Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Associations between adolescent cannabis use and young-adult functioning in three longitudinal twin studies

Significance A widely voiced concern regarding cannabis legalization in the United States is that cannabis is harmful to minors, affecting the developing brain to increase emotional and cognitive problems while impairing functioning. However, these associations may be due to confounding by common vulnerability factors that make some individuals more prone to both cannabis use and negative outcomes. We evaluate this possibility by conducting a series of cotwin control analyses in a sample that combines data from three longitudinal studies. Our findings provide little support for a strong, causal relationship between adolescent cannabis use and adult mental health or cognitive ability but do suggest that cannabis use may impair academic functioning during the secondary school years, with downstream effects on socioeconomic status. Observational studies have linked cannabis use to an array of negative outcomes, including psychiatric symptoms, cognitive impairment, and educational and occupational underachievement. These associations are particularly strong when cannabis use occurs in adolescence. Nevertheless, causality remains unclear. The purpose of the present study was thus to examine associations between prospectively assessed adolescent cannabis use and young-adult outcomes (psychiatric, cognitive, and socioeconomic) in three longitudinal studies of twins (n = 3,762). Twins reporting greater cumulative cannabis use in adolescence reported higher levels of psychopathology as well as poorer socioeconomic outcomes in young adulthood. However, cannabis use remained associated only with socioeconomic outcomes (i.e., educational attainment, occupational status, and income) in monozygotic-cotwin control analyses, which account fully for shared genetic and environmental confounding. Follow-up analyses examining associations between twin differences in adolescent cannabis use and longitudinal change in academic functioning during the middle- and high-school years provided a possible mechanism for these associations, indicating that greater cannabis use during this period was associated with decreases in grade point average and academic motivation as well as increases in academic problem behavior and school disciplinary problems. Our findings thus suggest that cannabis use in adolescence has potentially causal, deleterious effects on adolescent academic functioning and young-adult socioeconomic outcomes despite little evidence suggesting a strong, causal influence on adult mental health or cognitive ability.
Short-term Tolerance of Nasally-administered NeuroEPO in Patients with Parkinson Disease.

INTRODUCTION No neuroprotective treatment has been able to successfully halt the progression of Parkinson disease or prevent development of associated complications. Recombinant erythropoetin (EPO), an erythropoiesis-stimulating agent originally indicated in anemia, produced and manufactured in Cuba (iorEPOCIM, CIMAB S.A, Havana, Cuba) has neuroprotective properties. NeuroEPO is a new nasal formulation of recombinant EPO with a low content of sialic acid and without hematopoietic effects. It has neuroprotective effects in animal models. OBJECTIVE Evaluate short-term tolerance of intranasal NeuroEPO in patients with Parkinson disease. METHODS As part of a monocentric randomized placebo-controlled double-blind study (registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov number NCT04110678), 26 patients with Parkinson disease (stages 1 and 2 on Hoehn & Yahr Scale), were randomly divided into two groups: NeuroEPO (n = 15) and placebo (n = 11), both treated intranasally either with the drug (1 mL, at a concentration of 1 mg/mL of NeuroEPO) or placebo once a week for 5 weeks. At each application, we recorded any adverse events and blood pressure. To assess potential hematopoietic effects of the drug, hematological and biochemical variables were evaluated one week before and one week after the intervention. RESULTS There were no significant differences (p = 0.22) between the two groups in terms of frequency of adverse events (20.0% in NeuroEPO and 9.1% in placebo groups). Three patients in NeuroEPO presented nausea, and one vomited (possibly due to the patient's positioning during drug application). One patient in placebo group reported polyuria and nasal irritation. In both groups, the adverse events were mild, brief, required no treatment and did not present sequelae. CONCLUSIONS Nasally administered NeuroEPO for five weeks in patients with Parkinson disease stages 1 and 2 on Hoehn & Yahr Scale is well tolerated.
Neutron reflection study of butanol and hexanol adsorbed at the surface of their aqueous solutions

Neutron-reflectivity measurements have been made on aqueous butanol and hexanol solutions over a range of concentrations up to the saturation limit of the alcohol. The surface excesses are in good agreement with previous surface tension measurements. The thicknesses of the alcohol layers have been determined as a function of concentration and the separation of their surface distributions from that of water has been determined. The thicknesses of both butanol and hexanol layers are generally larger than the fully extended length of the molecule except at very low surface concentrations. A large part of this is caused by thermal roughness but there appears to be some additional ‘structural’ roughness. The separation between water and alcohol distributions is surprisingly low and indicates that the molecules are on average tilted away from the surface normal.
The BAX-binding protein MOAP1 associates with LC3 and promotes closure of the phagophore

ABSTRACT MOAP1 (modulator of apoptosis 1) is a BAX-binding protein tightly regulated by the ubiquitin-proteasome system. Apoptotic stimuli stabilize MOAP1 protein and facilitate its interaction with BAX to promote apoptosis. Here we show that in contrast to being resistant to apoptotic stimuli, MOAP1-deficient cells are hypersensitive to cell death mediated by starvation rendered by EBSS treatment. MOAP1-deficient cells exhibited impairment in macroautophagy/autophagy signaling induced by EBSS. Mechanistic analysis revealed that MOAP1-deficient cells had no notable defect in the recruitment of the pre-autophagosomal phosphatidylinositol-3-phosphate (PtdIns3P)-binding proteins, ZFYVE1/DFCP1 and WIPI2, nor in the LC3 lipidation mechanism regulated by the ATG12–ATG5-ATG16L1 complex upon EBSS treatment. Interestingly, MOAP1 is required for facilitating efficient closure of phagophore in the EBSS-treated cells. Analysis of LC3-positive membrane structures using Halo-tagged LC3 autophagosome completion assay showed that predominantly unclosed phagophore rather than closed autophagosome was present in the EBSS-treated MOAP1-deficient cells. The autophagy substrate SQSTM1/p62, which is normally contained within the enclosed autophagosome under EBSS condition, was also highly sensitive to degradation by proteinase K in the absence of MOAP1. MOAP1 binds LC3 and the binding is critically dependent on a LC3-interacting region (LIR) motif detected at its N-terminal region. Re-expression of MOAP1, but not its LC3-binding defective mutant, MOAP1-LIR, in the MOAP1-deficient cells, restored EBSS-induced autophagy. Together, these observations suggest that MOAP1 serves a distinct role in facilitating autophagy through interacting with LC3 to promote efficient phagophore closure during starvation. Abbreviations: CQ: Chloroquine; EBSS: Earle’s Balanced Salt Solution; GABARAP: Gamma-Amino Butyric Acid Receptor Associated Protein; IF: Immunofluorescence; IP: Immunoprecipitation; LAMP1: Lysosomal-Associated Membrane Protein 1; LIR: LC3-Interacting Region; MAP1LC3/LC3: Microtubule Associated Protein 1 Light Chain 3; MEF: Mouse Embryonic Fibroblast; MOAP1: Modulator of Apoptosis 1; PE: Phosphatidylethanolamine; PtdIns3K: class III PtdIns3K complex I; PtdIns3P: Phosphatidylinositol-3-phosphate; STX17: Syntaxin 17; ULK1: unc-51 like autophagy activating kinase 1.
Violent media use and aggression: Two longitudinal network studies

ABSTRACT Exposure to violent media has been widely linked to increased aggression. In the present research, we examined whether violent media exposure would be associated with increased aggression, which would then spread within social networks like a contagious disease. Two groups of first year psychology students completed a questionnaire three times over the course of a year, measuring their media exposure, aggression, personality, and social relations within the group. Cross-sectional analysis provided mixed results in regards to the link between violent media and aggression. Siena analysis found no evidence of homophily (i.e., participants were not more likely to be friends with others similar to themselves) nor of social influence (i.e., participant’s behavior did not predict a change in their friends’ behavior). However, given the relatively small sample sizes and the weak ties between participants, more work is needed to assess the spread of violent media effects.
Morphology-controlled CuO nanoparticles for electroreduction of CO2 to ethanol

CuO nanoparticles with five morphologies were synthesized in large quantities using a simple method. They were in situ reduced to metallic Cu for the electroreduction of CO2. Alcohols with excellent selectivity for ethanol were obtained. The specific morphology was demonstrated to be more electrocatalytically active than others by multiple methods.
Genome-wide association study of suicidal behaviour severity in mood disorders

Abstract Objective Suicide is a major public health problem and it has a prominent genetic component. We performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of suicidal behaviour severity. Methods Suicide behaviour severity was assessed within the Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry in our mood disorder sample (n = 3506) for the GWAS. We also performed polygenic risk score analyses to explore genetic sharing between suicidal behaviour severity and a number of phenotypes, including bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, alcoholism, post-traumatic stress disorder, impulsivity, insomnia, educational attainment, loneliness, maltreatment, and amygdala volume. Results We did not detect genome-wide significant findings at the single-marker or gene level. We report a number of suggestive single-marker and gene-based findings. Our polygenic risk score analyses did not yield significant findings with these phenotypes. Conclusions Larger sample sizes are required to detect moderate effects.
Does the source of nitrogen affect the response of tomato plants to saline stress

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of the source of nitrogen (N) nutrition on the response of tomato ( Solanum lycopersicum L. cv. Rio Grande) plants to saline stress (100 mM NaCl). To this end, plant growth, chlorophyll and carbohydrate levels, ion contents as well as N compounds and main N-metabolizing enzymes (nitrate reductase and glutamine synthetase) were analyzed in salt-treated and control plants grown in the presence of either NO 3 - , NH 4 + , or the mixture of NO 3 - and NH 4 + . Our results showed that plant growth declined under saline stress but NO 3 - -fed plants were less sensitive to salinity than NH 4 + -fed plants. This different sensitivity was due mainly to a better maintenance of root growth and root nitrate reductase activity in NO 3 - -fed plants . Concomitantly, leaf chlorophyll content was significantly decreased, regardless of the N source. Salinity affects the uptake of several nutrients in a different way, depending on the N source. Thus, sodium was accumulated mainly in NH 4 + -fed plants, especially in roots, displacing other cations such as NH 4 + and potassium. It is concluded that the N source is a major factor affecting tomato responses to saline stress, plants being more sensitive when NH 4 + is the source used. The different sensitivity is discussed in terms of a competition for energy between N assimilation and sodium exclusion processes.
Stroop color and word test (SCWT): Normative data for the Lebanese adult population

Abstract The Stroop Color and Word Test (SCWT) is one of the most commonly used measures to assess multiple cognitive functions. Several studies have shown that SCWT performance is influenced by different demographic factors and have recommended the necessity of generating normative data in different cultures. The present study aims to explore the effect of gender, age, and education on SCWT scores and to generate normative data for the Lebanese healthy adults. A sample of 321 healthy participants aged 18 and above was recruited from different Lebanese regions. The SCWT was administered to the participants. A regression-based strategy was applied to generate normative data. The results showed a statistically significant effect of age and education on the SCWT scores whereas no significant effect for gender was found. An interactive calculator was created to calculate estimated Z-scores based on corresponding predictions of the linear regression model. The calculator also provides percentile ranks. The present study is the first to generate normative data for the SCWT test in Lebanon. Neuropsychologists in Lebanon will benefit from this outcome to improve the accurate detection of executive function deficits in clinical settings for the Lebanese adult population.
Targeted LC-MS/MS combined with multilocus DNA metabarcoding as a combinatory approach to determine the amount and the source of pyrrolizidine alkaloids contamination in popular cooking herbs, seeds, spices and leafy vegetables

ABSTRACT Pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) and their corresponding N-oxides (PANOs) are natural protoxins biosynthesised by many plant species and are responsible for occasional fatal intoxication outbreaks due to the consumption of contaminated food. However, only in rare cases has the origin of the contamination been determined. Although their presence has been studied in many matrices, occurrence data on popular widely used cooking herbs, seeds, spices and leafy vegetables is very scarce. Therefore, a systematic study on the occurrence of PA/PANOs contaminations in these popular herbal items, available on the Belgian market, was performed, by means of a validatedtargeted LC-MS/MS analysis, followed by multilocus DNA metabarcoding to track back the origin of the contamination for seven highly to moderately contaminated samples. Our results clearly indicate that 21% of the seed spices and 25% seed-based aromatic mixes contain an amount higher than 400 μg of the 30 summed targeted PAs and PANOs per kg, the value which is currently under discussion by the European member states to be set as a maximum threshold. For both the herbs and the herb-based mixes only 7% of analysed samples exceeded these levels. As a proof of concept, multilocus DNA metabarcoding was performed on six highly contaminated samples, belonging to each subtype matrix, containing high levels of heliotrine type of PA/PANOs. Each time the analysis demonstrated the presence of DNA from a plant species belonging to the plant genus Heliotropium. Moreover, a contaminated leafy vegetable sample, containing solely senecionine type PA/PANOs, contained DNA from Senecio vulgaris. Taken together, it can be stated that the proposed combinatory chemical and molecular techniques could be used to verify if a PA/PANO(s) contamination occurred in these popular cooking items and to pinpoint the origin the contamination, which is pivotal in the case of a detrimental intoxication or intoxication outbreak.
AMPK-dependent and -independent coordination of mitochondrial function and muscle fiber type by FNIP1

Mitochondria are essential for maintaining skeletal muscle metabolic homeostasis during adaptive response to a myriad of physiologic or pathophysiological stresses. The mechanisms by which mitochondrial function and contractile fiber type are concordantly regulated to ensure muscle function remain poorly understood. Evidence is emerging that the Folliculin interacting protein 1 (Fnip1) is involved in skeletal muscle fiber type specification, function, and disease. In this study, Fnip1 was specifically expressed in skeletal muscle in Fnip1-transgenic (Fnip1Tg) mice. Fnip1Tg mice were crossed with Fnip1-knockout (Fnip1KO) mice to generate Fnip1TgKO mice expressing Fnip1 only in skeletal muscle but not in other tissues. Our results indicate that, in addition to the known role in type I fiber program, FNIP1 exerts control upon muscle mitochondrial oxidative program through AMPK signaling. Indeed, basal levels of FNIP1 are sufficient to inhibit AMPK but not mTORC1 activity in skeletal muscle cells. Gain-of-function and loss-of-function strategies in mice, together with assessment of primary muscle cells, demonstrated that skeletal muscle mitochondrial program is suppressed via the inhibitory actions of FNIP1 on AMPK. Surprisingly, the FNIP1 actions on type I fiber program is independent of AMPK and its downstream PGC-1α. These studies provide a vital framework for understanding the intrinsic role of FNIP1 as a crucial factor in the concerted regulation of mitochondrial function and muscle fiber type that determine muscle fitness.
Integrating Systems and Synthetic Biology to Understand and Engineer Microbiomes.

Microbiomes are complex and ubiquitous networks of microorganisms whose seemingly limitless chemical transformations could be harnessed to benefit agriculture, medicine, and biotechnology. The spatial and temporal changes in microbiome composition and function are influenced by a multitude of molecular and ecological factors. This complexity yields both versatility and challenges in designing synthetic microbiomes and perturbing natural microbiomes in controlled, predictable ways. In this review, we describe factors that give rise to emergent spatial and temporal microbiome properties and the meta-omics and computational modeling tools that can be used to understand microbiomes at the cellular and system levels. We also describe strategies for designing and engineering microbiomes to enhance or build novel functions. Throughout the review,we discuss key knowledge and technology gaps for elucidating the networks and deciphering key control points for microbiome engineering, and highlight examples where multiple omics and modeling approaches can be integrated to address these gaps. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Biomedical Engineering, Volume 23 is June 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews. org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.
Advances in understanding the pathogenesis of hereditary macrothrombocytopenia

Low platelet count, or thrombocytopenia, is a common haematological abnormality, with a wide differential diagnosis, which may represent a clinically significant underlying pathology. Macrothrombocytopenia, the presence of large platelets in combination with thrombocytopenia, can be acquired or hereditary and indicative of a complex disorder. In this review, we discuss the interpretation of platelet count and volume measured by automated haematology analysers and highlight some important technical considerations relevant to the analysis of blood samples with macrothrombocytopenia. We review how large cohorts, such as the UK Biobank and INTERVAL studies, have enabled an accurate description of the distribution and co‐variation of platelet parameters in adult populations. We discuss how genome‐wide association studies have identified hundreds of genetic associations with platelet count and mean platelet volume, which in aggregate can explain large fractions of phenotypic variance, consistent with a complex genetic architecture and polygenic inheritance. Finally, we describe the large genetic diagnostic and discovery programmes, which, simultaneously to genome‐wide association studies, have expanded the repertoire of genes and variants associated with extreme platelet phenotypes. These have advanced our understanding of the pathogenesis of hereditary macrothrombocytopenia and support a future clinical diagnostic strategy that utilises genotype alongside clinical and laboratory phenotype data.
The Relational Self-Schema Measure: Assessing Psychological Needs in Multiple Self-with-Other Representations

Abstract Modern self-schema theory posits multiple representations in memory of the self, with each individual self-schema possessing associative connections to relational contexts (i.e., self-with-other). However, existing self-schema measures typically assess a generalized self unmoored from context. In two studies, we present a new instrument—the Relational Self-Schema Measure (RSSM)—designed to represent the self-schema construct with greater content validity. In Study 1, 512 adults completed an initial version of the RSSM that was subjected to exploratory factor analyses. Support emerged for a reduced four-factor model that included relatedness satisfaction, control satisfaction, self-esteem/status frustration, and autonomy frustration psychological need themes. In Study 2, 516 adults completed a revised RSSM along with measures of self-esteem, attachment, and mood and anxiety symptoms. A separate sample of 191 college students completed the revised RSSM and a measure of dysfunctional attitudes. Confirmatory factor analyses supported the same four-factor model. Moreover, the RSSM exhibited good convergent and discriminant validity as well as incremental validity in predicting positive affect, distress, and anxiety symptoms. Finally, significant within-person variability was apparent across relational schemata that accounted for additional variance in positive affect, distress, and anxiety symptoms.
Displacement of solutes in soil columns with domestic and swine raising wastewater

With the objective of evaluating the parameters of transport retardation factor, dispersion-diffusion coefficient and effluent curves of the ions calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium, present in domestic and swine raising wastewater, an experiment was conducted in laboratory with columns of Red Yellow Argisol and Regolithic Fluvisol. With the aid of flasks of Mariotte around two pore volumes of distilled water were passed in the columns; soon after, another flask was interconnected containing the wastewaters which leached 3.75 volume of pores divided in 25 aliqnot, totaling 600 samples. The obtained results lead to the conclussion that the retardation factors were higher for the sodium in the Red Yellow Argisol and for the magnesium in Regolithic Fluvisol leached with treated domestic wastewater. In reference to the swine raising wastewater, the largest values were calculated for the ion magnesium, in the two soils; as for the dispersion-diffusion coefficients, the highest values were observed for Regolithic Fluvisol, independent of the type of water.