Alpha amylase AUC was not different during the stress condition (9999±987 U/ml*min) compared to the control condition (8762±865 U/ml*min, p=0.145). Overall, adolescents consumed fewer calories during the stress condition (488±51 kcal) compared to the control condition (637±42 kcal, p=0.007). High cortisol reactors decreased their calorie consumption from the control condition (716±52 kcal) to the stress condition (457±53 kcal, p=0.001), while low cortisol reactors did not change their consumption (stress: 518±87 kcal vs. control: 561±62 kcal, p=0.574). CONCLUSION High cortisol reactivity in overweight adolescents resulted in decreased calorie consumption following an acute stressor. Further research is needed to understand the mechanisms underlying stress-induced suppression of food intake in overweight adolescents.
An Insight into the Proteome of Uveal Melanoma-Derived Ectosomes Reveals the Presence of Potentially Useful Biomarkers

Cancer cells are known to release extracellular vesicles that often promote disease development and progression. The present study investigated the protein content and glycosylation pattern of ectosomes released in vitro by a human primary uveal melanoma Mel202 cell line. Ectosomes released by Mel202 cells were isolated from conditioned media using sequential centrifugation, and a nano-LC-MS/MS approach was used to determine their protein content. Subsequently, proteins from ectosomes, the whole cell extracts, and the membrane fractions were probed with a panel of lectins using Western blotting and flow cytometry to reveal characteristic glycan structures. As many as 2527 unique proteins were identified, and many of them are known to be involved in cancer cell proliferation and altered metabolism, tumor invasion, metastasis, or drug resistance. Lectin-based studies revealed a distinct glycosylation pattern between Mel202-derived ectosomes and the parental cell membranes. Selective enrichment of ectosomal proteins with bisected complex type N-glycans and α2,6-linked sialic acids may be significant for ectosome formation and sequestration. Differences in the surface glycosylation of Mel202 cells and ectosomes supports recent findings that the budding of ectosomes occurs within strictly determined fragments of the plasma membrane, and thus ectosomes contain a unique protein and glycan composition.
The effect of eggs on early child growth in rural Malawi: the Mazira Project randomized controlled trial

ABSTRACT Background Stunted growth is a significant public health problem in many low-income countries. Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of 1 egg per day on child growth in rural Malawi. Design We conducted an individually randomized controlled trial in which 660 children aged 6–9 mo were equally allocated into an intervention (1 egg/d) or control group. Eggs were provided during twice-weekly home visits for 6 mo. Control households were visited at the same frequency. Assessors blinded to intervention group measured length, weight, head circumference, and midupper arm circumference at baseline and the 6-mo follow-up visit. To assess adherence, multipass 24-h dietary recalls were administered at baseline, 3-mo, and 6-mo visits. Results Between February and July 2018, 660 children were randomly assigned into the intervention (n = 331) and control (n = 329) groups. Losses to follow-up totaled 10%. In the intervention group, egg consumption increased from 3.9% at baseline to 84.5% and 70.3% at the 3-mo and 6-mo visits, whereas in the control group, it remained below 8% at all study visits. The baseline prevalence of stunting was 14%, underweight was 8%, and wasting was 1% and did not differ by group. There was no intervention effect on length-for-age, weight-for-age, or weight-for-length z scores. There was a significantly higher head circumference for age z score of 0.18 (95% CI: 0.01, 0.34) in the egg group compared with the control group. There was a significant interaction with maternal education (P = 0.024), with an effect on length-for-age z score only among children whose mothers had higher education. Conclusions The provision of 1 egg per day to children in rural Malawi had no overall effect on linear growth. A background diet rich in animal source foods and low prevalence of stunting at baseline may have limited the potential impact. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT03385252.
Coiled optical nanofiber for optofluidic absorbance detection.

A challenge for optofluidic absorbance detection is the high concentration limit of detection due to the short optical path length. Herein, we introduce a concept of utilizing the coiled optical nanofiber for highly sensitive and robust optofluidic absorbance detection. Investigated by measuring the absorbance of FeCl3 solutions, the sensor shows a detection limit down to 10 µM with excellent reversibility in a concentration range of 0-5 mM. The sensitivity is 10-fold higher than that of standard absorbance measurement by using a 1-cm cuvette. Also, highly sensitive chloramphenicol sensing was demonstrated by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method, achieving a detection limit below 0.5 ng/L. The higher sensitivity and lower detection limit are because of the large fractional power of evanescent field outside the nanofiber and the long detection length, which can effectively improve the absorption of evanescent field, while the excellent reversibility is owing to the support of a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) pillar rather than suspending the nanofiber in the microchannel. We envision that the present work may open up new opportunities for ultrasensitive chemical and biological sensing.
Protective to a T: The Role of T Cells during Zika Virus Infection

CD4 and CD8 T cells are an important part of the host’s capacity to defend itself against viral infections. During flavivirus infections, T cells have been implicated in both protective and pathogenic responses. Given the recent emergence of Zika virus (ZIKV) as a prominent global health threat, the question remains as to how T cells contribute to anti-ZIKV immunity. Furthermore, high homology between ZIKV and other, co-circulating flaviviruses opens the possibility of positive or negative effects of cross-reactivity due to pre-existing immunity. In this review, we will discuss the CD4 and CD8 T cell responses to ZIKV, and the lessons we have learned from both mouse and human infections. In addition, we will consider the possibility of whether T cells, in the context of flavivirus-naïve and flavivirus-immune subjects, play a role in promoting ZIKV pathogenesis during infection.
Identification of a Novel Equine Papillomavirus in Semen from a Thoroughbred Stallion with a Penile Lesion

Papillomaviruses (PVs) have been identified in a wide range of animal species and are associated with a variety of disease syndromes including classical papillomatosis, aural plaques, and genital papillomas. In horses, 13 PVs have been described to date, falling into six genera. Using total RNA sequencing (meta-transcriptomics) we identified a novel equine papillomavirus in semen taken from a thoroughbred stallion suffering a genital lesion, which was confirmed by nested RT-PCR. We designate this novel virus Equus caballus papillomavirus 9 (EcPV9). The complete 7656 bp genome of EcPV9 exhibited similar characteristics to those of other horse papillomaviruses. Phylogenetic analysis based on concatenated E1-E2-L2-L1 amino acid sequences revealed that EcPV9 clustered with EcPV2, EcPV4, and EcPV5, although was distinct enough to represent a new viral species within the genus Dyoiotapapillomavirus (69.35%, 59.25%, and 58.00% nucleotide similarity to EcPV2, EcPV4, and EcPV5, respectively). In sum, we demonstrate the presence of a novel equine papillomavirus for which more detailed studies of disease association are merited.
Control Laws Design of a Turboprop Engine

The goal of this paper is to describe a full approach of a decentralized control strategy applied on an industrial multivariable application: a turboprop engine. A first step consists in the linearization of the turboprop engine model around different operating points. After noting strong interactions, decoupling methods are tested in order to reduce the coupling effects. A decentralized strategy is then set up, and PID controllers are further designed. The control laws are finally implemented in order to command a non-linear model of a turboprop engine.
Effects of the Japanese Encephalitis Virus Genotype V-Derived Sub-Viral Particles on the Immunogenicity of the Vaccine Characterized by a Novel Virus-Like Particle-Based Assay

Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) is classified into five genotypes labelled I through V. Although the genotype V (GV) JEV was originally found and had apparently been limited in Malaysia for more than 50 years, its emergence in Korea and China has recently been reported. Therefore, the GV JEV might be spreading over new geographical regions as a cause of potential public health problems. However, it is unknown whether the currently available JEV vaccines are effective against the emerging GV strains. To investigate this issue, a novel virus-like particle-based neutralizing assay was developed in this study. By using this assay, the inactivated JEV vaccine used in Japan and the recombinant sub-viral particles (SVPs) bearing the E protein of the GV Muar strain were characterized for the immunogenicity against the GV JEV. Although the inactivated vaccine alone failed to elicit a detectable level of neutralizing antibodies against the GV JEV, the vaccine added with the Muar-derived SVPs induced relatively high titers of neutralizing antibodies, associated with the efficient Th1 immune responses, against the GV JEV. The results indicate that addition of the GV JEV-derived antigens may be useful for developing the vaccine that is universally effective against JEV including the emerging GV strains.
Hermetia illucens Larvae Reared on Different Substrates in Broiler Quail Diets: Effect on Physicochemical and Sensory Quality of the Quail Meat

Simple Summary Hermetia illucens (HI) is one of the most promising insect species that can be exploited as alternative and sustainable feed ingredients in poultry farming. HI larvae can grow on a wide range of decomposing organic substrates, thus transforming organic waste into high-value feed products. When HI is included in the diets of different poultry species, it provides positive results in terms of productive performance, the health status of the animals, and overall product quality. However, a common drawback highlighted by most studies has been a suboptimal quality of the meat lipids of HI-fed poultry (high amount of saturated fatty acids (SFAs) to the detriment of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA)). The present experiment tested the effects of a dietary inclusion of HI larvae farmed on two different substrates in the diets of meat quails. The two substrates were 100% layer mash (conventional rearing substrate) and 50:50 layer mash/fish offal, which aimed to increase the PUFA content of the larvae. The overall results showed that it was possible to improve the fatty acid profile of the larvae by modulating the rearing substrate, which in turn improved the lipid quality of the meat obtained from quails fed diets containing such larvae. Abstract This research aimed at improving the fatty acid (FA) profile of Hermetia illucens larvae (HI) and evaluating the effects of their inclusion in growing broiler quails’ diets on the meat physicochemical quality, including detailed amino acid (AA) and FA profiles, sensory traits, and retail display. HI larvae were reared on two different substrates: layer mash (HI1) and 50:50 layer mash/fish offal (HI2). A total of 300 10-day-old quails were allocated to the three dietary groups (five replicates/each): a soybean meal-based diet was formulated (Control), and two other diets were formulated that included either 10% HI1 or HI2. Quails were fed the experimental diets until slaughter. Diets were formulated to be isonitrogenous and isoenergetic. Breast meat quality was affected by the dietary treatments, which displayed different proximate compositions and AA and FA profiles. Meat physical quality, sensory profile, and retail display remained unaffected for the most part. Overall, results showed that it is possible to improve the FA profile of the HI-fed quails’ meat and thus lipid quality through substrate modulation of the HI’s diet.
Design of the musculoskeletal leg CARL based on the physiology of mono-articular and biarticular muscles in the human leg

In a lower extremity musculoskeletal leg, the actuation kinematics define the interaction of the actuators with each other and the environment. Design of such a kinematic chain is challenging due to the existence of the redundant biarticular actuators which simultaneously act on two joints, generating a parallel mechanism. Actuator kinematics is mainly dependent on the moment arm profile of the actuation system. It is a common practice to select a constant moment arm value for robotic actuation system; nevertheless, biological muscles feature a distinctive nonlinear moment arm profile that has been ignored in the design of the musculoskeletal robots. In this paper, we propose a design paradigm for compliant robotic leg based on the direct replication of the human leg anatomy. The resulting mechanical system should (a) demonstrate a similar moment arm profile as in leg musculature, (b) exhibit expected physiological behavior of the muscles, (c) provide insight into the interaction of the actuators and possible improvement in the efficiency of the movements. We provide a comprehensive analysis of the moment arm profile of the leg musculature. The actuator kinematics of the designed leg is validated by comparing the contraction velocities of the muscles and actuators. The biological characteristics of the actuators are analyzed using the jump experiment data conducted on the previous version of the leg. The major physiological characteristics of the biarticular muscles, ligamentous action, and distal power transfer, is successfully demonstrated by the robotic leg. Our analysis demonstrates that the proposed structural design of the actuation system can improve the mechanical efficiency of this particular jump experiment up to compared to the leg without actuator redundancy. Compared to the previous version of the leg, by only modifying the moment arm profiles, we can achieve an efficiency improvement of approximately .
Identification of the Secreted Proteins Originated from Primary Human Hepatocytes and HepG2 Cells

The liver plays a pivotal role in whole-body carbohydrate, lipid, and protein metabolism. One of the key regulators of glucose and lipid metabolism are hepatokines, which are found among the liver secreted proteins, defined as liver secretome. To elucidate the composition of the human liver secretome and identify hepatokines in primary human hepatocytes (PHH), we conducted comprehensive protein profiling on conditioned medium (CM) of PHH. Secretome profiling using liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) identified 691 potential hepatokines in PHH. Subsequently, pathway analysis assigned these proteins to acute phase response, coagulation, and complement system pathways. The secretome of PHH was compared to the secreted proteins of the liver hepatoma cell line HepG2. Although the secretome of PHH and HepG2 cells show a high overlap, the HepG2 secretome rather mirrors the fetal liver with some cancer characteristics. Collectively, our study represents one of the most comprehensive secretome profiling approaches for PHH, allowing new insights into the composition of the secretome derived from primary human material, and points out strength and weakness of using HepG2 cell secretome as a model for the analysis of the human liver secretome.
Deep sequencing of B cell receptor repertoire

Immune repertoire is a collection of enormously diverse adaptive immune cells within an individual. As the repertoire shapes and represents immunological conditions, identification of clones and characterization of diversity are critical for understanding how to protect ourselves against various illness such as infectious diseases and cancers. Over the past several years, fast growing technologies for high throughput sequencing have facilitated rapid advancement of repertoire research, enabling us to observe the diversity of repertoire at an unprecedented level. Here, we focus on B cell receptor (BCR) repertoire and review approaches to B cell isolation and sequencing library construction. These experiments should be carefully designed according to BCR regions to be interrogated, such as heavy chain full length, complementarity determining regions, and isotypes. We also highlight preprocessing steps to remove sequencing and PCR errors with unique molecular index and bioinformatics techniques. Due to the nature of massive sequence variation in BCR, caution is warranted when interpreting repertoire diversity from error-prone sequencing data. Furthermore, we provide a summary of statistical frameworks and bioinformatics tools for clonal evolution and diversity. Finally, we discuss limitations of current BCR-seq technologies and future perspectives on advances in repertoire sequencing.
Engineered Cardiac Tissues Generated in the Biowire II: A Platform for Human-Based Drug Discovery

Abstract Recent advances in techniques to differentiate human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) hold the promise of an unlimited supply of human derived cardiac cells from both healthy and disease populations. That promise has been tempered by the observation that hiPSC-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) typically retain a fetal-like phenotype, raising concern about the translatability of the in vitro data obtained to drug safety, discovery, and development studies. The Biowire II platform was used to generate 3D engineered cardiac tissues (ECTs) from hiPSC-CMs and cardiac fibroblasts. Long term electrical stimulation was employed to obtain ECTs that possess a phenotype like that of adult human myocardium including a lack of spontaneous beating, the presence of a positive force-frequency response from 1 to 4 Hz and prominent postrest potentiation. Pharmacology studies were performed in the ECTs to confirm the presence and functionality of pathways that modulate cardiac contractility in humans. Canonical responses were observed for compounds that act via the β-adrenergic/cAMP-mediated pathway, eg, isoproterenol and milrinone; the L-type calcium channel, eg, FPL64176 and nifedipine; and indirectly effect intracellular Ca2+ concentrations, eg, digoxin. Expected positive inotropic responses were observed for compounds that modulate proteins of the cardiac sarcomere, eg, omecamtiv mecarbil and levosimendan. ECTs generated in the Biowire II platform display adult-like properties and have canonical responses to cardiotherapeutic and cardiotoxic agents that affect contractility in humans via a variety of mechanisms. These data demonstrate that this human-based model can be used to assess the effects of novel compounds on contractility early in the drug discovery and development process.
Clinical and electrophysiological characteristics of Guillain‐Barré syndrome in Colombia

Despite the wide literature describing the features of Guillain‐Barré syndrome (GBS) in different populations worldwide, Colombian data are very scarce. We aim to characterize patients with GBS in a general hospital setting in Colombia. We conducted a retrospective chart review of GBS cases managed at the Hospital Universitario Fundación Santa Fe de Bogotá, from 2011 to 2016. Twenty‐three patients were included. The most commonly reported symptoms were paresthesias (65%), pain (61%), proximal (22%) and distal (74%) limb weakness, and facial palsy (30%). 9% of patients had Fisher syndrome and 21% had other variants: Bickerstaff, pharyngeal‐cervical‐brachial pattern, and facial diplegia. There was a predominance of the demyelinating form (70%), with only 22% of patients presenting with the axonal variants. Our results are concordant with previous studies in Colombia.