Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Stable decoding of working memory load through frequency bands

ABSTRACT Numerous studies have shown that working memory modulates every frequency band’s power in the human brain. Yet, the question of how the highly distributed working memory adapts to external demands remains unresolved. Here, we explored frequency band modulations underlying working memory load, taking executive control under account. We hypothesized that synchronizations underlying various cognitive functions may be sequenced in time to avoid interference and that transient modulation of decoding accuracy of task difficulty would vary with increasing difficulty. We recorded whole scalp EEG data from 12 healthy participants, while they performed a visuo-spatial n-back task with three conditions of increasing difficulty, after an initial learning phase. We analyzed evoked spectral perturbations and time-resolved decoding of individual synchronization. Surprisingly, our results provide evidence for persistent decoding above the level-of-chance (83.17% AUC) for combined frequency bands. In fact, the decoding accuracy was higher for the combined than for isolated frequency bands (AUC from 65.93% to 74.30%). However, in line with our hypothesis, frequency band clusters transiently emerged in parieto-occipital regions within two separate time windows for alpha-/beta-band (relative synchronization from approximately 200 to 600 ms) and for the delta-/theta-band (relative desynchronization from approximately 600 to 1000 ms). Overall, these findings highlight concurrent sustained and transient measurable features of working memory load. This could reflect the emergence of stability within and between functional networks of the complex working memory system. In turn, this process allows energy savings to cope with external demands.
Axial alignment is a critical regulator of knee osteoarthritis

Although osteoarthritis (OA), a leading cause of disability, has been associated with joint malalignment, scientific translational evidence for this link is lacking. In a clinical case study, we provide evidence of osteochondral recovery upon unloading symptomatic isolated medial tibiofemoral knee OA associated with varus malalignment. By mapping response correlations at high resolution, we identify spatially complex degenerative changes in cartilage after overloading in a clinically relevant ovine model. We further report that unloading diminishes OA cartilage degeneration and alterations of critical parameters of the subchondral bone plate in a similar topographic fashion. Last, therapeutic unloading shifted the articular cartilage and subchondral bone phenotype to normal and restored several physiological correlations disturbed in neutral and varus OA, suggesting a protective effect on the integrity of the entire osteochondral unit. Collectively, these findings identify modifiable trajectories with considerable translational potential to reduce the burden of human OA. Description Defined alteration of load regulates the development of knee osteoarthritis in a human case study and in sheep. Taking a load off Osteoarthritis (OA) is characterized by subchondral bone thickening in addition to cartilage degeneration. Here, Oláh et al. studied the role of joint alignment in OA development. Unloading the knee joint of a patient with OA with varus malalignment by high tibial osteotomy, which corrected axial malalignment, improved pain and cartilage microstructure and reduced subchondral bone thickness. Similarly, joint overload in OA induced by varus malalignment and partial medial meniscectomy in sheep led to cartilage degeneration and bone plate thickening, which could be corrected by unloading the joint. Results detail the structural and biochemical changes to the knee during osteoarthritis and support the therapeutic potential of unloading via correction of joint malalignment.
Pharmacist involvement in a comprehensive remote monitoring and telemanagement program

Abstract Purpose To describe the role of the pharmacist in and initial outcomes of a remote monitoring and telemanagement program implemented to proactively provide outreach to high-risk patients during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Summary A remote monitoring and telemanagement program was developed at a large, nonprofit, multicenter, academic health system as an innovative way to manage patients at risk for decompensation of their chronic diseases in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The program mobilized an interprofessional workforce including nurses, medical assistants, social workers, virtualists, patient schedulers, and ambulatory care pharmacists. Patient outreach included a combination of telephone calls and digital outreach. The goal was to monitor patients’ health status remotely and assess for early signs of decompensation. Pharmacists conducted telephone outreach to answer patients’ medication questions and address signs and symptoms of worsening chronic conditions. Pharmacists were able to utilize an existing collaborative practice agreement (CPA) to adjust medication therapy and order laboratory tests as needed for safety and efficacy monitoring. Since the program’s inception in April 2020 through January 2021, pharmacists have addressed over 1,600 medication questions or instances of worsening clinical signs and symptoms. Conclusion A comprehensive remote monitoring and telemanagement program utilized a multidisciplinary team to monitor high-risk patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Pharmacists contributed to chronic disease management via the use of a comprehensive CPA, allowing medications to be started, stopped, or adjusted on the basis of patients’ needs, to improve population health management and reduce workload for primary care providers who were addressing new and emerging issues during the pandemic.
The protective effects of Mirtazapine against lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced brain vascular hyperpermeability

ABSTRACT Sepsis is mainly characterized by severe inflammation triggered by infection, and sepsis-associated encephalopathy (SAE) is defined as brain damage caused by sepsis. Disruption of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) triggered by injured brain microvascular endothelial cells (BMECs) and damaged tight junction (TJ) structure is closely associated with the pathogenesis of SAE. The present research proposed to evaluate the potential therapeutic effects of Mirtazapine, a central presynaptic α2 receptor antagonist, on LPS-induced BBB disruption. The mice were administered with normal saline and 10 mg/kg Mirtazapine for 8 consecutive days, and from day 6, the experiment group of mice received LPS for 2 days to induce SAE. We found that the increased BBB permeability, elevated concentrations of inflammatory factors in brain tissues, and downregulated zonula occludens −1 (ZO-1) were observed in LPS-stimulated mice, all of which were reversed by 10 mg/kg Mirtazapine. In the in vitro assay, bEnd.3 brain endothelial cells were treated with 1 μM LPS in the absence or presence of Mirtazapine (25, 50 μM). We found that LPS-treated cells had significantly declined transendothelial electrical resistance (TEER), increased monolayer permeability, elevated production of inflammatory factors, and downregulated ZO-1. However, 25 and 50 μM Mirtazapine ameliorated all these LPS- induced aberrations. Mirtazapine also mitigated the decreased level of NF-E2–related factor 2 (Nrf2) in LPS-challenged endothelial cells. The protective effect of Mirtazapine on endothelial permeability against LPS was significantly abolished by the knockdown of Nrf2. Collectively, we concluded that Mirtazapine exerted protective effects on LPS-induced endothelial cells hyperpermeability by upregulating Nrf2. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT
Identity and Relational Factors Associated with Sexual Role and Positioning for Anal Sex among Colombian Sexual Minority Men

ABSTRACT This study aimed to identify Top, Bottom, and Versatile sexual role identities and anal sex behavior profiles using latent class analysis in a sample of 942 sexual minority men living in Bogotá. A Versatile-insertive and receptive class (52.2%) was the most prevalent of the four resulting classes, whereas the least common was a class (1.7%) that did not use labels and had a low probability of anal sex. We examined whether identity and relational factors (i.e., sexual orientation, LGBT collective identity, and partner type) were associated with profiles. Gay identity was associated with versatile and receptive classes and bisexual identity was associated with insertive and versatile classes. LGBT collective identity was associated with the class characterized by Bottom identity and receptive positioning. Partner type was not associated with class membership, but versatile behaviors were more common among encounters with a main partner. Models using data at different timescales offered consistent patterns of behavior between the last encounter and the past three months, though the versatile class in the three-month model split into two classes based on frequency of versatile positioning. Findings highlight the relationship between sexual identity and positioning and can inform interventions for sexual health education and identity development.
Recurrence of Substantiated Maltreatment Reports between Low-Income Parents With Disabilities and Their Propensity-Score Matched Sample Without Disabilities

Using the Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect dataset, 127 low-income parents with disabilities and a propensity score matched sample of 254 parents without disabilities were compared for the rates of repeated substantiated child maltreatment allegations and potentially distinct risks for substantiated child maltreatment recurrence. The number of substantiated child maltreatment allegations was not significantly higher for low-income parents with disabilities (M = 1.17, SD = 1.83) than their matched sample (M = .93, SD = 1.44) (t = −1.29, p = .197). Findings from the negative binomial regression indicated that parental disability was also not a significant predictor for repeated substantiated child maltreatment allegations among low-income parents after controlling other risk factors (Exp(B) = 1.16, p < . 353). In both groups, black parents were more likely to have repeated substantiated maltreatments than white parents. For parents with disabilities, being an older parent, receiving SNAP benefits, having a daughter, and having a child in continued out-of-home care significantly increased the risk for repeated substantiations while having a GED or higher education degree and living with a larger number of family decreased the risk. For parents without disabilities, family instability was the only additional risk factor for repeated maltreatment substantiations.
AIME: Autoencoder-based integrative multi-omics data embedding that allows for confounder adjustments

In the integrative analyses of omics data, it is often of interest to extract data representation from one data type that best reflect its relations with another data type. This task is traditionally fulfilled by linear methods such as canonical correlation analysis (CCA) and partial least squares (PLS). However, information contained in one data type pertaining to the other data type may be complex and in nonlinear form. Deep learning provides a convenient alternative to extract low-dimensional nonlinear data embedding. In addition, the deep learning setup can naturally incorporate the effects of clinical confounding factors into the integrative analysis. Here we report a deep learning setup, named Autoencoder-based Integrative Multi-omics data Embedding (AIME), to extract data representation for omics data integrative analysis. The method can adjust for confounder variables, achieve informative data embedding, rank features in terms of their contributions, and find pairs of features from the two data types that are related to each other through the data embedding. In simulation studies, the method was highly effective in the extraction of major contributing features between data types. Using two real microRNA-gene expression datasets, one with confounder variables and one without, we show that AIME excluded the influence of confounders, and extracted biologically plausible novel information. The R package based on Keras and the TensorFlow backend is available at https://github.com/tianwei-yu/AIME.
A narrative review of molecular mechanism and therapeutic effect of cannabidiol (CBD)

Cannabidiol (CBD) is an abundant non‐psychoactive phytocannabinoid in cannabis extracts which has high affinity on a series of receptors, including Type 1 cannabinoid receptor (CB1), Type 2 cannabinoid receptor (CB2), GPR55, transient receptor potential vanilloid (TRPV) and peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor gamma (PPARγ). By modulating the activities of these receptors, CBD exhibits multiple therapeutic effects, including neuroprotective, antiepileptic, anxiolytic, antipsychotic, anti‐inflammatory, analgesic and anticancer properties. CBD could also be applied to treat or prevent COVID‐19 and its complications. Here, we provide a narrative review of CBD's applications in human diseases: from mechanism of action to clinical trials.
Genetic diversity of avian paramyxoviruses isolated from wild birds and domestic poultry in Taiwan between 2009 and 2020

Avian paramyxoviruses (APMVs) belonging to the subfamily Avulavirinae within the family Paramyxoviridae. APMVs consist of twenty-two known species and are constantly isolated from a wide variety of avian species around the world. In this study, the APMV isolates obtained from wild birds and domestic poultry during 2009–2020 in Taiwan were genetically characterized by phylogenetic analysis of their complete fusion protein gene or full-length genome. As a result, 57 APMV isolates belonging to seven different species were obtained during this period and subsequently identified as APMV-1 (n=17), APMV-2 (n=1), APMV-4 (n=25), APMV-6 (n=8), APMV-12 (n=2), APMV-21 (n=2) and APMV-22 (n=2). Sanger sequencing was performed to provide 22 full-length genome sequences and 35 complete fusion protein gene sequences for the APMV isolates. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the recovered viruses were closely related to Eurasian strains, except five class I APMV-1 and four APMV-4 isolates were related to North America strains. Our findings provided more evidence for the intercontinental transmission of APMVs between Eurasia and North America by wild birds. In addition, according to the criteria of the classification system based on complete fusion protein gene sequences, three novel genotypes within APMV-2, APMV-12, and APMV-22 were identified. Together, this investigation provided a broader perspective on the genetic diversity, evolution, and distribution of APMVs in multiple avian host species sampled in Taiwan.
Vaccine-induced COVID-19 mimicry syndrome

To fight the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the RNA virus SARS-CoV-2, a global vaccination campaign is in progress to achieve the immunization of billions of people mainly with adenoviral vector- or mRNA-based vaccines, all of which encode the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein. In some rare cases, cerebral venous sinus thromboses (CVST) have been reported as a severe side effect occurring 4–14 days after the first vaccination and were often accompanied by thrombocytopenia. Besides CVST, splanchnic vein thromboses (SVT) and other thromboembolic events have been observed. These events only occurred following vaccination with adenoviral vector-based vaccines but not following vaccination with mRNA-based vaccines. Meanwhile, scientists have proposed an immune-based pathomechanism and the condition has been coined vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT). Here, we describe an unexpected mechanism that could explain thromboembolic events occurring with DNA-based but not with RNA-based vaccines. We show that DNA-encoded mRNA coding for Spike protein can be spliced in a way that the transmembrane anchor of Spike is lost, so that nearly full-length Spike is secreted from cells. Secreted Spike variants could potentially initiate severe side effects when binding to cells via the ACE2 receptor. Avoiding such splicing events should become part of a rational vaccine design to increase safety of prospective vaccines.
Self‐prioritization is supported by interactions between large‐scale brain networks

Resting‐state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has provided solid evidence that the default mode network (DMN) is implicated in self‐referential processing. The functional connectivity of the DMN has also been observed in tasks where self‐referential processing leads to self‐prioritization (SPE) in perception and decision‐making. However, we are less certain about whether (i) SPE solely depends on the interplay within parts of the DMN or is driven by multiple brain networks and (ii) whether SPE is associated with a unique component of interconnected networks or can be explained by related effects such as emotion prioritization. We addressed these questions by identifying and comparing topological clusters of networks involved in self‐and emotion prioritization effects generated in an associative‐matching task. Using network‐based statistics, we found that SPE controlled by emotion is supported by a unique component of interacting networks, including the medial prefrontal part of the DMN (MPFC), frontoparietal network (FPN) and insular salience network (SN). This component emerged as a result of a focal effect confined to few connections, indicating that interaction between DMN, FPC and SN is critical to cognitive operations for the SPE. This result was validated on a separate data set. In contrast, prioritization of happy emotion was associated with a component formed by interactions between the rostral prefrontal part of SN, posterior parietal part of FPN and the MPFC, whereas sad emotion reveals a cluster of the DMN, dorsal attention network (DAN) and visual medial network (VMN). We discussed theoretical and methodological aspects of these findings within the more general domain of social cognition.
The inactivated NDV-HXP-S COVID-19 vaccine induces a significantly higher ratio of neutralizing to non-neutralizing antibodies in humans as compared to mRNA vaccines

NDV-HXP-S is a recombinant Newcastle disease virus based-vaccine against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which expresses an optimized (HexaPro) spike protein on its surface. The vaccine can be produced in embryonated chicken eggs using the same process as that employed for the production of influenza virus vaccines. Here we performed a secondary analysis of the antibody responses after vaccination with inactivated NDV-HXP-S in a Phase I clinical study in Thailand. The SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing and spike binding activity of NDV-HXP-S post-vaccination serum samples was compared to that of matched samples from mRNA BNT162b2 (Pfizer) vaccinees. Neutralizing activity of sera from NDV-HXP-S vaccinees was comparable to that of individuals vaccinated with BNT162b2. Interstingly, the spike binding activity of the NDV-HXP-S vaccinee samples was lower than that of sera obtained from individuals vaccinated with the mRNA vaccine. This let us to calculate ratios between binding and neutralizing antibody titers. Samples from NDV-HXP-S vaccinees had binding to neutralizing activity ratios similar to those of convalescent sera suggesting a very high proportion of neutralizing antibodies and low non-neutralizing antibody titers. Further analysis showed that, in contrast to mRNA vaccination, which induces strong antibody titers to the receptor binding domain (RBD), the N-terminal domain, and the S2 domain, NDV-HXP-S vaccination induces a very RBD focused response with little reactivity to S2. This explains the high proportion of neutralizing antibodies since most neutralizing epitopes are located in the RBD. In conclusion, vaccination with inactivated NDV-HXP-S induces a high proportion of neutralizing antibodies and absolute neutralizing antibody titers comparable to those after mRNA vaccination.
Using DNA Barcoding Methods to Identify Wild Huckleberry, Vaccinium membranaceum, as a Classroom Project

Abstract In 2019 the Biology 100 class of Wenatchee Valley College at Omak (WVCO) worked on a DNA barcoding project with Tabitha Graves's huckleberry research project for bear habitat in Glacier National Park, Montana. Students isolated DNA from huckleberry leaf samples from the National Park. They then ran a PCR with an rbcL primer pair to target the rubisco gene in plant chloroplasts. The PCR product was sequenced by a private company, Genewiz, and the DNA sequence was analyzed through DNA Subway. Twelve student groups, one or two students per group, isolated DNA from huckleberry leaf samples that was sequenced and analyzed. Twelve samples were determined to be of the genus Vaccinium. One of the twelve samples distinguished between the five species of huckleberry, identified the sample as Vaccinium membranaceum, and was published in GenBank. They showed that DNA barcoding can be used successfully to aid in the identification of this species of huckleberry. There were many student outcomes, including hands-on skills with the tools of DNA technology, contributing to a real-world project, and analyzing data for DNA sequence matches. This is a great lab exercise to use for AP biology classes, two-year community college biology classes, and four-year college biology classes at the 100 to 200 level.
Russia and China between cooperation and competition at the regional and global level. Introduction

ABSTRACT The steady intensification of Sino-Russian cooperation over the past few years has triggered a surge in scholarly interest. However, in light of the far-reaching geopolitical implications of the Sino-Russian rapprochement, most studies of Sino-Russian dynamics are not only conducted from the disciplinary perspective of International Relations (IR), but also continue to be embedded in realist assumptions and power-political perspectives. This special issue seeks to advance the scholarly knowledge on the Sino-Russian relationship by making the case for expanding the scope of analysis theoretically, disciplinarily and empirically. This introductory article first sets the context by providing a historical overview of key developments in Sino-Russian relations. Following an in-depth review of the IR-dominated literature, it then substantiates the claim that there is a need to broaden the scope of analysis in order to move beyond the IR realist perspective that predominates the literature on the Sino-Russian relationship. Together, the articles in the special issue add new insights to the literature by analyzing the depth of the relationship; scrutinizing Russian discourses on China, in both historical and contemporary contexts; exploring the limitations and dilemmas of the relationship; and paying specific attention to the agency of the countries “in-between”, from Central Asia to Mongolia.