Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Giant cell arteritis: epidemiology, diagnosis, prognosis

Гігантоклітинний артеріїт (ГКА) — найпоширеніший системний васкуліт, що уражує великі судини в осіб старше 50 років. Захворювання на нього пов’язане з підвищеним ризиком розвитку низки інших запальних хвороб і судинних ускладнень. Розв’язанню основних асоційованих з ГКА проблем присвячено численні зарубіжні наукові дослідження та настанови. Метою публікації є аналітичний огляд, систематичне узагальнення та обговорення доказів, що стосуються різних аспектів епідеміології ГКА, сучасних підходів і методів його діагностики, а також чинників ризику несприятливого прогнозу.
Influência da luz, ventilação natural e tamanho do frasco no crescimento e desenvolvimento de denphal (Orchidaceae)

This study aimed to evaluate the growth of denphal orchid, in function of the light, micropropagation system and size cultivation flasks. The experimental design was completely randomized and treatments arranged in factorial scheme 2 x 2 x 2 with five replicates. Seedlings cultivated in vitro for 90 days, from the beginning of the experimental period, were removed to the flasks, washed and evaluated for the number of leaves, seedling height, diameter of the largest pseudobulb, number of the shoots and roots, length of the largest root and largest leaf, and fresh mass. Then they were planted in substrate (pink sphagnum + coconut fiber) and transferred to ex vitro environment. In order to investigate their increases, after 90 days the plants were evaluated for the same initial characteristics. The different light spectra weren’t decisive for the growth of denphal. The use of natural ventilation system in larger flasks was the factors that provided favorable conditions in promoting growth both in vitro and ex vitro cultivation.
Complete mitochondrial genome of Favonigobius gymnauchen (BLEEKER, 1850) assembled from next-generation sequencing data

Abstract The complete mitochondrial genome of Favonigobius gymnauchen was sequenced. The circular mitochondrial genome is 16,480 bp and consists of 13 protein-coding, 2 ribosomal RNAs, and 13 transfer RNA genes (GenBank accession no. MN194589). Results of maximum likelihood analysis showed that this species clustered with other species of the family Gobbidae. This study will contribute to the phylogenetics of genus Favonigobius and the other genera of Gobiidae.
Cannabis as a factor in the moderating relationship between alcohol, sleep, and adverse drinking consequences

ABSTRACT Background: Drinking and poor sleep quality combine to produce adverse consequences. As alcohol use may occur in combination with cannabis, and the combination of alcohol consumption, poor sleep quality, and cannabis use was examined with a goal of (1) replicating previous findings in which sleep moderated between drinking and adverse consequences, and (2) expanding this model by examining cannabis as a moderator of the interaction between sleep and alcohol use on adverse substance use consequences. Method: Seventy-five alcohol-using first-year undergraduate students (44 women; 58.7%) completed questionnaires about sleep quality, alcohol and cannabis use, and adverse substance use consequences (Rutgers Alcohol Problems Index; RAPI). Results: Alcohol use was measured as Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC), Days Drinking (Days), or Drinks per Drinking Day (DDD). Hierarchical regression models that used BAC to predict RAPI replicated prior interaction between alcohol use and sleep; the other models did not. Triple interactions between cannabis, sleep quality, and alcohol (measured as BAC or DDD, but not Days) predicted adverse consequences. Conclusion/Importance: The triple interactions supported the hypothesis that cannabis use increased the deleterious combination of alcohol and poor sleep quality on adverse consequence.
Lack of prey switching and strong preference for mosquito prey by a temporary pond specialist predator

1. The strengths of trophic interactions within ecosystems can be mediated by complex mechanisms that require elucidation if researchers are to understand and predict population‐ and community‐level stabilities. Where multiple prey types co‐occur, prey switching (i.e. frequency‐dependent predation) by predators may facilitate low‐density prey refuge effects which promote coexistence. On the other hand, lack of switching and strong preferences by predators can strongly suppress prey populations, which is especially important considering vector species such as mosquitoes.
Influence of human HB-EGF secreted form on cells with different EGFR and ErbB4 quantity

hB-eGF is one of the most potent ligands of eGFr and erbB4 receptors. this growth factor plays a pivotal role in many cellular processes, but its effect differs from one cell type to another and remains not fully understood. the aim of this work was to investigate the dependence between the rate of hB-eGF mediated cell proliferation and activation of EGFR and ErbB4 receptors. Therefore, the effects of human recombinant sHB-EGF (rsHB-EGF) on the proliferation of cell lines with different EGFR and ErbB4 quantity and ratio, as well as activation of the marK-cascade p38 and erK1/2 (p42/44) kinases, were analyzed. For comparison, a similar study of the effect of native sHB-EGF secreted by human histiocytic lymphoma cells U937 during co-cultivation with different cell lines was performed. It was proved that cell proliferation in response to sHB-EGF depends not only on the quantity but also on the ratio of EGFR and ErbB4. It was shown that signaling through erbB4 is associated with activation of p38 kinase and signaling through eGFr associated with activation of ERK1/2 (p42/44) kinase. We assume the existence of two different mechanisms for sHBeGF-mediated stimulation of cell proliferation, and the simultaneous launch of these mechanisms provides a maximal proliferative response. the results of this study support the feasibility of creating anti-proliferative drugs that target erbB4.
The Prevalence of Asthma and Respiratory Symptoms among Cross-Country Skiers in Early Adolescence

Objective To determine the prevalence of asthma and respiratory symptoms among Swedish cross-country skiers in early adolescence in comparison to a population-based reference group of similar ages. Methods A postal questionnaire on asthma, asthma medication, allergy, respiratory symptoms, and physical activity was distributed to Swedish competitive cross-country skiers aged 12–15 years (n = 331) and a population-based reference group (n = 1000). The level of asthma control was measured by the Asthma Control Test. Results The response rate was 27% (n = 87) among skiers and 29% (n = 292) in the reference group. The prevalence of self-reported asthma (physician-diagnosed asthma and use of asthma medication in the last 12 months) and the prevalence of reported wheezing during the last 12 months were 23% and 25%, respectively, among skiers, which were significantly higher than the values reported in the reference group (12% and 14%). Skiers exercised more hours/week than the reference group. Among adolescents with self-reported asthma, neither the usage of asthma medications nor the level of asthma control according to the Asthma Control Test differed between skiers and the reference group. Conclusions Adolescent competitive cross-country skiers have an increased prevalence of respiratory symptoms and asthma compared to nonskiers.
Assessing the effects of Biology Practical Activities on Academic Performance of Senior Secondary School Students, Zambia.

The study was designed to explore how practicals work affects the academic performance of learners in biology sciences using pre-test and post-test approach for the quasi-experimental control group (CG). A sample size of 90 students divided into two groups; (N = 45) for the experimental group (EG) taught by incorporating practicals into their learning strategy and (N = 45) for a control group (CG) taught using traditional methods. Data collection in this study was carried out through questionnaires, student pre-test and post-post. The data analysis was done using statistical instruments, such as mean, standard deviation and descriptive autonomous testing statistics of the null hypothesis at α = 0.05. From the results, the average means of EG () and CG () were statistically distinct (t-test; (0.00) l (α =0.05)) indicating that practical biological work substantially enhanced the learner’s performance. Also, statistical testing in the performance between boys and girls in the EG obtained a p-value (0.51) g (α=0.05), which meant that the performance was collectively enhanced. The integration of practical work in teaching biology or any science topics will, therefore, positively improve learner’s performance. Keywords : Practical Learning method, Conventional Learning Method, Learners performance, practical work DOI : 10.7176/JEP/10-14-15 Publication date : August 31st 2019
Girinos do quadrilátero ferrífero, sudeste do Brasil: ecomorfologia e chave de identificação interativa

Girinos utilizam uma grande diversidade de habitats com diferentes pressoes ambientais. A existencia de formatos corporais especializados evidencia que estes organismos foram selecionados para explorar habitats especificos. Entretanto, pouco se sabe sobre as diferencas morfometricas reais e funcionalidade destes atributos entre as guildas ecomorfologicas e entre girinos que ocupam diferentes gradientes ambientais. Alem disso, o grau em que os componentes filogeneticos e ecologicos influenciam sua morfologia externa e pouco compreendido. Objetivou-se explorar as relacoes entre forma, uso de habitat/comportamento e filogenia das larvas de 58 especies de anuros, pertencentes a 21 generos e nove familias, encontradas no Quadrilatero Ferrifero, Minas Gerais, sudeste do Brasil. Para isso, primeiramente foi analisada a variabilidade morfologica das especies atraves de analises de ordenacao. Depois, foram testadas por analises da funcao discriminante, hipoteses sobre a existencia de padroes de forma aos girinos de diferentes guildas ecomorfologicas e em relacao a gradientes ambientais. Por fim, foi verificado como fatores ecologicos e filogeneticos influenciam a morfologia das larvas na escala de comunidades e considerando separadamente as familias mais representativas em numero de especies. Para isso foram testadas hipoteses sobre a existencia de correlacoes entre estes fatores e a morfologia, por meio de testes de Mantel simples e parciais. Os girinos apresentaram uma grande diversidade morfologica, relacionada principalmente a posicao de forrageamento na coluna dagua (i.e. nectonica, neustonica, bentonica, fossorial, semiterrestre). Houve diferenca morfologica entre os grupos de especies categorizadas de acordo com este descritor (Wilks = 0,007; F64,25 = 101,74; p < 0,001), concordando com as analises de ordenacao. Tambem foram verificadas diferencas entre especies com comportamento gregario e as demais (Wilks = 0,52; F10,67 = 161,20; p < 0,001) e entre especies de ambientes lenticos e loticos (Wilks = 0,47; F9,671 = 83,96; p < 0,001). Nao houve diferencas morfometricas entre especies que ocupam habitats temporarios ou permanentes. A morfologia dos girinos mostrou-se relacionada ao uso de habitat/comportamento (r = -0,310, p < 0,001), independente das relacoes filogeneticas das especies. Este efeito geral e causado pela predominância de homoplasias e radiacoes adaptativas nas linhagens de especies da comunidade. Considerando as familias mais representativas este padrao nao foi tao consistente. Apesar do sinal filogenetico ser importante em escalas taxonomicas menores (i.e. em alguns grupos de especies e nas familias Hylidae e Leptodactylidae) ele e insignificante quando sobreposto aos efeitos gerais resultantes da adaptacao dos girinos aos habitats
Genome-wide Identification and Bio-informaticsAnalysis of Superoxide Dismutase Gene Family in Zea mays

Superoxide dismutase (SOD) is an important antioxidant enzyme and widely exists in organisms. The whole genome scanning and bioinformatics analysis of millet superoxide dismutase (SOD) gene family were carried out by using bioinformatics method on the search platform of maize gene database. The results showed that the SOD gene family of maize contained 15 genes, which were unevenly distributed on 9 chromosomes. The amino acid sequence length of the protein ranged from 86 aa to 386 aa. Fifteen SOD proteins in maize contained 6 Cu-SOD motifs and 9 Mn-SOD motifs. Evolutionary tree analysis showed that SOD protein of maize was related to SOD protein sequence of millet and sorghum. The results of this study can provide some references for further understanding the SOD gene family and the antioxidant mechanism of maize.
Mesures et savoirs : Quelles méthodes pour l’histoire culturelle à l’heure du big data ?

Résumé L’analyse quantitative de l’histoire culturelle a été ouverte par la mise à disposition de corpus de masse tel que celui de Google fbooks (500 milliards de mots, 5 millions d’ouvrages, soit environ 4% de la littérature mondiale) et a été popularisé sous le nom de « culturonomics ». Elle s’ouvre désormais aux chercheurs, en promettant un accès profond aux faits culturels et à leurs évolutions qui affleurent à travers leurs traces textuelles dans les corpus textuelles numérisées. Encore faut-il pouvoir interroger ces corpus dont la taille et la nature posent des problèmes scientifiques nouveaux, leur dimension les rendant illisibles directement et mettant échec les méthodes de fouille et les outils traditionnels d’analyse statistique des données en imposant des méthodes statistiques nouvelles et le saut vers des formes d’intelligence visuelles originales. Dans le cadre d’un projet mené entre le Labex « Obvil » de Paris-Sorbonne et le Literary Lab de Stanford sur l’histoire de l’idée de littéraire (la définition de la littérature comme mot, comme concept et comme champ), et visant à produire une histoire empirique de la littérature, nous avons mené depuis deux ans des expériences de fouille d’un corpus de critique littéraire de 1618 titres, 140 millions de mots (dont plus de 50 000 occurrences du lemme « littérature ») de la fin de l’Ancien Régime à la Seconde Guerre mondiale. En présentant des exemples développés dans cette première expérimentation à grande échelle de mesure de l’histoire des idées, on présentera les méthodes de text mining contemporaines en essayant d’éprouver leur pertinence heuristique et de leur capacité à faire remonter des données signifiantes pour l’histoire et la théorie littéraire. On fera l’hypothèse que toute enquête quantitative sérieuse mobilise désormais non une échelle intermédiaire standard et immédiatement lisible, mais le maniement d’outils statistiques dont l’interprétation en sciences humaines pose des problèmes particuliers qui, paradoxalement, ne peuvent être résolus que par leur articulation étroite à du close reading et à des mesures fines.
Sprouting and metabolism of sweet potatoes roots cv. BRS Rubissol during storage

Sprouting and mass loss in sweet potato tuberous roots stored at room temperature compromise the quality and commercialization; nevertheless, sprouting control methods are very limited. The objective was to evaluate the control of sprouting and metabolic changes in tuberous roots of sweet potato cv. BRS Rubissol treated with ethylene (10 μL L-1), amino-oxyacetic acid AOA (1 mg L-1) and 1-methylcyclopropene 1-MCP (1 mg L-1) during storage for five weeks at 25 °C and 90% relative humidity. The following variables were evaluated: mass loss, number and length of sprouts, activity of peroxidase and polyphenoloxidase enzymes, total soluble sugars, starch, anthocyanins, flavonols, malonaldehyde content and total proteins. During storage the mass loss, number and length of sprouts were lower in roots treated with AOA and 1-MCP. The activity of peroxidase and polyphenoloxidase enzymes was higher in roots treated with ethylene. Total soluble sugars increased and the starch contents decreased in all treatments. Levels of anthocyanins and total proteins reduced, while flavonoids and malondialdehyde increased during storage. Sprouting was controlled in roots treated with AOA and 1-MCP, extending shelf life and improving marketing potential.
Increased cell size, structural complexity and migration of cancer cells acquiring fibroblast organelles by cell-projection pumping

We recently described a hydrodynamic mechanism for cytoplasmic transfer between cells, termed cell-projection pumping (CPP). Earlier image analysis related altered SAOS-2 osteosarcoma cell morphology, to what we now recognize as CPP uptake of fibroblast cytoplasm. We here examine SAOS-2 phenotype following co-culture with human dermal fibroblasts (HDF) in which organelles were pre-labelled with a fluorescent lipophilic marker. Fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis was performed of HDF and SAOS-2, cultured either alone or together. FACS forward scatter is proportionate to cell size, and increased for SAOS-2 with high levels of HDF fluorescence uptake (p < 0.004). FACS side scatter is proportionate to internal cell complexity, and increased in SAOS-2 with increasing uptake of HDF fluorescence (p < 0.004), consistent with uptake of HDF organelles. Scratch migration assays revealed that HDF migrated more quickly than SAOS-2 in both isolated cell culture, and following co-culture (p < 0.004). Notably, SAOS-2 with high levels of HDF labelling migrated faster compared with SAOS-2 with low HDF labelling (p < 0.008). A slight and unconvincing reduction in SAOS-2 proliferation was seen (p < 0.02). Similar results were obtained in single additional experiments with A673 and H312 cancer cells. Forward and side scatter results suggest organellar transfer by CPP increases cancer cell morphological diversity. This may contribute to histological pleomorphism relevant to cancer diagnosis and prognosis. Also, increased migration of sub-populations of cancer cells with high CPP organellar uptake, may contribute to invasion and metastasis in-vivo. We thus suggest relevance of CPP to cancer diagnosis and progression.
An RNA-seq quantification method for analysis of transcriptional aberrations

Transcriptome level analysis has been shown to have the great potential for clinical utility. Here, we introduce omega, a between-sample RNA-seq quantification to estimate the abundance level of functional mRNAs which is suitable for analysis of transcriptional aberrations and molecular diagnostics of a range of genetic diseases. By using five diagnosed cases of Mendelian diseases as a case study, we show evidence that omega can improve the signal to detect genes with deleterious transcriptional aberrations and drastically reduce the disease-gene search space.
Fgf-driven Tbx protein activities directly induce myf5 and myod to initiate zebrafish myogenesis

ABSTRACT Skeletal muscle derives from dorsal mesoderm formed during vertebrate gastrulation. Fibroblast growth factor (Fgf) signalling cooperates with Tbx transcription factors to promote dorsal mesoderm formation, but their role in myogenesis has been unclear. Using zebrafish, we show that dorsally derived Fgf signals act through Tbx16 and Tbxta to induce slow and fast trunk muscle precursors at distinct dorsoventral positions. Tbx16 binds to and directly activates the myf5 and myod genes, which are required for commitment to myogenesis. Tbx16 activity depends on Fgf signalling from the organiser. In contrast, Tbxta is not required for myf5 expression, but binds a specific site upstream of myod that is not bound by Tbx16 and drives (dependent on Fgf signals) myod expression in adaxial slow precursors, thereby initiating trunk myogenesis. After gastrulation, when similar muscle cell populations in the post-anal tail are generated from tailbud, declining Fgf signalling is less effective at initiating adaxial myogenesis, which is instead initiated by Hedgehog signalling from the notochord. Our findings suggest a hypothesis for ancestral vertebrate trunk myogenic patterning and how it was co-opted during tail evolution to generate similar muscle by new mechanisms. This article has an associated ‘The people behind the papers’ interview. Highlighted Article: Tbx16 and Tbxta activate myf5 and myod directly during the earliest myogenesis in zebrafish, and Fgf signalling acts through Tbx16 to drive myogenesis in trunk but not tail.
Visualization of myosin II filament dynamics in remodeling acto-myosin networks with interferometric scattering microscopy

The plasma membrane and the underlying cytoskeletal cortex constitute active platforms for a variety of cellular processes. Recent work has shown that the remodeling acto-myosin network modifies local membrane organization, but the molecular details are only partly understood due to difficulties with experimentally accessing the relevant time and length scales. Here, we use interferometric scattering (iSCAT) microscopy to investigate a minimal acto-myosin network linked to a supported lipid bilayer membrane. Using the magnitude of the interferometric contrast, which is proportional to molecular mass, and fast acquisition rates we detect and image individual membrane attached actin filaments diffusing within the acto-myosin network and follow individual myosin II filament dynamics. We quantify myosin II filament dwell times and processivity as a function of ATP concentration, providing evidence for the predicted ensemble behavior of myosin head domains. Our results show how decreasing ATP concentrations lead to both increasing dwell times of individual myosin II filaments and a global change from a remodeling to a contractile state of the acto-myosin network.
Eight-Year Follow-Up Using a Fresh Osteochondral Allograft for a Femoral Head Chondroblastoma in a 17-Year-Old Patient

Chondroblastoma is a rare benign tumor that affects the epiphysis of long bones in adolescents. Chondroblastoma located in the femoral head is associated with a higher recurrence rate and carries the additional risks of head collapse and degenerative hip disease. Aggressive curettage followed by bone grafting is the current mainstay of treatment. To our knowledge, the long-term postoperative outcome of this technique remains unknown due to the short follow-up of previous case reports. We present the case of a 17-year-old male who underwent fresh osteochondral allograft following curettage of a femoral head chondroblastoma, using a Ganz surgical hip dislocation. He made an uneventful recovery without tumor recurrence. The patient was followed up to 8 years postoperatively. However, there were clinical and radiographic degenerative changes at 6 years of follow-up.