Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Clinico-laboratory profile, intensive care needs, treatment details, and outcome of Pediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome temporally associated with SARS-CoV-2 (PIMS-TS): A systematic review and Meta-analysis.

Objectives: To synthesize the current data on clinico-laboratory features, intensive care needs, treatment, and outcome of Pediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome temporally associated with SARS-CoV-2 (PIMS-TS) or multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C). Data Sources: Articles published in PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Google Scholar, and WHO COVID-19 research database, CDC database, and Cochrane COVID-19 study register between 1st December 2019 to 10th July 2020. Study Selection: Observational studies involving patients [≤]21 years with PIMS-TS or MIS-C, that reported the clinico-laboratory features, intensive care needs, treatment, and outcome. Data Extraction: The search identified 422 citations and finally 18 studies with 833 participants were included and pooled estimate was calculated for parameters of interest utilising random effect model. Data Synthesis: The median age was 9 (8-11) years. Fever, gastrointestinal symptoms, rash, conjunctival injection, and respiratory symptoms were common clinical features. Majority had positive SARS-CoV-2 antibody test and only 1/3rd had RT-PCR positive. The commonest laboratory abnormalities were elevated CRP, D-dimer, procalcitonin, BNP, fibrinogen, ferritin, troponin, and IL-6; and lymphopenia, hypoalbuminemia, and thrombocytopenia. The cardiovascular complications included shock (65%), myocardial dysfunction (61%), myocarditis (65%), and coronary artery abnormalities (39%). Three-fourth children required admission in PICU for mechanical ventilation (25%) and vasoactive drugs (61%). The common treatment provided was IVIG (82%), steroids (54%), antiplatelet drugs (64%), and anticoagulation (51%). The mortality was low (n=13). Conclusion: Fever, gastrointestinal and mucocutaneous symptoms, cardiac dysfunction, shock, and hyperinflammation are common manifestations of PIMS-TS or MIS-C. The short-term outcome is good with supportive intensive care and immunomodulatory treatment.
An Intelligent and Secure Framework for Anti-Money Laundering

Abstract This paper aims to secure money transactions due to money laundering crimes. It presents a Secure Intelligent Framework for Anti-Money Laundering (SIFAML). This framework is new and includes two main processes. In addition, it supports several modules. The first process is the monitoring process for detecting possible ML. The second process is a STRIPS-based planning process that targets strengthening the belief in the potential problems detected in the monitoring process. In addition, STRIPS is a hierarchical planning technique that makes utilization of the means-ends tactic, by finding the goal in the root of the hierarchical. It searches gradually for the plan services that can diminish the distinction between the current state and the goal. An important feature of SIFAML is the integration of the planner and the OWL-'s reasoner. This means that the reasoner might do the entire planner’s interactions with a particular state. In addition, SIFAML contains several supporting modules for data gathering and mediation, link analysis, and risk scoring. To present the applicability of SIFAML, it has been discussed using different instances. This work provides an analytical study and a comparison between the performance and capabilities of SIFAML and other related works are given and the concluding remarks are discussed. The proposed framework improves the discovery of ML and reduces false-positive alarms. It moves anti-money laundering frameworks to make use of an intelligent formalism by using ontology and STRIPS-based planning. Finally, this work introduces SIFAML as a novel ontology-based and plan-based system for AML frameworks.
Self-activation of Wnt signaling in pre-granulosa cells is required for ovarian folliculogenesis

In mammalian ovaries, immature oocytes are reserved in primordial follicles. Precise control of primordial follicle activation (PFA) is a prerequisite for proper reproduction. Although Wnt signaling is thought to be involved in folliculogenesis, the timing and function of Wnt activity remain unclear. Here we show that canonical Wnt signaling is pivotal for the differentiation of pre-granulosa cells (pre-GCs) and subsequent oocyte maturation during PFA. We identified several Wnt ligands expressed in pre-GCs that cell-autonomously function via canonical Wnt activity. Inhibition of Wnt ligand secretion from pre-GCs/GCs led to infertility due to impaired pre-GC differentiation, whereas constitutive stabilization of β-catenin induced thickening of the pre-GCs. Our data support a two-step model of PFA in which self-activation of Wnt signaling promotes the transition of pre-GCs to GCs, and mature GCs then support oocyte reawakening. We anticipate that application of Wnt inhibitors or activators in vitro will lead to improved fertility treatments.
Urine single cell RNA-sequencing in focal segmental glomerulosclerosis reveals inflammatory signatures in immune cells and podocytes

The diagnosis of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) requires a renal biopsy, which is invasive and can be problematic in children and in some adults. We used single cell RNA-sequencing to explore disease-related cellular signatures in 23 urine samples from 12 FSGS subjects. We identified immune cells, predominantly monocytes, and renal epithelial cells, including podocytes. Analysis revealed M1 and M2 monocyte subsets, and podocytes showing high expression of genes for epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). We confirmed M1 and M2 gene signatures using published monocyte/macrophage data from lupus nephritis and cancer. Using renal transcriptomic data from the Nephrotic Syndrome Study Network (NEPTUNE), we found that urine cell immune and EMT signature genes showed higher expression in FSGS biopsies compared to minimal change disease biopsies. These results suggest that urine cell profiling may serve as a diagnostic and prognostic tool in nephrotic syndrome and aid in identifying novel biomarkers and developing personalized therapeutic strategies.
Investigation of biochemical changes in barley inoculated with Trichoderma harzianum T-22 under salt stress

Increases in soil salinity impacts growth and yield of agricultural plants by inhibiting plant functions. Soil salinization is increasing because of the pressure of a growing population on food supply. Genetically modified crops and plant breeding techniques are being used to produce plants tolerant to salt stress. However, interactions of fungal endophytes with crop plants can also improve tolerance and is a less expensive approach. Here, the role of Trichoderma harzianum T-22 in alleviating NaCl-induced stress in two barley genotypes (cv. Vlamingh and cv. Gairdner) has been investigated. Metabolomics using GC-MS for polar metabolites and LC-MS for lipids was employed to provide insights into the biochemical changes in barley roots inoculated with fungus during the early stages of interaction. T. harzianum increased the root length of both genotypes under controlled and saline conditions. The fungus reduced the relative concentration of sugars in both genotypes and caused no change in organic acids under saline conditions. Amino acids decreased only in cv. Gairdner in fungus-inoculated roots under saline conditions. Lipid analyses suggest that salt stress causes large changes in the lipid profile of roots but that inoculation with fungus greatly reduces the extent of these changes. By studying a tolerant and a sensitive genotype and their responses to salt and inoculation we have been able to develop hypotheses about what lipid species and metabolites may be involved in the tolerant genotype for its tolerance to salt and how fungal inoculation changes the response of the sensitive genotype to improve its tolerance.
Donor-recipient interactions drive dynamics of horizontal gene transfer via natural competence

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) in microbial communities is shaped by a complex web of abiotic and biotic interactions. We investigate the role of donor-recipient interactions on the dynamics of HGT via natural competence in a synthetic community. We show that the donor can play an active role in the gene transfer process that depends on the source of the transferred DNA. The efficiency of plasmid gene transfer depends on the abundance of the donor strain, whereas donor growth impairment augments the efficiency of chromosomal gene transfer. We show that antibiotic stress can either diminish or enhance the efficiency of gene transfer. A dynamic computational model of the system captures the impact of donor growth perturbations on gene transfer efficiency. Our results suggest that anti-HGT strategies targeting the donor strain can lead to opposing effects on the rate of HGT that depend on the microbial interaction network and source of transferred DNA.
selfRL: Two-Level Self-Supervised Transformer Representation Learning for Link Prediction of Heterogeneous Biomedical Networks

Predicting potential links in heterogeneous biomedical networks (HBNs) can greatly benefit various important biomedical problem. However, the self-supervised representation learning for link prediction in HBNs has been slightly explored in previous researches. Therefore, this study proposes a two-level self-supervised representation learning, namely selfRL, for link prediction in heterogeneous biomedical networks. The meta path detection-based self-supervised learning task is proposed to learn representation vectors that can capture the global-level structure and semantic feature in HBNs. The vertex entity mask-based self-supervised learning mechanism is designed to enhance local association of vertices. Finally, the representations from two tasks are concatenated to generate high-quality representation vectors. The results of link prediction on six datasets show selfRL outperforms 25 state-of-the-art methods. In particular, selfRL reveals great performance with results close to 1 in terms of AUC and AUPR on the NeoDTI-net dataset. In addition, the PubMed publications demonstrate that nine out of ten drugs screened by selfRL can inhibit the cytokine storm in COVID-19 patients. In summary, selfRL provides a general frame-work that develops self-supervised learning tasks with unlabeled data to obtain promising representations for improving link prediction.
The Central THαβ Immunity Associated Cytokine: IL-10 Has a Strong Anti-Tumor Ability Toward Established Cancer Models In Vivo and Toward Cancer Cells In Vitro

Cancer immunotherapy is a promising new approach for cancer treatment. We propose to use a new host immunological pathway: THαβ immunity for cancer treatment. THαβ immunity is a natural host immunity which can be used IFN-α/β and its major effectors are IL-10 and IL-15. Thus, we here used these cytokines for treatment both in a mice breast cancer 4T1 model and in a neuroblastoma NXS2 model. 4T1 cells and NXS2 cells were inoculated subcutaneously to wild type BALB/c female mice and AJ mice, respectively. Both Cytokines and an antibody treatment with variable dosages were given. Our results show that IL-10 and IL-15 treatments have significant effects on not only tumor volume shrinkage and but also on mice survival. However, IFN-γ even worsens the tumor volume and mice survival. Antibodies plus IL-10 is no better than IL-10 alone for cancer immunotherapy. This can be due to GD2 antigen expression on immune cells. Moreover, an anti-GD2 antibody could harm immune cells themselves. We found that IL-10 has direct toxicity on tumor cells in vitro. Our results conclude that using THαβ immunity is a good strategy for cancer immunotherapy.
Development and characterization of the first 16 microsatellites loci for Panulirus pascuensis (Decapoda: Palinuridae) from Easter Island using Next Generation Sequencing

The spiny lobster Panulirus pascuensis stands out among the endemic species of Easter Island, due to its cultural and economic importance. A total of 16 microsatellite loci were characterized in 18 individuals, 9 of which were polymorphic. The mean number of alleles per locus was 3.44 (2-6) and the observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.11 to 0.93. None of the loci exhibited significant linkage disequilibrium or departures from HWE. These new microsatellites will be used to obtain information about migration, population structure and genetic diversity of P. pascuensis in order to improve the future sustainable management and conservation plans.
Stretch and Twist of HEAT Repeats Leads to Activation of DNA-PK Kinase

Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-related kinases (PIKKs) are composed of conserved FAT and kinase domains (FATKIN) along with varied solenoid structures made of HEAT repeats. These kinases are activated in response to cellular stress signals, but the mechanisms governing activation and regulation remain unresolved. For DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK), all existing structures represent inactive states with resolution limited to 4.3 Å at best. Here we report the cryoEM structures of DNA-PKcs (catalytic subunit) bound to a DNA end, or complexed with Ku70/80 and DNA, in both inactive and activated forms at resolutions of 3.7 Å overall, and 3.2 Å for FATKIN. These structures reveal the sequential transition of DNA-PK from inactive to activated forms. Most notably, activation of the kinase involves previously unknown stretching and twisting within individual solenoid segments and coordinated shifts of neighboring segments in opposite directions. This unprecedented structural plasticity of helical repeats may be a general feature of HEAT-repeat proteins.
WHIRLY1 of barley and maize share a PRAPP motif conferring nucleoid compaction

WHIRLY1 in barley was shown to be a major architect of plastid nucleoids. Its accumulation in cells of E. coli coincided with an induction of nucleoid compaction and growth retardation. While WHIRLY1 of maize had similar effects on E. coli cells, WHIRLY1 proteins of Arabidopsis and potato a well as WHIRLY2 proteins had no impact on nucleoid compaction in E. coli. By mutagenesis of HvWHIRLY1 the PRAPP motif at the N-terminus preceding the highly conserved WHIRLY domain was identified to be responsible for the nucleoid compacting activity of HvWHIRLY1 in bacteria. This motif is found in WHIRLY1 proteins of most members of the Poaceae family, but neither in the WHIRLY2 proteins of the family nor in any WHIRLY protein of eudicot species such as Arabidopsis thaliana. This finding indicates that a subset of the monocot WHIRLY1 proteins has acquired a specific function as nucleoid compacters by sequence variation in the N-terminal part preceding the conserved WHIRLY domain and that in different groups of higher plants the compaction of nucleoids is mediated by other proteins.
Understanding how an amphicarpic species with a mixed mating system responds to fire: a population genetic approach

Amphicarphic species produce both aboveground and belowground seeds; the belowground seeds have been proposed to be an adaptation to disturbed sites because they are protected belowground, enabling them to persist and recolonize a site after disturbance. However, it is unknown whether such seeds indeed serve as the main colonizers after a disturbance. The amphicarpic species Polygala lewtonii is endemic to fire-prone Florida sandhill and scrub and is among only a few species with three flower types (aboveground chasmogamous flowers and both above and belowground cleistogamous flowers). The goal of this study was to understand whether recolonization of sites by P. lewtonii was accomplished primarily through germination of belowground seed. First, we quantified the outcrossing rate in seeds produced by aboveground chasmogamous flowers to determine whether we could detect differences in colonization of between seeds produced aboveground vs. belowground. Approximately 25% of seeds from aboveground chasmogamous flowers showed evidence of cross pollination and the seeds showed greater heterozygosity and lower inbreeding coefficients than pure selfing, indicating that it is possible to differentiate between selfed and non-selfed seed types in postfire colonization. Second, we analyzed genetic diversity, inbreeding, and genetic structure of the populations before and after a prescribed fire. If heterozygosity and admixture increased, and spatial population genetic structure and inbreeding decreased, this would indicate that fire promoted germination of outcrossed seed from aboveground flowers. However, inbreeding increased and spatial genetic structure and admixture decreased after fire, suggesting that selfed seed produced by belowground flowers predominantly recolonized the site after fire. Thus, amphicarpy is a powerful adaptation to fire-maintained environments by producing seeds that are well suited to the range of conditions presented by a highly variable, disturbance prone habitat.
The spatial patterns in long-term temporal trends of three major crops’ yields in Japan

Abstract Long-term trend of crop yields has been widely studied in global scales to find which crops and which geographic regions offer the best hope of meeting food demands, and which regions needed the most improvements. In this study, a mathematical method was applied to analyze spatial patterns in long-term temporal trends of three major crops’ yields in Japan archipelago. The changes in annual yields of rice, wheat, and soybean over a period of about 60 years in all 47 prefectures of Japan was analyzed by using the data of agricultural records. For all the three crops, the nationwide yields previously improved, but currently were stagnating in Japan. The result suggests that the annual yields were not improving in 53, 85, and 89% of those prefectures in Japan for rice, wheat, and soybean, respectively. The spatial patterns in temporal trends show that the percentage of number of yield-not-improving prefecture was higher in low latitude regions than high latitude regions. These results highlight the increasingly difficult challenge of meeting the growing demands and stagnating supplies in daily staple foods not only for agricultural scientists but also for Japanese society.
An introduction to Language Testing’s first Virtual Special Issue: Investigating consequences of language test use

Virtual Special Issues are a new resource for Language Testing readers. The Virtual Special Issues will highlight important topics and trends in the field by curating previously published articles that have contributed to defining important and influential issues, methods, and findings on the topics and trends. This Virtual Special Issue presents selected articles from Language Testing on the topic of the consequences, also referred to as washback and impact, of language assessments and tests. The authors of the articles report their investigations of the social functions of tests in teaching and learning as well as in broader structures for attaining opportunities in society. In particular, the articles encompass the examples of social functions that Messick (1989) identified as potentially important in investigating the validity of test use. They also demonstrate a variety of research methods for the study of the consequences of language assessment use in a range of contexts. They vary in the extent to which they interpret results with respect to validity, but the more recent two articles engage explicitly with issues of consequences and validity. Regardless of the role assumed for consequences in validity arguments, these articles demonstrate the importance of investigating consequences in language testing and illustrate methods for doing so.
Control of Adult Bone Marrow Erythroid Progenitor Cell Fate by Combinatorial Niche Factor Signals

Stem and progenitor cell fate (self-renewal, proliferation, survival, differentiation) is tightly controlled by niche factors and the interplay of these factors is particularly important to comprehend for the development of stem cell therapies. During erythropoiesis, erythroid progenitors at the colony forming unit-erythroid (CFU-E) stage are responsive to both stem cell factor (SCF) and erythropoietin (EPO); however, the joint action of SCF and EPO in these cells and the underlying mechanisms remain to be defined. In this study, quantitative data on the activation of signaling pathways and gene expression profiles provided definitive evidence for two parallel but complementary mechanisms that resulted in enhanced generation of red blood cells from mouse bone marrow-derived CFU-E culture in the presence of SCF and EPO. First, SCF and EPO signaling intersected within the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathway and the sustained ERK activation was required for the maximal changes in the expression levels of genes that are involved in the proliferation and survival of CFU-Es. Second, the apparent competition between SCF and EPO in regulating c-Kit expression was found to have a dramatic impact on the terminal differentiation of CFU-Es. The latter mechanism was, for the first time, reported in a primary cell system. In addition, a fetal liver-derived conditioned medium further enhanced the survival and proliferation of bone marrow CFU-Es in the presence
THE ASSOCIATION OF SPREADING ELM AND NARROW-LEAVED ASH (FRAXINO-ULMETUM LAEVIS SLAV. 1952) IN FLOODPLAIN FORESTS OF THE PODRAVINA AND PODUNAVLJE

The association Fraxino-Ulmetum laevis is a forest community of hard broadleaves occupying the highest positions in floodplain areas along large rivers of south-eastern Europe. It was described for the first time in Vojvodina by Slavnic in 1952. According to earlier research, this community is developed in Baranja in Croatia, then downstream of the river Danube up to Ilok, fragmentarily in the area of the Podravska Slatina forests, and along the river Sava in the Spacva area. The results of synecological-vegetation research indicated the existence of this community over entire Podravina and Podunavlje, mostly on sandy alluvium and on the eugley hypogley soil type. The floral composition of the association Fraxino-Ulmetum is shown on the basis of 19 relatively heterogeneous phytocoenological releves from the Podravina and Podunavlje. The results of multivariate analysis and the results obtained by classical synthetic analysis of these releves revealed the existence of two variants. The first, drier, is linked to the river Drava and the upper and central part of its course. It is labelled as the variant Prunus padus. The second, more humid, is linked to the Danube, and is labelled as the variant typicum. Within the latter, there are certain differences between the releves from Baranja and those from the Danube islands in eastern Croatia, which are the result of different hydrological-pedological conditions. The forest of spreading elm and narrow-leaved ash was formerly relatively well represented, albeit fragmentarily and over small areas. Today, it is expanding again because drier conditions, infrequent and shorter-lasting floods favour its development. The community does not have any significant commercial value, but from the aspect of biological diversity, ecological stability and general benefits it is highly valuable and should be preserved wherever possible.
Stable isotopes reveal effects of environmental changes on ecological niches of Iphimediidae amphipods

1 Laboratory of Oceanology, University of Liège, B6C, Allée du 6 Août 15, Quartier Agora, SartTilman, 4000 Liège, Belgium E-mail: loicnmichel@gmail.com 2 OD Taxonomy and Phylogeny, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Vautier Street 29, 1000 Brussels, Belgium 3 Freshwater Biology, OD Nature Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Vautier Street 29, 1000 Brussels, Belgium 4 Marine Biology Laboratory, Catholic University of Louvain-la-Neuve, Croix du Sud 3, 1348 Louvainla-Neuve, Belgium