Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nociceptor-localized cGMP-dependent protein kinase I is a critical generator for central sensitization and neuropathic pain.

Patients with neuropathic pain often experience exaggerated pain and anxiety. Central sensitization has been linked with the maintenance of neuropathic pain and may become an autonomous pain generator. Conversely, emerging evidence accumulated that central sensitization is initiated and maintained by ongoing nociceptive primary afferent inputs. However, it remains elusive what mechanisms underlie this phenomenon and which peripheral candidate contributes to central sensitization that accounts for pain hypersensitivity and pain-related anxiety. Previous studies have implicated peripherally-localized cGMP-dependent protein kinase I (PKG-I) in plasticity of nociceptors and spinal synaptic transmission as well as inflammatory hyperalgesia. However, whether peripheral PKG-I contributes to cortical plasticity and hence maintains nerve injury-induced pain hypersensitivity and anxiety is unknown. Here we demonstrated significant upregulation of PKG-I in ipsilateral L3 DRG, no change in L4 DRG and downregulation in L5 DRG upon spared nerve injury (SNI). Genetic ablation of PKG-I specifically in nociceptors or posttreatment with intervertebral foramen injection of PKG-I antagonist, KT5823 attenuated the development and maintenance of SNI-induced bilateral pain hypersensitivity and anxiety. Mechanistic analysis revealed that activation of PKG-I in nociceptors is responsible for synaptic potentiation in ACC upon peripheral neuropathy via presynaptic mechanisms involving BDNF signaling. Our results revealed that PKG-I expressed in nociceptors is a key determinant for cingulate synaptic plasticity after nerve injury, which contributes to the maintenance of pain hypersensitivity and anxiety. Thereby, this study presents a strong basis for opening up a novel therapeutic target, PKG-I in nociceptors for treatment of comorbidity of neuropathic pain and anxiety with least side effects.
Conjunctival Scarring, Corneal Pannus, and Herbert’s Pits in Adolescent Children in Trachoma-endemic Populations of the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu

Abstract Background In the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, the sign trachomatous inflammation—follicular (TF) is common, but ocular infection with Chlamydia trachomatis is not. It is therefore debatable whether azithromycin mass drug administration (MDA), the recommended antibiotic treatment strategy for trachoma’s elimination as a public health problem, is necessary in this setting. We set out to estimate what proportion of adolescents were at risk of progression of trachomatous scarring. Methods A cross-sectional survey was undertaken of all children aged 10–14 years resident in communities identified as high-TF clusters during previous population-based mapping. Graders examined children for clinical evidence of trachomatous scarring, pannus, and Herbert’s pits (HPs) or limbal follicles in both eyes. A dried blood spot was collected from each child and tested for antibodies to C. trachomatis. Results A total of 492 children in 24 villages of the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu were examined. In total, 35/492 (7%) of children had limbal signs (pannus and/or HPs) plus any conjunctival scarring. And 9/492 (2%) had limbal signs and moderate or severe conjunctival scarring; 22% of children were anti-Pgp3 seropositive. Conclusions Few adolescents here are at risk of future complications from trachoma, supporting the conclusion that further antibiotic MDA is not currently required for trachoma elimination purposes in these settings.
Habitat selection and predation risk in larval lampreys

Habitat Selection and Predation Risk in Larval Lampreys Dustin M. Smith This thesis examines habitat preference and the influence of habitat on predation of larvae (ammocoetes) of the least brook lamprey (Lampetra aepyptera). The thesis comprises three chapters: (1) an introduction and literature review on the general life history of lampreys and on studies related to ammocoetes and their habitat, (2) an experimental study of habitat preference in ammocoetes of the least brook lamprey, and (3) an experimental study of the relationship between habitat availability and predation risk in ammocoetes. For the first study, we quantified substrate selection in small (< 50 mm) and large (100 150 mm) ammocoetes of the least brook lamprey. In aquaria, ammocoetes were given a choice to burrow into six equallyavailable substrate types: small gravel (2.36-4.75 mm), coarse sand (0.5-1.4 mm), fine sand (0.125-0.5 mm), organic debris (approximately 70% decomposing leaves and stems, 15% silt, and 15% sand), an even mixture of silt, clay, and fine sand, and silt/clay (< 0.063 mm). Fine sand was selected with a significantly higher probability than any other substrate. In the second study, we experimentally examined the influence of habitat availability on predation risk of ammocoetes. Ammocoetes were placed in aquaria containing a predator species (yellow bullhead, Ameiurus natalis) and one of 3 substrates: fine sand (0.125-0.5 mm), coarse sand (0.5-1.4 mm), or silt/clay (<0.063 mm). Use of the three substrate types was based on a previous experiment where fine sand was determined to be the preferred benthic habitat of least brook lamprey. Based on 10 trials with each habitat type, survival of ammocoetes was highest in aquaria with fine sand (mean = 80%), and lower in those with coarse sand (mean = 58%) and silt/clay (mean = 4%). The results of both studies conducted indicate that populations of least brook lamprey ammocoetes may be limited by the availability of fine sand habitat. The first study indicated that least brook lamprey ammocoetes are habitat specialists, preferring substrates composed primarily of fine sand. The second study showed that the availability of fine sand habitat may influence the predation risk of ammocoetes, as ammocoete survival from predation was highest in fine sand, and lower in other substrates.
Differences in the 16SrRNA and cytochrome c oxidase subunit I genes in the mullets Mugil cephalus and Mugil curema, and snooks Centropomus viridis and Centropomus robalito

Se estudiaron los genes mitocondriales codificantes del 16SrRNA y citocromo c oxidasa, subunidad I (COI), de cuatro especies de peces comercialmente importantes del Golfo de California. Los peces incluyen dos lisas y dos robalos: la lisa rayada Mugil cephalus y la lisa blanca Mugil curema; y el robalo plateado Centropomus viridis y el robalo aleta amarilla Centropomus robalito. Los fragmentos de los genes 16SrRNA y COI fueron obtenidos mediante amplificacion por PCR. Las digestiones de restriccion de los amplicones resultaron en patrones de bandeo diferentes entre las cuatro especies. Las distancias geneticas obtenidas con base en la secuencia del 16SrRNA fue menor que con COI para ambos grupos de especies. La inferencia filogenetica para ambos genes muestra monofilia para las cuatro especies en dos diferentes grupos, uno para las lisas y otro para los robalos. La monofilia de estos grupos fue evidente a pesar de las politomias con el resto de las especies incluidas en los analisis de remuestreo para maxima parsimonia y maxima verosimilitud. The mitochondrial genes coding for 16SrRNA and cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) in four commercially important fish species from the Gulf of California were studied. These fish species were the striped mullet Mugil cephalus and white mullet Mugil curema, and the white snook Centropomus viridis and yellowfin snook Centropomus robalito. Fragments of the 16SrRNA and COI genes were obtained by PCR amplification. Restriction digest of the amplicons for both genes revealed different banding patterns among the four species. The genetic distance based on the 16SrRNA gene sequence was smaller than for COI for both groups of species. Phylogenetic inference for both genes showed monophyly of the four species in two separate groups, one comprising the mullets and the other the snooks. Monophyly of the groups was observed despite the polytomies with the rest of the species included in the bootstrap analysis of maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood analyses.
Determining the role of choline dehydrogenase in sperm cell function

76 Introduction . 77 Materials and Methods . 79 Results . 86 Discussion . 89 Tables and figures . 97 IV. Summary and Future Directions . 120 V. Supplemental data and studies recommended by committee members Chdh mRNA levels and CHDH protein in Chdh liver . 137 Chdh mRNA and protein expression in epididymis/ protein expression in sperm . 140
A new Illumina MiSeq high‐throughput sequencing‐based method for evaluating the composition of the Bacteroides community in the intestine using the rpsD gene sequence

Bacteroides is a bacterial genus that is known to closely interact with the host. The potential role of this genus is associated with its ecological status and distribution in the intestine. However, the current 16S V3–V4 region sequencing method can only detect the abundance of this genus, revealing a need for a novel sequencing method that can elucidate the composition of Bacteroides in the human gut microbiota. In this study, a core gene, rpsD, was selected as a template for the design of a Bacteroides‐specific primer set. We used this primer set to develop a novel assay based on the Illumina MiSeq sequencing platform that enabled an accurate assessment of the Bacteroides compositions in complex samples. Known amounts of genomic DNA from 10 Bacteroides species were mixed with a complex sample and used to evaluate the performance and detection limit of our assay. The results were highly consistent with those of direct sequencing with a low Bacteroides DNA detection threshold (0.01 ng), supporting the reliability of our assay. In addition, the assay could detect all the known Bacteroides species within the faecal sample. In summary, we provide a sensitive and specific approach to determining the Bacteroides species in complex samples.
Molecular Characterization of Wenyonella philiplevinei from Ducks in Hunan Province, China

Wenyonella philiplevinei is one of the important pathogens of duck coccidiasis. In the present study, a portion of the 18S rDNA was amplified from W. philiplevinei by Polymerase chain reaction (PCR), cloned and then sequenced. The sequences of 18S rDNA of all samples were 422 bp in size. A + T content of the 18S rDNA sequences was 58-59%. Sequence comparison revealed that the similarity in 18S rDNA sequences between Hunan isolates and W. philiplevinei available (Guangdong isolate) was more than 98%. Intra-specific sequence variations within each of the Hunan isolates were 0-1.7%. However, the inter-specific sequence differences between W. philiplevinei and coccidian available in GenBank were more than 7%. Phylogenetic analysis using neighbour joining (NJ), maximum likelihood (ML) and maximum parsimony (MP) methods indicated that the genus Wenyonella was more closely related to Eimeria + Cyclospora than to Isospora. These novel data provide useful genetic marker for the differentiation of W. philiplevinei or other closely related coccidians
White Matter Hyperintensities Mediate Impact of Dysautonomia on Cognition in Parkinson's Disease

Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) present with a broad spectrum of nonmotor features including autonomic disorders. More severe autonomic dysfunction in PD is associated with increased cognitive deficits. The presence of cerebral small‐vessel disease, measured by T2‐weighted magnetic resonance imaging white matter hyperintensity (WMH) burden, is also observed in patients with PD with faster cognitive decline.
Oxidative polymerization of hydroxytyrosol catalyzed by laccase, tyrosinase or horseradish peroxidase: influencing factors and molecular simulations

Abstract Hydroxytyrosol oligomer from bioenzymatic catalysis indicates a pleiotropic wellness improving (e.g. antioxidation, anti-inflammatory and anti-carcinogenesis) than its monomer. However, the processing parameters and the insightful mechanism of hydroxytyrosol polymerization are still lacking. To explore in detail the process of hydroxytyrosol polymerization, the effects of different reaction factors (solvent type, pH value of reaction solution, reaction temperature and time) on the polymerization yield were investigated, and molecular docking was executed to reveal the relevant structural variations of these enzymes. The results showed hydroxytyrosol polymerization implemented by laccase performed the best at 50 °C for 20 min in the aqueous buffer solution of pH 5.0. The docking results demonstrated PRO4, TYR7, ASP8, PRO12, LEU121 and VAL14 in site 9 of laccase interacted with hydroxytyrosol in hydrogen bonding, pi-sigma, pi-alkyl and van der Waals’ force. Moreover, the molecular dynamic results implied their interaction-energy variation reaching balance within 175 ps, which confirmed the enzymes’ structural changes. Meanwhile, structural analysis in torsion and bond lengths showed that the C–O of phenolic bonds from hydroxytyrosol evidently rotated and its length of the relevant O–H became longer when binding to laccase compared with free hydroxytyrosol. All the findings are helpful to strengthen the understanding for the enzymatic polymerization of catechol-based structures and the resulting o-dihydroxy-grafting oligomers could be potentially used in the field of functional foods, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, even or an innovative bioenzyme design such as biosensor for measuring phenols in industrial effluent or preparing the singular oligomer oriented is worth being explored in future. Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma
Cost‐Effectiveness of Surgery Versus Organ Preservation in Advanced Laryngeal Cancer

Treatment decision‐making for patients with laryngeal cancer consists of a complex trade‐off between survival and quality of life. For decision makers on coverage and guidelines, costs come in addition to this equation. Our aim was to perform a cost‐effectiveness analysis of surgery (laryngectomy with or without radiotherapy) versus organ preservation (OP: radiotherapy, chemo‐ and/or bioradiation) in advanced laryngeal cancer patients from a healthcare perspective.
Score and deviance residuals based on the full likelihood approach in survival analysis

Assuming the proportional hazards model and non‐informative censoring, the full likelihood approach is used to obtain two new residuals. The first residual is based on the ideas used in obtaining score‐type residuals similar to the partial likelihood approach. The second type of residual is based on the concept of deviance residuals. Extensive simulations are conducted to compare the performance of the residuals from the full likelihood‐based approach with those of the partial likelihood method. We demonstrate through simulation studies that the full likelihood‐based residuals are more efficient than their partial likelihood counterpart in identifying potential outliers when the censoring proportion is high. The graphical techniques are used to illustrate the applications of these residuals using some examples.
Respiration Rate Estimation Based on Independent Component Analysis of Accelerometer Data: Pilot Single-Arm Intervention Study

Background As the mobile environment has developed recently, there have been studies on continuous respiration monitoring. However, it is not easy for general users to access the sensors typically used to measure respiration. There is also random noise caused by various environmental variables when respiration is measured using noncontact methods in a mobile environment. Objective In this study, we aimed to estimate the respiration rate using an accelerometer sensor in a smartphone. Methods First, data were acquired from an accelerometer sensor by a smartphone, which can easily be accessed by the general public. Second, an independent component was extracted to calibrate the three-axis accelerometer. Lastly, the respiration rate was estimated using quefrency selection reflecting the harmonic component because respiration has regular patterns. Results From April 2018, we enrolled 30 male participants. When the independent component and quefrency selection were used to estimate the respiration rate, the correlation with respiration acquired from a chest belt was 0.7. The statistical results of the Wilcoxon signed-rank test were used to determine whether the differences in the respiration counts acquired from the chest belt and from the accelerometer sensor were significant. The P value of the difference in the respiration counts acquired from the two sensors was . 27, which was not significant. This indicates that the number of respiration counts measured using the accelerometer sensor was not different from that measured using the chest belt. The Bland-Altman results indicated that the mean difference was 0.43, with less than one breath per minute, and that the respiration rate was at the 95% limits of agreement. Conclusions There was no relevant difference in the respiration rate measured using a chest belt and that measured using an accelerometer sensor. The accelerometer sensor approach could solve the problems related to the inconvenience of chest belt attachment and the settings. It could be used to detect sleep apnea through constant respiration rate estimation in an internet-of-things environment.
Early Adolescent Binge Drinking Increases Risk of Psychopathology in Post-9/11 Veterans and Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Exacerbates Symptom Severity.

AIMS To demonstrate that early adolescent binge drinking (BD) increases the risk for and/or severity of psychopathology in post-9/11 Veterans and determine if mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) modifies risk. METHODS Post-9/11 Veterans (n = 375) were classified into two groups: 57 Veterans with a history of early adolescent BD (E-BD; age of onset <15) and 318 who did not BD until age 15 or older (late-BD or L-BD; age of onset ≥15). History of military mTBI and mental health disorders were also assessed following military service. RESULTS Logistic regression and analysis of variance (ANOVA) analyses revealed that the E-BD's had significantly higher prevalence of alcohol use disorders (AUDs) and more severe symptoms of AUD, substance use disorder (SUD), depression and stress. Two-way ANOVAs showed that history of military mTBI was differentially associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) incidence and severity among Veterans who had engaged in early adolescent BD. Specifically, Veterans with a history of both early adolescent BD and military mTBI were at greater risk for a PTSD diagnosis and had more severe symptoms of PTSD than those with only a history of adolescent BD. The greater PTSD symptom severity in the comorbid group was driven by hyperarousal symptoms. CONCLUSIONS A history of BD during early adolescence is prevalent among Veterans and is related to higher risk for AUD and more severe AUD, SUD, mood and stress symptoms later in life. Veterans with early BD and military mTBI showed greater incidence and severity of PTSD, indicating that mTBI, a common comorbidity among post-9/11 Veterans, exacerbates risk.
Adversarial Learning for 3D Matching

Structured prediction of objects in spaces that are inherently difﬁcult to search or compactly characterize is a particularly challenging task. For example, though bipartite matchings in two dimensions can be tractably optimized and learned, the higher-dimensional generalization—3D matchings—are NP-hard to optimally obtain and the set of potential solutions cannot be compactly characterized. Though approximation is therefore necessary, prevalent structured prediction methods inherit the weaknesses they possess in the two-dimensional setting—either suffering from inconsistency or intractability—even when the approximations are sufﬁcient. In this paper, we explore extending an adversarial approach to learning bipartite matchings that avoids these weaknesses to the three dimensional setting. We assess the beneﬁts compared to margin-based methods on a three-frame tracking problem.
The distribution, taxonomy, and redescription of the geckos Cnemaspis affinis (Stoliczka 1887) and C. flavolineata (Nicholls 1949) with descriptions of a new montane species and two new lowland, karst- dwelling species from Peninsular Malaysia

We provide data supporting the continued recognition of Cnemaspis affinis (Stoliczka) and Cnemaspis flavolineata (Nicholls) as separate species and restrict their distribution to Pulau Pinang, Penang for the former and the Titi Wangsa Range and Gunung Benom, Peninsular Malaysia for the latter. For the montane population of Cnemaspis from Bukit Larut, Perak, which has been referred to as both C. affinis and C. kendallii, we demonstrate that it is discretely diagnosable from all other Southeast Asian Cnemaspis on the basis of size and numerous color pattern and scale characteristics and for it we provide the new name Cnemaspis mcguirei sp. nov. Two new lowland, karst-dwelling species from isolated locations along the foothills of the Titi Wangsa and Timur ranges in northern Peninsular Malaysia are demonstrably differentiable from all other Southeast Asia Cnemaspis on the basis of color pattern and scale morphology and are described herein as Cnemaspis karsticola sp. nov. from Gunung Reng, Kelantan and Cnemaspis bayuensis sp. nov. from Kampung Bayu, Kelantan.
Probabilistic Modeling of Dynamic Traﬃc Flow between Non-overlapping FOVs

The ability to infer the traﬃc status across multiple cameras allows the extended use of existing vision–based surveillance systems to global traﬃc monitoring. In this paper, we proposed an eﬃ-cient algorithm to probabilistically model the dynamic traﬃc ﬂow between non–overlapping FOVs. By assuming the transition time of object moving across cameras follows a global model and consecutively estimate the model parameters, we may infer the time–varying traﬃc status in the unseen region. In principle, the parameters of the transition time model can be estimated if the object correspondence between non–overlapping FOVs is known. However, object correspondence itself is still an unsolved problem in the literature. In this paper, we model object correspondence and the parameters estimation as a uniﬁed problem in a proposed Expectation–Maximization (EM) based framework. By treating object correspondence as a latent random variable, our proposed framework can iteratively search for the optimal object correspondence and model parameters. Experimental results on real data show the accuracy of dynamic model estimation and the beneﬁcial inference of the traﬃc status.