Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cue-elicited negative affect in impulsive smokers.

Impulsivity is associated with cigarette smoking, but the nature of this relationship and the mechanisms that maintain it are relatively unknown. The relationship has often been thought to reflect appetitive processes, but research suggests that an affective pathway exists as well. The present study tested the effect of impulsivity on affective responses to an environmental smoking cue. Adult smokers (N=62) were exposed to a neutral cue and a smoking cue in separate experimental sessions in a repeated-measures design. Mixed-effects regression analyses showed that larger postexposure increases in negative affect were associated with high scores on 2 facets of impulsivity: urgency, t(179)=6.16, p<. 001, and sensation seeking, t(179)=4.75, p<. 001. Heightened impulsivity was associated with lower levels of positive affect generally but not with positive affective responses to cue exposure. Findings provide support for the existence of a negative affective pathway linking impulsivity and cigarette smoking, and they suggest that this pathway may be specific to the urgency and sensation-seeking components of impulsivity.
Unveiling the Pharmacological Significance of Marine Streptomyces violaceusniger KS20: Isolation, Characterization, and Assessment of Its Biomedical Applications

Marine actinomycetes represent a highly favorable source of bioactive compounds and have been the mainstay of much research in recent years. Recent reports have shown that marine Streptomyces sp. can produce compounds with diverse and potent biological activities. Therefore, the key objective of the study was to isolate and screen a potential actinomycete from marine ecosystems of Devbagh and Tilmati beaches, Karwar. Streptomyces sp. KS20 was characterized and the ethyl acetate extract (EtOAc-Ex) was screened for biomedical applications. Streptomyces sp. KS20 produced grayish-white aerial and pale-yellow substrate mycelia and revealed an ancestral relationship with Streptomyces violaceusniger. Optimum growth of the organism was recorded at 30 °C and pH 7.0. The metabolite profiling of EtOAc-Ex expressed the existence of several bioactive metabolites, whereas the functional groups were indicated by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. A considerable antioxidant activity was shown for EtOAc-Ex with IC50 of 92.56 μg/mL. In addition to this, Streptomyces sp. KS20 exhibited significant antimicrobial properties, particularly against Escherichia coli, where a zone of inhibition measuring 36 ± 0.83 mm and a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 3.12 µg/mL were observed. The EtOAc-Ex even revealed significant antimycobacterial potency with IC50 of 6.25 μg/mL. Finally, the antiproliferative potentiality of EtOAc-Ex against A549 and PC-3 cell lines revealed a constant decline in cell viability while raising the concentration of EtOAc-Ex from 12.5 to 200 μg/mL. The IC50 values were determined as 94.73 μg/mL and 121.12 μg/mL for A549 and PC-3 cell lines, respectively. Overall, the exploration of secondary metabolites from marine Streptomyces sp. KS20 represents an exciting area of further research with the potential to discover novel bioactive compounds that could be developed into therapeutics for various medical applications.
High-Resolution Simulations of Mediterranean Sea Physical Oceanography Under Current and Scenario Climate Conditions: Model Description, Assessment and Scenario Analysis

This report presents the application of a regional ocean circulation model to simulate current conditions and mid-term projections of climate variability in the Mediterranean Sea. On the basis of IPCC-AR5 climate projections and previous projects findings, a detailed analysis of the available external forcing data was carried out to define the most up-to-date scenarios for the investigation period (2000-2050). A synthesis of the results obtained with the regional model for current and future climate is provided, by focusing on the state of the seawater temperature and salinity for specific marine regions of the Mediterranean Sea.
Progress in the research of cuproptosis and possible targets for cancer therapy

Developing novel cancer therapies that exploit programmed cell death pathways holds promise for advancing cancer treatment. According to a recently published study in Science, copper death (cuproptosis) occurs when intracellular copper is overloaded, triggering aggregation of lipidated mitochondrial proteins and Fe–S cluster proteins. This intriguing phenomenon is triggered by the instability of copper ions. Understanding the molecular mechanisms behind cuproptosis and its associated genes, as identified by Tsvetkov, including ferredoxin 1, lipoic acid synthase, lipoyltransferase 1, dihydrolipid amide dehydrogenase, dihydrolipoamide transacetylase, pyruvate dehydrogenase α1, pyruvate dehydrogenase β, metallothionein, glutaminase, and cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 2A, may open new avenues for cancer therapy. Here, we provide a new understanding of the role of copper death and related genes in cancer.
Noncollinear, inelastic four-wave mixing in the extreme ultraviolet

Driving four-wave mixing (FWM) processes with extreme ultraviolet (EUV) pulses could enable experimental approaches that have the potential to provide unique information on dynamics and correlations. In this work, we demonstrate inelastic FWM obtained by noncollinear mixing of two EUV pulses with different photon energies and an optical pulse in a diamond sample. This three-pulse interaction leads to the emission of an optical signal, propagating in the phase-matching direction and blue shifted by the photon energy difference of the two EUV pulses. The presented results demonstrate the feasibility of experiments such as the soft X-ray analogue of coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering, so far only theoretically conceived [Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 043001 (2002)], which can be further extended for studying vibrational and electronics dephasing in solid, liquid, or gaseous samples. © 2023 Optica Publishing Group under the terms oftheOpticaOpenAccessPublishingAgreement
Current Trend and New Opportunities for Multifunctional Bio-Scaffold Fabrication via High-Pressure Foaming

Biocompatible and biodegradable foams prepared using the high-pressure foaming technique have been widely investigated in recent decades as porous scaffolds for in vitro and in vivo tissue growth. In fact, the foaming process can operate at low temperatures to load bioactive molecules and cells within the pores of the scaffold, while the density and pore architecture, and, hence, properties of the scaffold, can be finely modulated by the proper selection of materials and processing conditions. Most importantly, the high-pressure foaming of polymers is an ideal choice to limit and/or avoid the use of cytotoxic and tissue-toxic compounds during scaffold preparation. The aim of this review is to provide the reader with the state of the art and current trend in the high-pressure foaming of biomedical polymers and composites towards the design and fabrication of multifunctional scaffolds for tissue engineering. This manuscript describes the application of the gas foaming process for bio-scaffold design and fabrication and highlights some of the most interesting results on: (1) the engineering of porous scaffolds featuring biomimetic porosity to guide cell behavior and to mimic the hierarchical architecture of complex tissues, such as bone; (2) the bioactivation of the scaffolds through the incorporation of inorganic fillers and drugs.
Robust Power System State Estimation From Rank-One Measurements

The unique features of current and upcoming energy systems, namely, high penetration of uncertain renewables, unpredictable customer participation, and purposeful manipulation of meter readings, all highlight the need for fast and robust power system state estimation (PSSE). In the absence of noise, PSSE is equivalent to solving a system of quadratic equations, which, also related to power flow analysis, is NP-hard in general. Assuming the availability of all power flow and voltage magnitude measurements, this paper first suggests a simple algebraic technique to transform the power flows into rank-one measurements, for which the <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\ell _1$</tex-math></inline-formula>-based misfit is minimized. To uniquely cope with the nonconvexity and nonsmoothness of <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\ell _1$</tex-math></inline-formula>-based PSSE, a deterministic proximal-linear solver is developed based on composite optimization, whose generalization using stochastic gradients is discussed too. This paper also develops conditions on the <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\ell _1$</tex-math></inline-formula>-based loss function such that exact recovery and quadratic convergence of the proposed scheme are guaranteed. Simulated tests using several IEEE benchmark test systems under different settings corroborate our theoretical findings, as well as the fast convergence and robustness of the proposed approaches.
Biochemical aspect of crime: a case study of testosterone levels among rapists in Enugu State

Testosterone concentration is a contributing factor to rape tendency. Our research aimed to determine the plasma testosterone concentrations in male rapists. Subjects (100) recruited from Enugu state prison grouped viz: Violent-rapist (VR), nonviolent-rapist (NVR), violent child-molester (VCM), nonviolent child-molester (NCM), and none rapist (NR). The blood sample was collected in the morning (8-9) for four months by veno-puncture and used in the determination. The testosterone levels determination was by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method. The results indicated the mean age of 33 (VR), 34 (NVR), 46 (VCM), 47 (NCM), and 32 (NR). The age at first intercourse was highest in NCM (18) and lowest in VR (13). Heterosexuals were highest in VR (14) and lowest in NCM (6). Homosexuals were highest in NCM (4) and non in VM, NVR, and NR (0). In bisexuals, NVR and NCM were the highest (4), the NR (1) was the lowest. The concentrations of testosterone (in ng/100ml) were 8.65 (VR), 9.23 (NVR), 9.63 (VCM), 7.73 (NCM) and 7.95 (NR). The testosterone concentration of the VR, NVR, and VCM is higher than NR. The NCM was lower than the NR. This result suggests that VR, NVR, and VCM are associated with higher testosterone concentrations in males. The modest associations indicate that there might be other influencing factors. The relationship between testosterone levels in rapists and child molestation is, at best, tentative. In some people, hormonal factors might influence the likelihood of rape and child molestation.
Translocal Geographies: Spaces, Places, Connections

‘Translocal Geographies: Spaces, Places and Connections’ sets out a new agenda for mobility - one which emphasises the enduring connectedness between, and embeddedness within, places during the experience of mobility. While in recent years, a proliferation of debates has emerged around the links between mobility, movement and the formation of transnational or diasporic identities, our book breaks new ground by arguing for a spatial understanding of translocality that situates the migrant experience within/across particular ‘locales’ without confining it to the territorial boundedness of the nation-state. The main feature is the examination of these issues through three broad themes – home and family, neighbourhoods and city spaces – each of which allows the reader to engage with migrants’ diverse practices that are specifically local, yet spatially global. This is achieved through its coverage of original empirical research in locations and interconnected geographical contexts across the world – Europe, Australasia, Asia, Africa, Central and Latin America. The book concludes that ‘translocal geographies’ offer a more variegated understanding of the translocal networks and registers of affiliation which shape migrants' experiences across the world.
Alternative Non-Mammalian Animal and Cellular Methods for the Study of Host–Fungal Interactions

In the study of fungal pathogenesis, alternative methods have gained prominence due to recent global legislation restricting the use of mammalian animals in research. The principle of the 3 Rs (replacement, reduction, and refinement) is integrated into regulations and guidelines governing animal experimentation in nearly all countries. This principle advocates substituting vertebrate animals with other invertebrate organisms, embryos, microorganisms, or cell cultures. This review addresses host–fungus interactions by employing three-dimensional (3D) cultures, which offer more faithful replication of the in vivo environment, and by utilizing alternative animal models to replace traditional mammals. Among these alternative models, species like Caenorhabditis elegans and Danio rerio share approximately 75% of their genes with humans. Furthermore, models such as Galleria mellonella and Tenebrio molitor demonstrate similarities in their innate immune systems as well as anatomical and physiological barriers, resembling those found in mammalian organisms.
Impact of Protein Aggregates on Sporulation and Germination of Bacillus subtilis

In order to improve our general understanding of protein aggregate (PA) management and impact in bacteria, different model systems and processes need to be investigated. As such, we developed an inducible synthetic PA model system to investigate PA dynamics in the Gram-positive model organism Bacillus subtilis. This confirmed previous observations that PA segregation in this organism seems to follow the Escherichia coli paradigm of nucleoid occlusion governing polar localization and asymmetric segregation during vegetative growth. However, our findings also revealed that PAs can readily persist throughout the entire sporulation process after encapsulation in the forespore during sporulation. Moreover, no deleterious effects of PA presence on sporulation, germination and spore survival against heat or UV stress could be observed. Our findings therefore indicate that the sporulation process is remarkably robust against perturbations by PAs and misfolded proteins.
Cerium Oxide Nanoparticles Protect Cortical Astrocytes from Oxygen–Glucose Deprivation through Activation of the Ca2+ Signaling System

Most of the works aimed at studying the cytoprotective properties of nanocerium are usually focused on the mechanisms of regulation of the redox status in cells while the complex effects of nanocerium on calcium homeostasis, the expression of pro-apoptotic and protective proteins are generally overlooked. There is a problem of a strong dependence of the effects of cerium oxide nanoparticles on their size, method of preparation and origin, which significantly limits their use in medicine. In this study, using the methods of molecular biology, immunocytochemistry, fluorescence microscopy and inhibitory analysis, the cytoprotective effect of cerium oxide nanoparticles obtained by laser ablation on cultured astrocytes of the cerebral cortex under oxygen–glucose deprivation (OGD) and reoxygenation (ischemia-like conditions) are shown. The concentration effects of cerium oxide nanoparticles on ROS production by astrocytes in an acute experiment and the effects of cell pre-incubation with nanocerium on ROS production under OGD conditions were studied. The dose dependence for nanocerium protection of cortical astrocytes from a global increase in calcium ions during oxygen–glucose deprivation and cell death were demonstrated. The concentration range of cerium oxide nanoparticles at which they have a pro-oxidant effect on cells has been identified. The effect of nanocerium concentrations on astrocyte preconditioning, accompanied by increased expression of protective proteins and limited ROS production induced by oxygen–glucose deprivation, has been investigated. In particular, a correlation was found between an increase in the concentration of cytosolic calcium under the action of nanocerium and the suppression of cell death. As a result, the positive and negative effects of nanocerium under oxygen–glucose deprivation and reoxygenation in astrocytes were revealed at the molecular level. Nanocerium was found to act as a “double-edged sword” and to have a strictly defined concentration therapeutic “window”.
Morphometric and Nanomechanical Screening of Peripheral Blood Cells with Atomic Force Microscopy for Label-Free Assessment of Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease, and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Neurodegenerative disorders (NDDs) are complex, multifactorial disorders with significant social and economic impact in today’s society. NDDs are predicted to become the second-most common cause of death in the next few decades due to an increase in life expectancy but also to a lack of early diagnosis and mainly symptomatic treatment. Despite recent advances in diagnostic and therapeutic methods, there are yet no reliable biomarkers identifying the complex pathways contributing to these pathologies. The development of new approaches for early diagnosis and new therapies, together with the identification of non-invasive and more cost-effective diagnostic biomarkers, is one of the main trends in NDD biomedical research. Here we summarize data on peripheral biomarkers, biofluids (cerebrospinal fluid and blood plasma), and peripheral blood cells (platelets (PLTs) and red blood cells (RBCs)), reported so far for the three most common NDDs—Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD), and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). PLTs and RBCs, beyond their primary physiological functions, are increasingly recognized as valuable sources of biomarkers for NDDs. Special attention is given to the morphological and nanomechanical signatures of PLTs and RBCs as biophysical markers for the three pathologies. Modifications of the surface nanostructure and morphometric and nanomechanical signatures of PLTs and RBCs from patients with AD, PD, and ALS have been revealed by atomic force microscopy (AFM). AFM is currently experiencing rapid and widespread adoption in biomedicine and clinical medicine, in particular for early diagnostics of various medical conditions. AFM is a unique instrument without an analog, allowing the generation of three-dimensional cell images with extremely high spatial resolution at near-atomic scale, which are complemented by insights into the mechanical properties of cells and subcellular structures. Data demonstrate that AFM can distinguish between the three pathologies and the normal, healthy state. The specific PLT and RBC signatures can serve as biomarkers in combination with the currently used diagnostic tools. We highlight the strong correlation of the morphological and nanomechanical signatures between RBCs and PLTs in PD, ALS, and AD.
TOWARDS DETERMINISTIC LATERAL DISPLACEMENT-BASED CONTINUOUS-FLOW MICROFLUIDIC PARTICLE REACTORS VIA DIRECT LASER WRITING

Multi-stage fluidic reaction schemes for suspended particles ( e.g ., micro/nanospheres, cells, bacterial species, and extracellular vesicles) underly a diversity of chemical and biological applications. Conventional methods for executing such protocols can be exceedingly time, labor, and/or cost intensive. Microfluidic strategies can address these drawbacks; however, such technologies typically rely on clean room-based microfabrication that suffer from similar deficits for manufacturing the chips. To simultaneously overcome these challenges, here we explore the use of the submicron-scale additive manufacturing approach, “Two-Photon Direct Laser Writing (DLW)”, as a means for fabricating micro-fluidic “Deterministic Lateral Displacement (DLD)” arrays capable of passively guiding suspended particles across discrete, adjacent flow streams—the fundamental capability of continuous-flow multi-stage particle microreactors. Experimental results from microfluidic experimentation with 5 μ m-in-diameter fluorescent particles revealed effective particle transport across flow streams, with 87.5% of fluorescent peaks detected in the designated, opposing outlet following the DLD array. These results suggest utility of the presented approach for micro-and nanoparticle-based microfluidic reactors targeting wide-ranging chemical and biological applications.
Editorial: Chondrogenic potentials, protocols and mechanisms of mesenchymal progenitor cells

From the pivotal observation of the clonogenic nature of bone-forming cells in bone marrow by Friedenstein (1990); Bianco et al. (2008) to its application in thousands of clinical trials (see ClinicalTrials.gov), the history of mesenchymal stem cell research has remained vivid (Caplan, 1991). Recently, the International Society for Cell & Gene Therapy (ISCT) committee provided a statement to clarify the nomenclature of mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (Viswanathan et al., 2019). Mesenchymal stem/progenitor cells (MSCs) exist in multiple tissues within our body. These cells when dissociated from the native tissue and cultured in vitro show the potential to differentiate into multiple mesodermal cell lineages, suggesting applicability to a myriad of tissue regeneration approaches (James et al., 2012). Mesenchymal stem cell-based therapy is used in musculoskeletal repair (James and Péault, 2019; Xu et al., 2021). Even though bone marrow was the first source of MSCs, cells from adipose tissue are presently a major supply of related cells for various applications (Craig et al., 2022). Collectively coined by the term “adipose stromal vascular fraction derived cells”, they constitute stem cells together with endothelial, immune, and other supporting cells (Thottappillil et al., 2023). Many reconstructive and regeneration therapies rely on mesenchymal stem cells, but the exact mechanism underlying the broad term “mesenchymal stem cell-mediated tissue regeneration” is not well understood. The role of MSCs in tissue repair can range from complete restorative of damaged tissue architecture to a growth factor secretor and even to an immune modulator (Scott et al., 2011; Murray and Peault, 2015; Caplan, 2017; Gomez-Salazar et al., 2020). Moreover, mesenchymal progenitors are heterogeneous in their identity and function. One of the common niches for these progenitor cells is the perivascular space of blood vessels, and hence these cells are known as perivascular stem cells or PSCs. PSCs span both pericytes in the microvasculature and adventitial cells around larger vessels (Crisan et al., 2008; Corselli et al., 2013; James and Péault, 2019). Our recent studies have identified a diversity of perivascular progenitors (Ding et al., 2020; Xu et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2020). OPEN ACCESS
Highlighting the microbial community of Kuflu cheese, an artisanal
 Turkish mold-ripened variety, by high-throughput sequencing

Kuflu cheese, a popular variety of traditional Turkish mold-ripened cheeses, is characterized by its semi-hard texture and blue-green color. It is important to elucidate the microbiota of Kuflu cheese produced from raw milk to standardize and sustain its sensory properties. This study aimed to examine the bacteria, yeasts, and filamentous mold communities in Kuflu cheese using high-throughput amplicon sequencing based on 16S and ITS2 regions. Lactococcus , Streptococcus , and Staphylococcus were the most dominant bacterial genera while Bifidobacterium genus was found to be remarkably high in some Kuflu cheese samples. Penicillium genus dominated the filamentous mold biota while the yeasts with the highest relative abundances were detected as Debaryomyces , Pichia , and Candida . The genera Virgibacillus and Paraliobacillus , which were not previously reported for mold-ripened cheeses, were detected at high relative abundances in some Kuflu cheese samples. None of the genera that include important food pathogens like Salmonella , Campylobacter , Listeria were detected in the samples. This is the first experiment in which the microbiota of Kuflu cheeses were evaluated with a metagenomic approach. This study provided an opportunity to evaluate Kuflu cheese, which was previously examined for fungal composition, in terms of both pathogenic and beneficial bacteria.