Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An ex vivo tissue model of cartilage degradation suggests that cartilage state can be determined from secreted key protein patterns

The pathophysiology of osteoarthritis (OA) involves dysregulation of anabolic and catabolic processes associated with a broad panel of cytokines and other secreted proteins and ultimately lead to cartilage degradation. An increased understanding about the interactions of these proteins by means of systematic in vitro analyses may give new ideas regarding pharmaceutical candidates for treatment of OA and related cartilage degradation. Therefore, first an ex vivo tissue model of cartilage degradation was established by culturing full thickness tissue explants with bacterial collagenase II. Then responses of healthy and degrading cartilage were analyzed by measuring protein abundance in tissue supernatant with a 26-multiplex protein profiling assay, after exposing them to a panel of 55 protein stimulations present in synovial joints of OA patients. Multivariate data analysis including exhaustive pairwise variable subset selection was used to identify the most outstanding changes in the measured protein secretions. This revealed that the MMP9 response is outstandingly low in degraded compared to healthy cartilage and that there are several protein pairs like IFNG and MMP9 that can be used for successful discrimination between degraded and healthy samples. Taken together, the results show that the characteristic changes in protein responses discovered seem promising for accurate detection/diagnosis of degrading cartilage in general and OA in particular. More generally the employed ex vivo tissue model seems promising for drug discovery and development projects related to cartilage degradation, for example when trying to uncover the unknown interactions between secreted proteins in healthy and degraded tissues.
A novel genetic algorithm for solving the clustered shortest-path tree problem

The clustered shortest-path tree problem is an extension of the classical single-source shortest-path problem, in which, given a graph with the set of nodes divided into a redefined, mutually exclusive and exhaustive set of clusters, we want to determine a shortest-path spanning tree from a given source to all the other nodes of the graph, with the property that each cluster should induce a connected subtree. The investigated problem proved to be NP-hard and therefore we proposed an efficient genetic algorithm in order to solve it. The preliminary computational results reported on a set of benchmark instances from the literature proved that our proposed solution approach yields high-quality solutions within reasonable running times.
Herbivory and dropping effects by small mammals on salt‐marsh vegetation vary across microhabitats

Co-ordinating Editor: David Ward Abstract Question: Does the effect of droppings and herbivory by wild guinea pigs on saltmarsh vegetation vary across microhabitats? Location: Upper salt marsh in the Mar Chiquita coastal lagoon (37°44′52′′ S, 57°26′6′′ W, Argentina). Methods: During autumn 2014, we performed a microscale experiment manipulating droppings of wild guinea pigs (Cavia aperea). After 15 days, we compared the content of nutrients (i.e., NH4 +, NO3 −, and PO4 3−) in soil. Then, we started two factorial experiments in the high marsh, specifically one in marsh matrix (i.e., tall vegetation) and the other in open patches (i.e., short vegetation). Units were randomly assigned to different treatments (with and without herbivores and droppings). In early summer, we compared total plant cover, maximum height, aboveground biomass, plant species richness and the composition of plant assemblages between treatments. Results: Droppings increased the content of PO4 3− in soil by five times, but decreased the content of NO3 −. Herbivory reduced total cover, plant height, and aboveground biomass in the marsh matrix and the open patches. In the marsh matrix, droppings increased the total cover, whereas herbivory reduced the abundance of Spartina densiflora (cover and aboveground biomass) and subordinate species (cover). Additionally, the cover of subordinate species was negatively associated with the cover of Spartina densiflora. Therefore, in the marsh matrix, by increasing light availability at the ground level, herbivory increased plant species richness, but with low cover of subordinate species. In contrast, in open patches, herbivory and droppings interacted to reduce plant species richness. Conclusion: Herbivory by small mammals can control the aboveground biomass, structure, and plant community composition of the high marsh, but nontrophic mechanisms (droppings) can also affect community composition. Nonetheless, ecological impacts of small mammals depend on the context, because the magnitude and direction of trophic (herbivory) and nontrophic (droppings) effects change across microhabitats.
Identification of a Sulf2-dependant astrocyte subtype that stands out through the expression of Olig2 in the ventral spinal cord

During spinal cord development, both spatial and temporal mechanisms operate to generate glial cell diversity. Here, we addressed the role of the Heparan Sulfate-editing enzyme Sulf2 in the control of gliogenesis in the mouse developing spinal cord and found an unanticipated function for this enzyme. Sulf2 is expressed in ventral spinal progenitors at initiation of gliogenesis, including in Olig2-expressing cells of the pMN domain known to generate most spinal cord oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs). We found that Sulf2 is dispensable for OPC development but required for proper generation of an as-yet-unidentified astrocyte precursor cell (AP) subtype. These cells, like OPCs, express Olig2 while populating the spinal parenchyma at embryonic stages but also retain Olig2 expression as they differentiate into mature astrocytes. We therefore identify a spinal Olig2-expressing AP subtype that segregates early under the influence of the extracellular enzyme Sulf2.
Glycine Cleavage System H Protein Is Essential for Embryonic Viability, Implying Additional Function Beyond the Glycine Cleavage System

Glycine cleavage system H protein (GCSH) is a component of the glycine cleavage system (GCS), a conserved protein complex that acts to decarboxylate glycine. Mutation of AMT or GLDC, encoding the GCS components aminomethyltransferase and glycine decarboxylase, can cause malformations of the developing CNS (neural tube defects (NTDs) and ventriculomegaly) as well as a post-natal life-limiting neurometabolic disorder, Non-Ketotic Hyperglycinemia. In contrast, it is unclear whether mutation of GCSH contributes to these conditions and we therefore investigated GCSH loss of function in mice. Mice that were heterozygous for a Gcsh null allele were viable and did not exhibit elevated plasma glycine. Moreover, heterozygous mutation of Gcsh did not increase the frequency of NTDs in Gldc mutant embryos. Homozygous Gcsh null mice were not recovered at post-natal stages. Analysis of litters at E8.5-10.5, revealed the presence of homozygous null embryos which were much smaller than littermates and had failed to develop beyond early post-implantation stages with no visible somites or head-folds. Hence, unlike null mutations of Gldc or Amt, which are compatible with embryonic survival despite the presence of NTDs, loss of Gcsh causes embryonic death prior to mid-gestation. Maternal supplementation with formate did not restore embryonic development beyond E7.5, suggesting that the primary cause of lethality was not loss of glycine cleavage activity or suppression of folate one-carbon metabolism. These findings suggest that GCSH has additional roles beyond function in the glycine cleavage system. We hypothesize that GCSH potentially acts in lipoylation of 2-oxoacid dehydrogenase proteins, as reported in bacteria.
Additive manufacturing of sensors-printing of conductor paths in loaded structures

Saving energy for environmental protection and cost reduction are one of the most important objectives of our time. Topology optimizations and additive manufacturing make it possible to design complex structures with optimal stress distribution. This type of additive lightweight design will be one of the most important areas of research in the coming decades. However, due to the still high manufacturing costs today, additively manufactured components must offer further advantages, such as maximum functional integration, in order to offer an additional value compared to traditionally manufactured components. The integration of sensors for monitoring the stresses and forces in heavily loaded structures such as cutting tools is a major focus of the developments. The application of foil strain gauges to determine force and torsion in a milling tool is very time-consuming and expensive due to the limited installation space and the necessary wiring. The Institute for Machine Tools at the University of Stuttgart, Germany developes additively manufactured milling tools in function-integrated lightweight design with the target to produce additively manufactured sensors in one process step with the production of a vibration damping plastic structure inside the tool. For this purpose, a non-conductive filament for an inner component geometry and a conductive filament for the creation of electrical conductor paths were used. A parameter study with different printing orientations, layer thicknesses, filling patterns, print head temperatures and printing speeds as well as different connection types or combinations between the materials provided the basis for the design of the special test samples with integrated sensors in the form of 3D-printed strain gauges. Based on bending tests, new test samples were developed in accordance with the intended application in shell end milling tools. The additive and sensor integrative manufactured test samples were experimentally tested in a test bench specially developed for the typical combined loading of torsion and bending of milling tools.
Predicting a Potential Link to Antidepressant Effect: Neuroprotection of Zhi-zi-chi Decoction on Glutamate-induced Cytotoxicity in PC12 Cells

Zhi-zi-chi Decoction (ZZCD), composed of Fructus Gardeniae (Zhizi in Chinese, ZZ in brief) and Semen sojae praeparatum (Dandouchi in Chinese, DDC in brief), has been used as a drug therapy for depression for thousands of years in China. However, the antidepressant mechanism of ZZCD still remains unknown. This study was aimed at exploring antidepressant effects of ZZCD from the aspect of neuroprotection based on herb compatibility. Glutamate-treated PC12 cells and chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS)-induced rats were established as models of depression in vitro and in vivo respectively. Cell viability, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), apoptosis rate, reactive oxygen species (ROS), glutathione reductase (GR) and superoxide dismutase (SOD), and the expressions of Bax, Bcl-2 and cyclic adenosine monophosphate-response element binding protein (CREB) were measured to compare neuroprotection among single herbs and the formula in vitro. Behavior tests were conducted to validate antidepressant effects of ZZCD in vivo. Results showed that the compatibility of ZZ and DDC increased cell viability and activities of GR and SOD, and decreased the levels of LDH, apoptosis cells and ROS. Besides, the expressions of Bcl-2 and CREB were up-regulated while that of Bax was down-regulated by ZZCD. Furthermore, the compatibility of ZZ and DDC reversed abnormal behaviors in CUMS-induced rats and displayed higher efficacy than any of the single herbs. This study revealed that the antidepressant effects of ZZCD were closely associated with neuroprotection and elucidated synergistic effects of the compatibility of ZZ and DDC based on it.
Molecular Characterization of Hemoparasites and Hemoplasmas Infecting Domestic Cats of Southern India

In the present study, 111 blood samples were collected from apparently healthy cats belonging to four districts of Kerala, southern India, and they were investigated for the presence of hemoparasites and hemoplasmas by light microscopic examination and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The microscopic examination of the Giemsa-stained blood smears did not reveal any parasites/organisms. However, PCR followed by nucleotide sequencing could detect 10 (9.01%) out of 111 samples infected with Hepatozoon felis, 3 (2.70%) with Cytauxzoon spp. , and 10 (9.01%) with Mycoplasma spp. None of the samples revealed amplicons specific for the Babesia spp. and Trypanosoma evansi. The phylogenetic analysis of 18S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequences of H. felis revealed the existence of two different populations of H. felis circulating in the blood of infected cats. The phylogenetic tree was constructed based on 18S rRNA gene sequences of Cytauxzoon spp. and revealed that these isolates formed a distinct clade and do not cluster with any of the isolates from other countries. Among the 10 samples positive for Mycoplasma spp. infections, 7 were detected positive for Candidatus Mycoplasma haemominutum, two for Mycoplasma haemofelis, and one for Candidatus Mycoplasma turicensis. Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences of Mycoplasma spp. showed no distinct geographical grouping of the sequences. The sequences of M. haemofelis, Candidatus M. haemominutum, and Candidatus M. turicensis identified in the study clustered along with their respective isolates from around the world. To the best of our knowledge, this study forms the first report of molecular detection of Cytauxzoon spp. and Candidatus M. turicensis in cats from India.
Does Usage of Online Social Media Help Users With Depressed Symptoms Improve Their Mental Health? Empirical Evidence From an Online Depression Community

Online depression communities offer people with depressed symptoms new opportunities to obtain health information and provide social support for each other to fight against the depression. We sought to investigate whether usage of online community help improve depression outcomes and determine which types of usage behaviors have positive or negative effects on depression. We proposed that two dimensions of the sense of belonging (sense of identity and trust) and three dimensions of the sense of support (informational, emotional, and socializing) have significant effects on depression, and further considered gender difference and its effect on depression. We obtained a dataset consisting of 465,337 posts from 244 members from a popular online depression community to test all 10 proposed hypotheses. The results reveal that (i) the sense of shared identity, trust, informational support, and emotional support have positive effects on depression, while socializing support have negative effects on depression, and (ii) the sense of shared identity and trust have more positive effects on depression for female users than male users while socializing support has a more negative effect on depression for female users than for male users. The findings have important practical implications for designers and managers of online depression communities.
Landscape influence on the local distribution of western pond turtles

Spatial and temporal scales are important for understanding habitat associations because organisms have neither unbounded mobility nor perfect knowledge of their environment, but still must make decisions on where to seek food, shelter, and mates. Semi-aquatic turtles exemplify the need to evaluate potential habitat characteristics at a range of scales, because their ectothermy makes these animals particularly sensitive to local environmental conditions, yet their limited mobility spatially constrains selection of microsites. Microsite choice may also be sensitive to larger geographic context. We explored site occupancy and abundance of western pond turtles ( Actinemys [Emys] marmorata ) as a function of environmental variables over a range of spatial scales up to that of the entire watershed. We modeled occupancy at ponds and abundance at river sites using data from surveys conducted at 50 ponds and 58 river locations throughout the South Umpqua, Umpqua, and North Umpqua watersheds in western Oregon, USA in 1999 – 2000. The South Umpqua supported the greatest abundance of western pond turtles in rivers and the highest rates of occupancy in ponds. No turtles were detected in rivers of the North Umpqua, and only low numbers were detected in ponds in that watershed. Increasing amount of potential relative solar radiation was associated with increased probability of pond occupancy, particularly in the North Umpqua watershed. Pond turtle abundance in rivers increased with increasing distance to nearest pond, decreasing area of nearby ponds, and increasing area of nearby wetland habitat of all types, particularly in the Klamath Mountain and Coast Range physiographic provinces, which dominate the South Umpqua and Umpqua watersheds, respectively. Western pond-turtle occupancy and abundance varied with both broad-scale and ﬁ ne-scale habitat features, not solely to the ﬁ ne-scale features that are most often measured.
QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF THE DETECTION OF DEFECTS BY THERMOGRAPHIC INSPECTION IN VIBRATION MACHINERY MODE

1 General Introduction Through past decades, non-destructive inspection technology has been widely used and its leveraging range is continuously growing trend. Recently, quantitative inspection for machinery equipments and facilities with shock or vibrations with rotating have been required and the application of infrared thermograph technology as a useful measurement tool for its own heat dissipations was useful, in which a non-destructive testing (NDT) as a passive infrared thermography was applied. [1] Since infrared thermographic technology with high performances in sensitivity and resolution could scan a large area at the same time as one of nondestructive tastings, this infrared technology extended its applications including to detect cracks, delamination of defects. Also, as a methodology of faults monitoring with several advantages such as real-time detection and remote detection, it could be applied into the area of automotive, aerospace industry and nuclear plants. At these days, the applications of infrared applications were quickly expanded to the field of fault detection techniques and its utilizations of condition monitoring for the diagnosis were widely increased [2]. In this study, using the infrared thermography method for the diagnosis of ball during operation, evaluation of fault detection was carried out by experiments.
Prevalência, distribuição espacial e fatores associados à infecção por toxoplasma gondii em bovinos do stio histórico e patrimônio cultural Kalunga, estado de Goiás, Brasil

O Sitio Historico e Patrimonio Cultural Kalunga (SHPCK), localizado na regiao da Chapada dos Veadeiros, no cerrado goiano, e a maior comunidade remanescente de quilombos do Brasil. Apesar da agropecuaria de subsistencia ser a principal atividade local, as condicoes zoossanitarias do rebanho bovino para importantes zoonoses, como a toxoplasmose, sao desconhecidas. O estudo objetivou determinar a soroprevalencia, a distribuicao espacial e os fatores de risco associados a infeccao por T. gondii no rebanho bovino da comunidade Kalunga. O SHPCK foi dividido em cinco macrorregioes, das quais foram obtidas 1.533 amostras de soro sanguineo bovino. A pesquisa de anticorpos anti-T. gondii foi realizada por meio da reacao de imunofluorescencia indireta, estabelecendo-se como ponto de corte titulo de anticorpos ≥64. Os fatores de risco associados a infeccao foram avaliados por analise univariada e regressao logistica. Anticorpos anti-T. gondii foram identificados em 8,93% (137/1533) dos bovinos de todas as macrorregioes, com focos em 49,6% (66/133) dos rebanhos. Determinou-se como fatores associados a infeccao por T. gondii: quantidade de animais no rebanho (ate dez animais, OR: 30,56), compra de bovinos (animais maiores de 12 meses, OR: 2,57), faixa etaria dos animais (zero a 24 meses, OR: 1,95) e temperatura anual media (28,5°C a 31,1°C, OR: 1,48). A infeccao por T. gondii em bovinos e prevalente em todas as regioes da comunidade Kalunga, requerendo acoes de educacao em saude para prevencao da doenca nas populacoes humana e animal.
The impact of distillery effluent irrigation on plant-growth-promoting traits and taxonomic composition of bacterial communities in agricultural soil

Long-term irrigation of agricultural fields with distillery effluent (DE) may alter the physical, chemical and biological properties of the soil. Microorganisms are critical to the maintenance of soil health and productivity. However, the impact of DE irrigation on activity and taxonomy of soil microorganisms is poorly understood. Here we studied plant-growth-promoting (PGP) traits and taxonomic composition of bacterial communities in agricultural soil irrigated with DE in conjugation with irrigation water, using cultivation-dependent and - independent methods. Most of the bacterial isolates obtained from DE irrigated soil were found to display PGP traits (phosphate solubilization, siderophore, indolic compounds and ammonia production). Diverse bacterial taxa were found in both culturable bacterial community and 16S rRNA gene clone library, which belonged to bacterial phyla Proteobacteria (Alpha-, Beta- and Gamma- subdivisions), Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, Acidobacteria, Bacteroidetes and Gemmatimonadates. Overall, these results indicate that PGP traits and taxonomic diversity of soil bacterial communities were not severely impacted by DE irrigation.
Ticodendron incognitum and Neea pittieri associated ectomycorrhizal fungi in Neotropical mountain forest

Mycorrhizal associations have crucial importance in the ecology of the majority of terrestrial plants. However, information about mycorrhizal associations of multiple exotic plant taxa remains scant. In order to verify the recently described Ticodenrum incognitum (Ticodendraceae) ectomycorrhizal status I performed root sampling of 15 individuals in Alberto Manuel Brenes Nature Reserve, Costa Rica. For a better description of the local ectomycorrhizal species pool and for estimating potential host preference I sampled adjacent Neea pittieri individuals for putative ectomycorrhizal status. Results confirmed that Ticodenrum incognitum forms ectomycorrhiza with tomentella-thelephora and boletus lineages. In spite of overall scarce ectomycorrhizal associations, comparison of ectomycorrhizal communities of adjacent host species showed clear host preferences.