Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Genetic engineering of baculovirus-insect cell system to improve protein production

The Baculovirus Expression Vector System (BEVS), a mature foreign protein expression platform, has been available for decades, and has been effectively used in vaccine production, gene therapy, and a host of other applications. To date, eleven BEVS-derived products have been approved for use, including four human vaccines [Cervarix against cervical cancer caused by human papillomavirus (HPV), Flublok and Flublok Quadrivalent against seasonal influenza, Nuvaxovid/Covovax against COVID-19], two human therapeutics [Provenge against prostate cancer and Glybera against hereditary lipoprotein lipase deficiency (LPLD)] and five veterinary vaccines (Porcilis Pesti, BAYOVAC CSF E2, Circumvent PCV, Ingelvac CircoFLEX and Porcilis PCV). The BEVS has many advantages, including high safety, ease of operation and adaptable for serum-free culture. It also produces properly folded proteins with correct post-translational modifications, and can accommodate multi-gene– or large gene insertions. However, there remain some challenges with this system, including unstable expression and reduced levels of protein glycosylation. As the demand for biotechnology increases, there has been a concomitant effort into optimizing yield, stability and protein glycosylation through genetic engineering and the manipulation of baculovirus vector and host cells. In this review, we summarize the strategies and technological advances of BEVS in recent years and explore how this will be used to inform the further development and application of this system.
Association between tea consumption and frailty among Chinese older adults: A cross-sectional study

Background Chronic inflammation is considered one of the main mechanisms leading to frailty. It has been demonstrated that tea consumption reduces chronic inflammation. Few epidemiological studies have investigated the association between tea consumption and frailty. Objective This study aimed to analyze the association between tea consumption and frailty in Chinese older adults. Methods Between March and May 2021, we enrolled 2,144 older adults aged ≥60 years in Jinan City, Shandong Province, China, using multi-stage stratified cluster sampling. We assessed tea consumption and frailty in older adults using the Tilburg Frailty Indicator (TFI) and the frequency of tea consumption, respectively. We applied multiple logistic regression analysis to examine the association between tea consumption and frailty, controlling for a set of potential covariates. Results The prevalence of frailty among older Chinese adults was 38.3% (821/2,144). Tea consumption was categorized as daily (30.4%), occasionally (20.9%), and rarely or never (48.7%). As indicated by the fully adjusted model, daily tea consumption was associated with a lower prevalence of frailty (OR = 0.73, 95%CI = 0.57–0.94). However, this association only applied to men, younger older adults aged 60–79 years, rural residents, and regular participants in community activities. In addition, we observed a linear relationship between tea consumption and the prevalence of frailty (P for trend = 0.017). Conclusions Higher tea consumption was associated with a lower prevalence of frailty in older adults, especially those men, older adults aged 60–79, rural residents, and individuals who regularly participated in community activities. Further longitudinal and experimental studies are needed to determine the causation between tea consumption and frailty.
The complex metabolic interactions of liver tissue and hepatic exosome in PCOS mice at young and middle age

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common age-related endocrinopathy that promotes the metabolic disorder of the liver. Growing evidence suggests that the pathophysiology of this disorder is closely associated with the interaction between the liver and its exosome. However, the underlying mechanism of the interactions remains unclear. In this study, we aimed to investigate the metabolite profiles of liver tissues and hepatic exosomes between normal (n = 11) and PCOS (n = 13) mice of young- and middle-age using gas chromatograph-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) based metabolomics analysis. Within the 145 identified metabolites, 7 and 48 metabolites were statistically different (p < 0.05, q < 0.05) in the liver tissue and exosomes, respectively, between PCOS and normal groups. The greater disparity in exosome indicated its potential to reflect the metabolic status of the liver. Based on hepatic exosome metabolome, the downregulations of glycolysis and TCA cycle were related to hepatic pathophysiology of PCOS independent of age. Fatty acids were the preferred substrates in young-age-PCOS liver while amino acids were the main substrates in middle-age-PCOS liver for the processes of gluconeogenesis. Overall, this study enables us to better understand the metabolic status of the PCOS liver at different ages, and exosome metabolomics shows its potential to gain the metabolic insights of parental cell or source organ.
Prostate cancer cells of increasing metastatic potential exhibit diverse contractile forces, cell stiffness, and motility in a microenvironment stiffness-dependent manner

During metastasis, all cancer types must migrate through crowded multicellular environments. Simultaneously, cancers appear to change their biophysical properties. Indeed, cell softening and increased contractility are emerging as seemingly ubiquitous biomarkers of metastatic progression which may facilitate metastasis. Cell stiffness and contractility are also influenced by the microenvironment. Stiffer matrices resembling the tumor microenvironment cause metastatic cells to contract more strongly, further promoting contractile tumorigenic phenotypes. Prostate cancer (PCa), however, appears to deviate from these common cancer biophysics trends; aggressive metastatic PCa cells appear stiffer, rather than softer, to their lowly metastatic PCa counterparts. Although metastatic PCa cells have been reported to be more contractile than healthy cells, how cell contractility changes with increasing PCa metastatic potential has remained unknown. Here, we characterize the biophysical changes of PCa cells of various metastatic potential as a function of microenvironment stiffness. Using a panel of progressively increasing metastatic potential cell lines (22RV1, LNCaP, DU145, and PC3), we quantified their contractility using traction force microscopy (TFM), and measured their cortical stiffness using optical magnetic twisting cytometry (OMTC) and their motility using time-lapse microscopy. We found that PCa contractility, cell stiffness, and motility do not universally scale with metastatic potential. Rather, PCa cells of various metastatic efficiencies exhibit unique biophysical responses that are differentially influenced by substrate stiffness. Despite this biophysical diversity, this work concludes that mechanical microenvironment is a key determinant in the biophysical response of PCa with variable metastatic potentials. The mechanics-oriented focus and methodology of the study is unique and complementary to conventional biochemical and genetic strategies typically used to understand this disease, and thus may usher in new perspectives and approaches.
To be assertive or not to be assertive: That is the question! Students' reactions to sexual harassment in academia

Introduction In the literature, no integrated definition of sexual harassment (SH) occurs but there is clear unanimity about SH being offensive, humiliating, and intimidating behavior. Within academic settings, SH has severe negative effects on students' physical or emotional wellbeing as well as on their ability to succeed academically. Methods The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between sex, gender roles, and the ways to manage SH (assertive and nonassertive reactions) in university students. It was hypothesized that female students would report more nonassertive reactions compared to male students. In addition, following the Bem theory on gender roles and using the self-report tool by the same author, it is hypothesized that female and male students, who are classified as feminine, will report more nonassertive responses, whereas male and female students, who are classified as masculine, will report more assertive responses. Our hypothesis was tested with a sample of 1,415 university students (593 men, 41.9%, and 822 women, 58.1%) who completed a questionnaire approved by the local ethical review board for research from the end of January 2019 to the first half of February 2019. Results Contrary to our hypothesis, results showed that women react more than men in both assertive and nonassertive modalities. In addition, our results confirmed the main effect of both sex and gender roles on students' assertive and nonassertive reactions to SH in academia. Conclusion Educational programs about SH may prove useful in preventing its occurrence. Gender equality plans in academia can improve a nonsexist and safe environment for students. It is urgent to improve transparency and accountability of policies on the management of SH: academic institutions need to formulate a procedure to facilitate SH reporting, considering the sensitive balance of confidentiality and transparency issues. Support for the victims (social services, healthcare, legal representation, and advice concerning career/professional development) must be included.
The nature, consequences, mechanisms, and management of sleep disturbances in individuals at-risk for psychosis

There is strong evidence that sleep disturbances are commonly experienced by people with psychosis. Evidence has also shown that sleep disturbances are present since the very early stages of the disease, even during the pre-diagnostic phase. More recently, research involving young individuals at ultra-high risk (UHR) for psychosis documented frequent occurrence of sleep disturbances in this group. The very early onset of sleep disturbances in the course of psychosis has drawn attention to the possible links between sleep parameters and the risk of psychosis. To date, the nature of sleep disturbances characterizing the UHR stage remains unclear, with available studies having yielded mixed findings. In this regard, we performed this review to update the body of literature on the nature of sleep disturbances, their underlying mechanisms, their clinical and functional consequences, the prevention and intervention strategies in the at-risk for psychosis population. Our findings provided further support to the presence of disturbed sleep in UHR individuals as evidenced by subjective and objective sleep measures such as polysomnography, sleep electroencephalograms, and actigraphy. Reviewing the possible mechanisms underlying the relationship between sleep and psychosis emphasized its complex and multifactorial nature which is yet to be determined and understood. Further research is warranted to determine which facets of sleep disturbances are most detrimental to this specific population, and to what extent they can be causal factors or markers of psychosis.
Glycosyltransferase-related long non-coding RNA signature predicts the prognosis of colon adenocarcinoma

Purpose Colon adenocarcinoma (COAD) is the most common type of colorectal cancer (CRC) and is associated with poor prognosis. Emerging evidence has demonstrated that glycosylation by long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) was associated with COAD progression. To date, however, the prognostic values of glycosyltransferase (GT)-related lncRNAs in COAD are still largely unknown. Methods We obtained the expression matrix of mRNAs and lncRNAs in COAD from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Then, the univariate Cox regression analysis was conducted to identify 33 prognostic GT-related lncRNAs. Subsequently, LASSO and multivariate Cox regression analysis were performed, and 7 of 33 GT-related lncRNAs were selected to conduct a risk model. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was used to analyze gene signaling pathway enrichment of the risk model. ImmuCellAI, an online tool for estimating the abundance of immune cells, and correlation analysis were used to explore the tumor-infiltrating immune cells in COAD. Finally, the expression levels of seven lncRNAs were detected in colorectal cancer cell lines by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Results A total of 1,140 GT-related lncRNAs were identified, and 7 COAD-specific GT-related lncRNAs (LINC02381, MIR210HG, AC009237.14, AC105219.1, ZEB1-AS1, AC002310.1, and AC020558.2) were selected to conduct a risk model. Patients were divided into high- and low-risk groups based on the median of risk score. The prognosis of the high-risk group was worse than that of the low-risk group, indicating the good reliability and specificity of our risk model. Additionally, a nomogram based on the risk score and clinical traits was built to help clinical decisions. GSEA showed that the risk model was significantly enriched in metabolism-related pathways. Immune infiltration analysis revealed that five types of immune cells were significantly different between groups, and two types of immune cells were negatively correlated with the risk score. Besides, we found that the expression levels of these seven lncRNAs in tumor cells were significantly higher than those in normal cells, which verified the feasibility of the risk model. Conclusion The efficient risk model based on seven GT-related lncRNAs has prognostic potential for COAD, which may be novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets for COAD patients.
OxyR contributes to virulence of Acidovorax citrulli by regulating anti-oxidative stress and expression of flagellin FliC and type IV pili PilA

In many bacteria, OxyR acts as a transcriptional regulator that facilitates infection via degrading hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) generated by the host defense response. Previous studies showed that OxyR also plays an important role in regulating biofilm formation, cell motility, pili relate-genes expression, and surface polysaccharide production. However, the role of OxyR has not been determined in Acidovorax citrulli strain xjl12. In the current study, the qRT-PCR and western blot assays revealed that the expression level of oxyR was significantly induced by H2O2. The oxyR deletion mutant of A. citrulli was significantly impaired bacterial tolerance to oxidative stress and reduced catalase (CAT) activity. In addition, oxyR mutant resulted in reduced swimming motility, twitching motility, biofilm formation, virulence, and bacterial growth in planta by significantly affecting flagellin and type IV pili-related gene (fliC and pilA) expression. The qRT-PCR assays and western blot revealed that OxyR positively regulated the expression of fliC and pilA. Furthermore, bacterial one-hybrid assay demonstrated that OxyR directly affected pilA and fliC promoter. Through bacterial two-hybrid assay, it was found that OxyR can directly interact with PilA and FliC. These results suggest that OxyR plays a major role in the regulating of a variety of virulence traits, and provide a foundation for future research on the global effects of OxyR in A. citrulli.
Automatic tongue image quality assessment using a multi-task deep learning model

The quality of tongue images has a significant influence on the performance of tongue diagnosis in Chinese medicine. During the acquisition process, the quality of the tongue image is easily affected by factors such as the illumination, camera parameters, and tongue extension of the subject. To ensure that the quality of the collected images meet the diagnostic criteria of traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners, we propose a deep learning model to evaluate the quality of tongue images. First, we acquired the tongue images of the patients under different lighting conditions, exposures, and tongue extension conditions using the inspection instrument, and experienced Chinese physicians manually screened them into high-quality and unqualified tongue datasets. We then designed a multi-task deep learning network to classify and evaluate the quality of tongue images by adding tongue segmentation as an auxiliary task, as the two tasks are related and can promote each other. Finally, we adaptively designed different task weight coefficients of a multi-task network to obtain better tongue image quality assessment (IQA) performance, as the two tasks have relatively different contributions in the loss weighting scheme. Experimental results show that the proposed method is superior to the traditional deep learning tongue IQA method, and as an additional task of the network, it can output the tongue segmentation area, which provides convenience for follow-up clinical tongue diagnosis. In addition, we used network visualization to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method qualitatively.
Environmental, social, and governance information disclosure and stock price crash risk: Evidence from Chinese listed companies

According to information asymmetry theory and stakeholder theory, this article explores the impact and mechanism of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) information disclosure on the company’s future stock price crash risk based on the A-share listed companies from 2010 to 2019. We find that ESG information disclosure significantly reduces the company’s future stock price crash risk. This conclusion remains robust after a series of robustness tests, such as PSM-DID. The heterogeneity analysis shows that the negative relationship between ESG disclosure and stock price crash risk is more significant in state-owned enterprises, companies with higher agency costs, and when companies in the bull market. The mechanism is that companies choose to disclose ESG information to alleviate information asymmetry problems and enhance corporate reputation capital, thus reducing the future stock price crash risk. This article shows that strengthening ESG construction will help improve the efficiency of China’s resource allocation and promote the capital market development.
Antinociceptive effect of plant-based natural products in chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathies: A systematic review

Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is one of the most prevalent and difficult-to-treat symptoms in cancer patients. For this reason, the explore for unused helpful choices able of filling these impediments is essential. Natural products from plants stand out as a valuable source of therapeutic agents, being options for the treatment of this growing public health problem. Therefore, the objective of this study was to report the effects of natural products from plants and the mechanisms of action involved in the reduction of neuropathy caused by chemotherapy. The search was performed in PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science in March/2021. Two reviewers independently selected the articles and extracted data on characteristics, methods, study results and methodological quality (SYRCLE). Twenty-two studies were selected, describing the potential effect of 22 different phytochemicals in the treatment of CIPN, with emphasis on terpenes, flavonoids and alkaloids. The effect of these compounds was demonstrated in different experimental protocols, with several action targets being proposed, such as modulation of inflammatory mediators and reduction of oxidative stress. The studies demonstrated a predominance of the risk of uncertain bias for randomization, baseline characteristics and concealment of the experimental groups. Our findings suggest a potential antinociceptive effect of natural products from plants on CIPN, probably acting in several places of action, being strategic for the development of new therapeutic options for this multifactorial condition. Graphical Abstract
Ophiostomatoid fungi synergize attraction of the Eurasian spruce bark beetle, Ips typographus to its aggregation pheromone in field traps

Eurasian spruce bark beetle, Ips typographus is a destructive pest of the Norway spruce (Picea abies). Recent outbreaks in Europe have been attributed to global warming and other anthropogenic impacts. Bark beetles are guided by multiple complex olfactory cues throughout their life cycle. Male-produced aggregation pheromones, comprising 2-methyl-3-buten-2-ol and cis-verbenol, have been identified as the most powerful attractants for dispersing conspecifics. In addition to host trees, bark beetles interact with multiple organisms, including symbiotic ophiostomatoid fungi, which may promote beetle colonization success and offspring development. Previously, in a short-distance laboratory assay, we demonstrated that I. typographus adults are attracted to the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) produced by three symbiotic fungi: Grosmannia penicillata, Endoconidiophora polonica, and Leptographium europhioides. Furthermore, the abundant fusel alcohols and their acetates were found to be the most attractive odorants in the fungal VOC profile. In this study, using a long-distance field-trapping experiment, we analyzed the role of fungal VOCs as attractants for dispersing I. typographus. Two types of fungal lures were tested in combination with pheromones in traps: (1) live cultures of fungi grown on potato dextrose agar (PDA) and (2) dispensers containing synthetic fusel alcohols and their acetates in equal proportions. Subsequently, the composition of VOCs emitted from live fungal lures were analyzed. We found that the symbiotic fungi synergistically increased the attraction of beetles to pheromones in field traps and the attractiveness of live fungal lures depended on the fungal load. While one Petri dish with E. polonica, when combined with pheromones synergistically increased trapping efficiency, three Petri dishes with L. europhioides were required to achieve the same. The synthetic mix of fungal fusel alcohols and acetates improved the catch efficiency of pheromones only at a low tested dose. VOC analysis of fungal cultures revealed that all the three fungi produced fusel alcohols and acetates but in variable composition and amounts. Collectively, the results of this study show that, in addition to pheromones, bark beetles might also use volatile cues from their symbiotic fungi to improve tree colonization and reproductive success in their breeding and feeding sites.
Motivations for personal financial management: A Self-Determination Theory perspective

Financial knowledge and sound financial decision making are now broadly recognized to be important determinants of both personal and societal prosperity, but research has yet to examine how distinct qualities of motivation may be associated with the way people manage their money. In two studies we applied the framework of Self-Determination Theory (SDT) to examine people's autonomous (volitional) and controlled (pressured) motivation for understanding and managing their finances, as well as their amotivation (lack of motivation) for doing so, and the differential associations these motives have with financial knowledge and financial well-being. American participants (Study 1, N = 516; Study 2, N = 534) completed detailed demographic surveys and questionnaires assessing the financial variables of interest. As hypothesized, SDT's motivational constructs were associated with financial outcomes over and above participants' age, gender, income, household wealth, and educational attainment. Autonomous motivation was positively associated with a host of positive financial behaviors and characteristics (e.g., saving/investing and financial self-efficacy, well-being, and self-awareness). Controlled motivation was negatively associated with financial well-being. Amotivation was positively associated with overspending and negatively associated with financial self-efficacy and well-being. These findings support the relevance of SDT's framework in this domain and suggest that interventions aimed at promoting financial knowledge and wellness may benefit by adopting evidence-supported strategies for optimizing more autonomous motivations and addressing amotivations.