Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of Sintering Temperature on the Properties of Highly Electrical Resistive SiC Ceramics as a Function of Y2O3-Er2O3 Additions

Silicon carbide (SiC) ceramics with Y2O3-Er2O3 as sintering additives were prepared by spark plasma sintering (SPS). The effects of sintering temperatures and Y2O3-Er2O3 contents on the microstructure, thermal conductivity, electrical, and mechanical properties were investigated. The increasing of sintering temperatures promoted the densification of SiC ceramics, thus increasing the thermal conductivity and electrical resistivity. With the increase of the sintering additive contents, the electrical resistivity increased due to the formation of the electrical insulating network; and the thermal conductivity first increased and then decreased, which was related to the content and distribution of the secondary phase among the SiC grains. The SiC ceramics sintered at 2000 °C with 9 wt. % Y2O3-Er2O3 exhibited higher electrical resistivity and thermal conductivity, which were 4.28 × 109 Ω·cm and 96.68 W/m·K, respectively.
Emerging Links between Control of Mitochondrial Protein ATAD3A and Cancer

Spanning from the mitochondria’s outer surface to the inner membrane, the nuclear-encoded protein ATAD3A maintains vital roles in regulating mitochondrial dynamics, homeostasis, metabolism, and interactions with the endoplasmic reticulum. Recently, elevated levels of ATAD3A have been reported in several types of cancer and to be tightly correlated with cancer development and progression, including increased cancer cell potential of proliferation, metastasis, and resistance to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. In the current review, we reveal ATAD3A as the link between mitochondrial functions and cancer biology and the accumulating evidence presenting ATAD3A as an attractive target for the development of novel cancer therapy to inhibit aberrant cancer metabolism and progression.
In vitro study on the effect of ophiopogonin D on the activity of cytochrome P450 enzymes

Abstract Ophiopogonin D is a commonly used herb in cardiology and pediatrics for its variuos pharmacological effects. It is necessary to investigate the effect of ophiopogonin D on the activity of cytochrome P450 enzymes (CYP450s) to provide more guidance for the clinical application of ophiopogonin D. Eight isoforms of CYP450s, including CYP1A2, 2A6, 2C8, 2C9, 2C19, 2D6, 2E1, and 3A4 were incubated with 100 μM ophiopogonin D in pooled human liver microsomes. The inhibition model and corresponding parameters were also investigated. Ophiopogonin D exerted a significant inhibitory effect on the activity of CYP3A4, 2C9, and 2E1 in a dose-dependent manner with the IC50 values of 8.08, 12.92, and 22.72 μM, respectively (p < 0.05). The inhibition of CYP3A4 by ophiopogonin D was performed non-competitively and time-dependently with the Ki value of 4.08 μM and the KI/Kinact value of 5.02/0.050 min−1·μM−1. Whereas, ophiopogonin D acts as a competitive inhibitor of CYP2E1 and 2C9 with the Ki value of 6.69 and 11.07 μM, respectively. The inhibitory effect of ophiopogonin D on the activity of CYP3A4, 2C9, and 2E1 indicated the potential drug-drug interaction between ophiopogonin D and drugs metabolized by these CYP450s, which needs further in vivo investigation and validation.
Test@Work Texts: Mobile Phone Messaging to Increase Awareness of HIV and HIV Testing in UK Construction Employees during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Background: HIV poses a threat to global health. With effective treatment options available, education and testing strategies are essential in preventing transmission. Text messaging is an effective tool for health promotion and can be used to target higher risk populations. This study reports on the design, delivery and testing of a mobile text messaging SMS intervention for HIV prevention and awareness, aimed at adults in the construction industry and delivered during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: Participants were recruited at Test@Work workplace health promotion events (21 sites, n = 464 employees), including health checks with HIV testing. Message development was based on a participatory design and included a focus group (n = 9) and message fidelity testing (n = 291) with assessment of intervention uptake, reach, acceptability, and engagement. Barriers to HIV testing were identified and mapped to the COM-B behavioural model. 23 one-way push SMS messages (19 included short web links) were generated and fidelity tested, then sent via automated SMS to two employee cohorts over a 10-week period during the COVID-19 pandemic. Engagement metrics measured were: opt-outs, SMS delivered/read, number of clicks per web link, four two-way pull messages exploring repeat HIV testing, learning new information, perceived usefulness and behaviour change. Results: 291 people participated (68.3% of eligible attendees). A total of 7726 messages were sent between March and June 2020, with 91.6% successfully delivered (100% read). 12.4% of participants opted out over 10 weeks. Of delivered messages, links were clicked an average of 14.4% times, max 24.1% for HIV related links. The number of clicks on web links declined over time (r = −6.24, p = 0.01). Response rate for two-way pull messages was 13.7% of participants. Since the workplace HIV test offer at recruitment, 21.6% reported having taken a further HIV test. Qualitative replies indicated behavioural influence of messaging on exercise, lifestyle behaviours and intention to HIV test. Conclusions: SMS messaging for HIV prevention and awareness is acceptable to adults in the construction industry, has high uptake, low attrition and good engagement with message content, when delivered during a global pandemic. Data collection methods may need refinement for audience, and effect of COVID-19 on results is yet to be understood.
Thermal Proteome Profiling in Zebrafish Reveals Effects of Napabucasin on Retinoic Acid Metabolism

Thermal proteome profiling (TPP) allows for the unbiased detection of drug–target protein engagements in vivo. Traditionally, 1 cell type is used for TPP studies, with the risk of missing important differentially expressed target proteins. The use of whole organisms would circumvent this problem. Zebrafish embryos are amenable to such an approach. Here, we used TPP on whole zebrafish embryo lysate to identify protein targets of napabucasin, a compound that may affect signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (Stat3) signaling through an ill-understood mechanism. In zebrafish embryos, napabucasin induced developmental defects consistent with inhibition of Stat3 signaling. TPP profiling showed no distinct shift in Stat3 upon napabucasin treatment, but effects were detected on the oxidoreductase, Pora, which might explain effects on Stat3 signaling. Interestingly, thermal stability of several aldehyde dehydrogenases was affected. Moreover, napabucasin activated aldehyde dehydrogenase enzymatic activity in vitro. Aldehyde dehydrogenases have crucial roles in retinoic acid metabolism, and functionally, we validated napabucasin-mediated activation of the retinoic acid pathway in zebrafish in vivo. We conclude that TPP profiling in whole zebrafish embryo lysate is feasible and facilitates direct correlation of in vivo effects of small molecule drugs with their protein targets.
Impact of DBBM Fragments on the Porosity of the Calvarial Bone: A Pilot Study on Mice

Deproteinized bovine bone mineral (DBBM) is brittle and can break into fragments. Here, we examined whether DBBM fragments have an impact on mice calvarial bone during bone augmentation. DBBM was either randomly crushed (DBBM fragments) or left undisturbed (DBBM granules). Then, DBBM fragments or original DBBM granules were placed onto calvarial bone in 20 BALB/c mice. Following random allocation, ten mice received DBBM fragments and ten mice received original DBBM granules. After fourteen days of healing, micro computed tomography (micro-CT) and histological analysis of the augmented sites were performed. The primary outcome was the porosity of the calvarial bone. The micro-CT analysis revealed that DBBM fragments failed to significantly change the porosity of the calvarial bone as compared with original DBBM granules, despite the slightly higher bone resorption in the DBBM fragment group, 10.3% (CI 6.3–11.6) versus 6.1% (CI 4.1–7.8, p = 0.355), respectively. The cortical bone volume was not altered by DBBM fragments as compared with original DBBM granules, i.e., 79.0% (CI 78.9–81.2) versus 81.5% (CI 80.1–83.3, p = 0.357), respectively. The DBBM fragment group revealed similar bone thickness values as compared with the DBBM granules group, i.e., 0.26 mm (CI 0.23–0.29) versus 0.25 mm (CI 0.22–0.27, p = 0.641), respectively. The histological evaluation supported the micro-CT observations, displaying minor signs of porosity and resorption. The particle-size distribution analysis confirmed a shift towards smaller particle sizes in the DBBM fragment group. These findings suggest that DBBM fragments behave similarly to original DBBM granules in terms of bone morphological changes at augmented sites.
Adding NBPT to urea increases N use efficiency of maize and decreases the abundance of N-cycling soil microbes under reduced fertilizer-N rate on the North China Plain

Urease inhibitor (UI) and nitrification inhibitor (NI) can reduce N losses from agricultural soils but effects of inhibitors on N cycle are unclear. A field experiment was conducted with maize to test effects of UI (N-(n-Butyl) thiophosphoric, NBPT) and NI (3,4-dimethylepyrazolephosphate, DMPP) on N uptake and N-cycling soil microbes. Five treatments were imposed: no N fertilizer input (CK), conventional fertilization (CF) and 80% of urea input with NBPT (80%U+UI), with DMPP (80%U+NI) and with half NBPT and half DMPP (80%U+1/2(UI+NI)). There were no significant differences in biomass between 80%U+UI, 80%U+NI and CF but harvest index was increased under 80%U+UI and 80%U+NI. Compared to CF, N use efficiency of grain under 80%U+UI was increased by 7.1%, whereas grain yield and N uptake under 80%U+1/2(UI+NI) were decreased by 8.2% and 9.4%, respectively. The peak soil NO3‐‐N content was at about 15 days after fertilization (DAF) under CF but 30 DAF under the inhibitor treatments. In soils of 80%U+UI, the activities of urease and nitrate reductase were decreased between 15–45 DAF and between 5–30 DAF. The abundance of N-cycling soil microbes was affected: 80%U+UI and 80%U+NI reduced the copies of the amoA AOA and nir genes at about 15 days and reduced the copies of the amoA AOB gene at about 30 days. Correlation analysis indicated that there were significant positive relationships between amoA AOB gene and NH4+‐N, as well as between nirK gene and NO3‐‐N. Overall, urea applied with NBPT has greater potential for improving maize N use efficiency and inhibiting nitrification under reduced fertilizer-N applications.
Guitar Chord Sensing and Recognition Using Multi-Task Learning and Physical Data Augmentation with Robotics

In recent years, many researchers have shown increasing interest in music information retrieval (MIR) applications, with automatic chord recognition being one of the popular tasks. Many studies have achieved/demonstrated considerable improvement using deep learning based models in automatic chord recognition problems. However, most of the existing models have focused on simple chord recognition, which classifies the root note with the major, minor, and seventh chords. Furthermore, in learning-based recognition, it is critical to collect high-quality and large amounts of training data to achieve the desired performance. In this paper, we present a multi-task learning (MTL) model for a guitar chord recognition task, where the model is trained using a relatively large-vocabulary guitar chord dataset. To solve data scarcity issues, a physical data augmentation method that directly records the chord dataset from a robotic performer is employed. Deep learning based MTL is proposed to improve the performance of automatic chord recognition with the proposed physical data augmentation dataset. The proposed MTL model is compared with four baseline models and its corresponding single-task learning model using two types of datasets, including a human dataset and a human combined with the augmented dataset. The proposed methods outperform the baseline models, and the results show that most scores of the proposed multi-task learning model are better than those of the corresponding single-task learning model. The experimental results demonstrate that physical data augmentation is an effective method for increasing the dataset size for guitar chord recognition tasks.
Liquid biopsy for invasive mold infections in hematopoietic cell transplant recipients with pneumonia through next-generation sequencing of microbial cell-free DNA in plasma.

BACKGROUND Non-invasive diagnostic options are limited for invasive mold infections (IMI). We evaluated the performance of a plasma microbial cell-free DNA sequencing (mcfDNA-Seq) test for diagnosing pulmonary IMI after hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT). METHODS We retrospectively assessed the diagnostic performance of plasma mcfDNA-Seq NGS in 114 HCT recipients with pneumonia after HCT who had stored plasma obtained within 14 days of diagnosis of Proven/Probable Aspergillus IMI (n=51), Proven/Probable non-Aspergillus IMI (n=24), Possible IMI (n=20), and non-IMI controls (n=19). Sequences were aligned to a database including >400 fungi. Organisms above a fixed significance threshold were reported. RESULTS Among 75 patients with Proven/Probable pulmonary IMI, mcfDNA-Seq detected ≥1 pathogenic mold in 38 patients (sensitivity, 51%; 95% CI, 39%-62%). When restricted to samples obtained within 3 days of diagnosis, sensitivity increased to 61%. McfDNA-Seq had higher sensitivity for Proven/Probable non-Aspergillus IMI (sensitivity, 79%; 95% CI, 56%-93%) compared to Aspergillus IMI (sensitivity, 31%; 95% CI, 19%-46%). McfDNA-Seq also identified non-Aspergillus molds in an additional 7 patients in the Aspergillus subgroup and Aspergillus in 1 patient with Possible IMI. Among 19 non-IMI pneumonia controls, mcfDNA-Seq was negative in all samples suggesting a high specificity (95% CI, 82%-100%) and up to 100% positive predictive value (PPV) with estimated negative predictive values (NPV) of 81%-99%. The mcfDNA-seq assay was complementary to serum GMI testing; in combination, they were positive in 84% of individuals with Proven/Probable pulmonary IMI. CONCLUSIONS Non-invasive mcfDNA-Seq had moderate sensitivity and high specificity, NPV, and PPV for pulmonary IMI after HCT, particularly for non-Aspergillus.
Mice born to females with oocyte-specific deletion of mitofusin 2 have increased weight gain and impaired glucose homeostasis.

Offspring born to obese and diabetic mothers are prone to metabolic diseases, a phenotype that has been linked to mitochondrial dysfunction and endoplasmic reticulum [ER] stress in oocytes. In addition, metabolic diseases impact the architecture and function of mitochondria-ER contact sites [MERCs], changes which associate with mitofusin 2 [MFN2] repression in muscle, liver and hypothalamic neurons. MFN2 is a potent modulator of mitochondrial metabolism and insulin signaling, with a key role in mitochondrial dynamics and tethering with the ER. Here, we investigated whether offspring born to mice with MFN2-deficient oocytes are prone to obesity and diabetes. Deletion of Mfn2 in oocytes resulted in a profound transcriptomic change, with evidence of impaired mitochondrial and ER function. Moreover, offspring born to females with oocyte-specific deletion of Mfn2 presented increased weight gain and glucose intolerance. This abnormal phenotype was linked to decreased insulinemia and defective insulin signaling, but not mitochondrial and ER defects in offspring liver and skeletal muscle. In conclusion, this study suggests a link between disrupted mitochondrial/ER function in oocytes and increased risk of metabolic diseases in the progeny. Future studies should determine whether MERC architecture and function are altered in oocytes from obese females, which might contribute toward transgenerational transmission of metabolic diseases.
Schizophrenia risk candidate EGR3 is a novel transcriptional regulator of RELN and regulates neurite outgrowth via the Reelin signal pathway in vitro

Schizophrenia is a severe psychiatric disorder with a strong hereditary component that affects approximately 1% of the world's population. The disease is most likely caused by the altered expression of a number of genes that function at the level of biological pathways or gene networks. Transcription factors (TF) are indispensable regulators of gene expression. EGR3 is a TF associated with schizophrenia. In the current study, DNA microarray and ingenuity pathway analyses (IPA) demonstrated that EGR3 regulates Reelin signaling pathway in SH‐SY5Y cells. ChIP and luciferase reporter studies confirmed that EGR3 directly binds to the promoter region of RELN thereby activating RELN expression. The expression of both EGR3 and RELN was decreased during neuronal differentiation induced by retinoic acid (RA) in SH‐SY5Y cells, and EGR3 over‐expression reduced neurite outgrowth which could be partially reversed by the knockdown of RELN. The expression levels of EGR3 and RELN in peripheral blood of subjects with schizophrenia were found to be down‐regulated (compared with healthy controls), and were positively correlated. Furthermore, data mining from public databases revealed that the expression levels of EGR3 and RELN were presented a positive correlation in post‐mortem brain tissue of subjects with schizophrenia. Taken together, this study suggests that EGR3 is a novel TF of the RELN gene and regulates neurite outgrowth via the Reelin signaling pathway. Our findings contribute to the understanding of the regulatory role of EGR3 in the pathophysiology and molecular mechanisms of schizophrenia, and potentially to the development of new therapies and diagnostic biomarkers for the disorder.
The Role of Long Non-Coding RNA NNT-AS1 in Neoplastic Disease

Simple Summary Nicotinamide nucleotide transhydrogenase-antisense 1 (NNT-AS1), which is a newly-discovered long non-coding RNA (lncRNA), has been found to be dysregulated in a variety of neoplastic diseases. With the accumulation of studies on NNT-AS1 in recent years, the mechanism of NNT-AS1 and its significance for tumor occurrence and progression are constantly being updated and improved. Thus, this paper aims to summarize the abnormal expression of NNT-AS1 and its prognostic values in different neoplastic diseases. In addition, the detailed competing endogenous RNA networks and subsequent biology behaviors, as well as the role of NNT-AS1 in mediating cisplatin resistance are revealed in this paper. This review not only summarizes the past research of NNT-AS1, but also provides some ideas for future research in this field. Abstract Studies have shown that non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), especially long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), play an important regulatory role in the occurrence and development of human cancer. Nicotinamide nucleotide transhydrogenase-antisense 1 (NNT-AS1) is a newly-discovered cytoplasmic lncRNA. Many studies have shown that it has abnormally-high expression levels in malignant tumors, but there are also a few studies that have reported low expression levels of NNT-AS1 in gastric cancer, breast cancer, and ovarian cancer. At present, the regulatory mechanism of NNT-AS1 as a miRNA sponge, which may be an important reason affecting tumor cell proliferation, invasion, metastasis, and apoptosis is being studied in-depth. In addition, NNT-AS1 has been found to be related to cisplatin resistance. In this review, we summarize the abnormal expression of NNT-AS1 in a variety of neoplastic diseases and its diagnostic and prognostic value, and we explain the mechanism by which NNT-AS1 regulates cancer progression by competing with miRNAs. In addition, we also reveal the correlation between NNT-AS1 and cisplatin resistance and the potential clinical applications of NNT-AS1.
Molecular Assessment of Chelonid Alphaherpesvirus 5 Infection in Tumor-Free Green (Chelonia mydas) and Loggerhead (Caretta caretta) Sea Turtles in North Carolina, USA, 2015–2019

Simple Summary Fibropapillomatosis is a debilitating tumor disease of sea turtles that is sometimes fatal. This disease is a key concern for sea turtle rehabilitation facilities due to its infectious nature, as it is associated with a virus called chelonid alphaherpesvirus 5. This is the first study to analyze antibodies to this virus in loggerhead sea turtles and represents the most complete dataset on viral detection in sea turtles encountered in the more northern latitudes of their habitat in the western Atlantic. Abstract Fibropapillomatosis is associated with chelonid alphaherpesvirus 5 (ChHV5) and tumor formation in sea turtles. We collected blood samples from 113 green (Chelonia mydas) and 112 loggerhead (Caretta caretta) turtles without fibropapillomatosis, including 46 free-ranging turtles (20 green turtles, 26 loggerheads), captured in Core Sound, North Carolina, and 179 turtles (93 green turtles, 86 loggerheads) in rehabilitative care in North Carolina. Blood samples were analyzed for ChHV5 DNA using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), and for antibodies to ChHV5 peptides using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). None of the samples from foraging turtles tested positive for ChHV5 by qPCR; ELISA was not used for foraging turtles. Samples from 18/179 (10.1%) rehabilitating turtles tested positive for ChHV5 using qPCR, and 32/56 (57.1%) rehabilitating turtles tested positive for antibodies to ChHV5 using ELISA. Five turtles that tested positive by qPCR or ELISA at admission converted to being undetectable during rehabilitation, and five that initially tested negative converted to being positive. Both sea turtle species were significantly more likely to test positive for ChHV5 using ELISA than with qPCR (p < 0.001). There was no difference in the proportions of green turtles versus loggerheads that tested positive for ChHV5 using qPCR, but loggerheads were significantly more likely than green turtles to test positive for ChHV5 using ELISA. This finding suggests that loggerheads infected with ChHV5 at some point in their life may be more able than green turtles to mount an effective immune response against recrudescent infection, pointing to species-specific genetic differences in the two species’ immune response to ChHV5 infection. This is the first study to analyze antibodies to ChHV5 in loggerhead turtles and represents the most complete dataset on ChHV5 DNA detection in sea turtles encountered in the more northern latitudes of their western Atlantic habitat.
Cdc42 promotes epithelial morphogenesis by coupling Par-complex and Crumbs recruitment via Par6-aPKC

Epithelial morphogenesis depends on Cdc42, which acts in part through the Par-complex (Baz/Par3-Par6-aPKC), and Crumbs (Crb/CRB3). However, how these proteins come together and interact during morphogenesis is not well understood. Here we show that in Drosophila cells, Cdc42 is active at the apical membrane and cell-cell contacts, and couples apical recruitment of Par6-aPKC and Crb to promote apical identify. This coupling depends on Cdc42 and aPKC binding to Par6, and is mediated by Par6 binding to Crb. Conversely, Crb promotes the apical retention of Par6-aPKC, and thus Cdc42-Par6-aPKC and Crb promote each other’s apical accumulation to specify the apical membrane and Zonula Adherens (ZA). Altogether, our work shows that epithelial morphogenesis relies on a two tiered-mechanism whereby Cdc42 coordinates Par-complex assembly and apical recruitment of Crb through Par6-aPKC.