Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Schistosoma mansoni coactivator associated arginine methyltransferase 1 (SmCARM1) effect on parasite reproduction

Introduction The human blood fluke parasite Schistosoma mansoni relies on diverse mechanisms to adapt to its diverse environments and hosts. Epigenetic mechanisms play a central role in gene expression regulation, culminating in such adaptations. Protein arginine methyltransferases (PRMTs) promote posttranslational modifications, modulating the function of histones and non-histone targets. The coactivator-associated arginine methyltransferase 1 (CARM1/PRMT4) is one of the S. mansoni proteins with the PRMT core domain. Methods We carried out in silico analyses to verify the expression of SmPRMTs in public datasets from different infection stages, single-sex versus mixed-worms, and cell types. The SmCARM1 function was evaluated by RNA interference. Gene expression levels were assessed, and phenotypic alterations were analyzed in vitro, in vivo, and ex vivo. Results The scRNAseq data showed that SmPRMTs expression is not enriched in any cell cluster in adult worms or schistosomula, except for Smcarm1 expression which is enriched in clusters of ambiguous cells and Smprmt1 in NDF+ neurons and stem/germinal cells from schistosomula. Smprmt1 is also enriched in S1 and late female germ cells from adult worms. After dsRNA exposure in vitro, we observed a Smcarm1 knockdown in schistosomula and adult worms, 83 and 69%, respectively. Smcarm1-knockdown resulted in reduced oviposition and no significant changes in the schistosomula or adult worm phenotypes. In vivo analysis after murine infection with Smcarm1 knocked-down schistosomula, showed no significant change in the number of worms recovered from mice, however, a significant reduction in the number of eggs recovered was detected. The ex vivo worms presented a significant decrease in the ovary area with a lower degree of cell differentiation, vitelline glands cell disorganization, and a decrease in the testicular lobe area. The worm tegument presented a lower number of tubercles, and the ventral sucker of the parasites presented a damaged tegument and points of detachment from the parasite body. Discussion This work brings the first functional characterization of SmCARM1 shedding light on its roles in S. mansoni biology and its potential as a drug target. Additional studies are necessary to investigate whether the reported effects of Smcarm1 knockdown are a consequence of the SmCARM1-mediated methylation of histone tails involved in DNA packaging or other non-histone proteins.
A polynomial invariant for knots via von Neumann algebras

Thus, the trivial link with n components is represented by the pair (l ,n), and the unknot is represented by (si$2 * * • s n i , n) for any n, where si, $2, • • • > sn_i are the usual generators for Bn. The second example shows that the correspondence of (b, n) with b is many-to-one, and a theorem of A. Markov [15] answers, in theory, the question of when two braids represent the same link. A Markov move of type 1 is the replacement of (6, n) by (gbg~, n) for any element g in Bn, and a Markov move of type 2 is the replacement of (6, n) by (6s J 1 , n-hl). Markov's theorem asserts that (6, n) and (c, ra) represent the same closed braid (up to link isotopy) if and only if they are equivalent for the equivalence relation generated by Markov moves of types 1 and 2 on the disjoint union of the braid groups. Unforunately, although the conjugacy problem has been solved by F. Garside [8] within each braid group, there is no known algorithm to decide when (6, n) and (c, m) are equivalent. For a proof of Markov's theorem see J. Birman's book [4]. The difficulty of applying Markov's theorem has made it difficult to use braids to study links. The main evidence that they might be useful was the existence of a representation of dimension n — 1 of Bn discovered by W. Burau in [5]. The representation has a parameter t, and it turns out that the determinant of 1-(Burau matrix) gives the Alexander polynomial of the closed braid. Even so, the Alexander polynomial occurs with a normalization which seemed difficult to predict.
Coherent structures and turbulence

This is a personal statement on the present state of understanding of coherent structures, in particular their spatial details and dynamical significance. The characteristic measures of coherent structures are discussed, emphasizing coherent vorticity as the crucial property. We present here a general scheme for educing structures in any transitional or fully turbulent flow. From smoothed vorticity maps in convenient flow planes, this scheme recognizes patterns of the same mode and parameter size, and then phase-aligns and ensemble-averages them to obtain coherent structure measures. The departure of individual realizations from the ensemble average denotes incoherent turbulence. This robust scheme has been used to educe structures from velocity data using a rake of hot wires as well as direct numerical simulations and can educe structures using newer measurement techniques such as digital image processing. Our recent studies of coherent structures in several free shear flows are briefly reviewed. Detailed data in circular and elliptic jets, mixing layers, and a plane wake reveal that incoherent turbulence is produced at the ‘saddles’ and then advected to the ‘centres’ of the structures. The mechanism of production of turbulence in shear layers is the stretching of longitudinal vortices or ‘ribs’ which connect the predominantly spanwise ‘rolls’; the ribs induce spanwise contortions of rolls and cause mixing and dissipation, mostly at points where they connect with rolls. We also briefly discuss the role of coherent structures in aerodynamic noise generation and argue that the structure breakdown process, rather than vortex pairing, is the dominant mechanism of noise generation. The ‘cut-and-connect’ interaction of coherent structures is proposed as a specific mechanism of aerodynamic noise generation, and a simple analytical model of it shows that it can provide acceptable predictions of jet noise. The coherent-structures approach to turbulence, apart from explaining flow physics, has also enabled turbulence management via control of structure evolution and interactions. We also discuss some new ideas under investigation: in particular, helicity as a characteristic property of coherent structures.
Growth and Molecular Responses of Tomato to Prolonged and Short-Term Heat Exposure

Tomatoes are one of the most important vegetables for human consumption. In the Mediterranean’s semi-arid and arid regions, where tomatoes are grown in the field, global average surface temperatures are predicted to increase. We investigated tomato seed germination at elevated temperatures and the impact of two different heat regimes on seedlings and adult plants. Selected exposures to 37 °C and heat waves at 45 °C mirrored frequent summer conditions in areas with a continental climate. Exposure to 37 °C or 45 °C differently affected seedlings’ root development. Both heat stresses inhibited primary root length, while lateral root number was significantly suppressed only after exposure to 37 °C. Heat stress treatments induced significant accumulation of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and reduced abscisic acid (ABA) levels in seedlings. As opposed to the heat wave treatment, exposure to 37 °C increased the accumulation of the ethylene precursor 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC), which may have been involved in the root architecture modification of seedlings. Generally, more drastic phenotypic changes (chlorosis and wilting of leaves and bending of stems) were found in both seedlings and adult plants after the heat wave-like treatment. This was also reflected by proline, malondialdehyde and heat shock protein HSP90 accumulation. The gene expression of heat stress-related transcription factors was perturbed and DREB1 was shown to be the most consistent heat stress marker.
The reconstruction of a three-dimensional structure from projections and its application to electron microscopy

A transmission electron micrograph is essentially a projection of the specimen in the direction of view. In order to reconstruct a three-dimensional image of the specimen, it is necessary to be able to combine data from a number of different views. A formal solution of this problem is given in terms of Fourier transforms. Its realization requires data reduction and interpolation. The final solution is given by a least squares approach, which also indicates how many views must be included to give a valid reconstruction of a given particle to a given degree of resolution. Interpolation procedures of varying power are given, to be employed according to the economy with which the available data must be used. An alternative procedure is described for direct reconstruction without the use of Fourier transforms, but it is shown to be in general less practicable than the Fourier approach.
Calculation of unstable mixing region in wurtzite In1−x−yGaxAlyN

The wurtzite structure In1−x−yGaxAlyN quaternary system with a wide band gap, which is useful for light emitters in the wavelength region shorter than green, is studied with respect to the unstable region in mixing. This unstable region in mixing is calculated from the free energy of mixing using the strictly regular solution model. The interaction parameter used in this calculation is obtained using the delta-lattice-parameter method. From this calculation, the ternary alloys of InAlN, InGaN, and GaAlN are, respectively, predicted to always, sometimes, and hardly ever have a unstable mixing region at the temperature lower than 3000 °C.
Numerical observability analysis based on network graph theory

This paper presents a numerical method for topological observability analysis of a measured power system. By floating-point operations on the echelon form of a rectangular test matrix, which is based on network graph properties, observability and maximal observable islands are determined. A minimal set of pseudo measurements, which make an unobservable network barely observable, is selected in a noniterative manner. The existing numerical methods are based on the number of zero pivots that may appear during the factorization of the measurement Jacobian or the gain matrix. Due to round-off errors, the zero pivots may be misclassified. The problem becomes more severe when the number of injection measurements is large, resulting in a great disparity of values in Jacobian or gain matrix. In the proposed method, the test matrix consists of +/-1 values, it is numerically better conditioned and zero pivots are identified more accurately. By topological processing of the flow measured branches and by removing the redundant injection measured nodes that are incident only to flow measured branches or branches which form loops with flow measured branches, a reduced test matrix is created with fewer nonzero elements than the Jacobian or the gain matrix, resulting in less computational effort. The method details are illustrated by various test systems.
A Hybrid Differential Evolution Algorithm for Binary CSPs

A novel hybrid elements exchange/electromagnetism meta-heuristic differential evolution algorithm, named EEMDE, is proposed in this paper, avoiding the premature convergence of original DE algorithm. A metric to measure the Simplification of force exerted on a point is defined as the mutation rate F in the EEMDE, which is used to get an adaptive adjustment of F. EEMDE may produce slight disturbance on the original vector for enhancing the exploring capacity and avoid the DE to the "uphill" in the wrong direction forward. Experiments demonstrate that the convergence of EEMDE is faster than DE and simulations based on some CSPs express the effectiveness, efficiency and robustness of it.
Configuration of the Jovian magnetosphere

We present a model in which the Jovian magnetosphere is severely inflated by the centrifugal stress of partially-corotating plasma streaming out along field lines from the ionosphere. The model is consistent with observations reported from the Pioneer 10 encounter, including the disc-like field configuration, the diurnal modulation of trapped-particle fluxes, and the inferred departure from rigid corotation in the outer magnetosphere. The field configuration is closed on the dayside, but on the night side the plasma can force the magnetic field open to form a planetary wind flowing in the antisolar direction.
Dynamical Evolution of the Mass Function of the Galactic Globular Cluster System

Abstract Using the most advanced anisotropic (2D) Fokker-Planck (FP) models, we calculate the evolution of the mass functions of the Galactic globular cluster system (GCMF). Our models include two-body relaxation, binary heating, tidal shocks, dynamical friction, stellar evolution, and realistic cluster orbits. We perform 2D-FP simulations for a large number of virtual globular clusters and synthesize these results to study the relation between the initial and present GCMFs. We found two probable IGCMFs that eventually evolve into the Milky Way GCMF : truncated power-law, and log-normal model with higher initial low mass limit and peak mass than the earlier studies.
Assessment of feedback devices for performance monitoring in master’s swimmers

ABSTRACT In recent years, new portable performance monitoring devices have appeared in swimming. The study aims to establish the current validity of the FORM Goggles, Finis Stopwatch, and the Garmin Swim 2 Watch, for the partial and total times and stroke count (experiment 1; n = 17) and to compare the effect of the devices considered as valid in monitoring the pace of master swimmers (experiment 2; n = 10). The FORM Goggles and the Finis Stopwatch showed good level of agreement and accuracy (Bland Altman plots showed homoscedasticity and in most cases Lin’s concordance correlation coefficient were>0.95, and the error magnitude<0.2 seconds). These systems allow better pace control compared to Garmin Swim 2, with a difference between target and actual time below 1.5 %. However, the results showed that the concurrent feedback provided by FORM Smart Swim Goggles could offer greater advantages than the traditional feedback provided via the Finis Stopwatch at the end of each series, as swimmers were closer to the target time (p < 0.05). In conclusion both the FORM Goggles and the Finis Stopwatch, showed a good validity and could serve for performance monitoring in swimming, allowing the Form Goggles better pace control.
Lifestyle Score and Risk of Hypertension in the Airwave Health Monitoring Study of British Police Force Employees

Background: Evidence suggest that promoting a combination of healthy lifestyle behaviors instead of exclusively focusing on a single behavior may have a greater impact on blood pressure (BP). We aimed to evaluate lifestyle factors and their impact on the risk of hypertension and BP. Methods: We analyzed cross-sectional health-screening data from the Airwave Health Monitoring Study of 40,462 British police force staff. A basic lifestyle-score including waist-circumference, smoking and serum total cholesterol was calculated, with a greater value indicating a better lifestyle. Individual/combined scores of other lifestyle factors (sleep duration, physical activity, alcohol intake, and diet quality) were also developed. Results: A 1-point higher basic lifestyle-score was associated with a lower systolic BP (SBP; −2.05 mmHg, 95%CI: −2.15, −1.95); diastolic BP (DBP; −1.98 mmHg, 95%CI: −2.05, −1.91) and was inversely associated with risk of hypertension. Combined scores of other factors showed attenuated but significant associations with the addition of sleep, physical activity, and diet quality to the basic lifestyle-score; however, alcohol intake did not further attenuate results. Conclusions: Modifiable intermediary factors have a stronger contribution to BP, namely, waist-circumference and cholesterol levels and factors that may directly influence them, such as diet, physical activity and sleep. Observed findings suggest that alcohol is a confounder in the BP–lifestyle score relation.
The effect of a virtual reality based intervention on processing speed and working memory in individuals with ADHD—A pilot-study

Introduction: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a virtual reality based intervention in processing speed and working memory in students with ADHD symptomatology. Methods: A randomized experimental study was conducted, with a sample consisting of 25 adult participants recruited from the Escola Superior de Saúde do Politécnico do Porto. The participants were allocated into two groups: a passive control group and an intervention group that completed 10 sessions using virtual reality-based games from the Enhance VR app. The intervention included 6 games: Whack-a-mole, Shuffled, Assembly, React, Memory Wall, and Maestro. The participants underwent pre- and post-intervention evaluations using the Southwestern Assessment of Processing Speed (SWAPS) and the Sequence of Letters and Numbers and Spatial Location of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale - 3rd Edition - WAIS-III. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize the sample and a mixed ANOVA was used to test the effectiveness of the intervention. Results: There was an improvement in the results of processing speed in the group exposed to the intervention (p < 0.001) and the value of the interaction between intervention and time was also significant (p = 0.004). There were no statistically significant differences between the participants’ working memory in the different variables under study, except for the values of the Spatial location test in the experimental group that improved relative to the initial assessment (p = 0.034). Discussion: A virtual reality cognitive training intervention resulted in improvements in the processing speed measures, which were not found in the control group. Although we cannot make the same conclusions regarding working memory, these results suggest that the VR intervention resulted in progress in the experimental group, possibly influenced by the intervention, which should be verified in future studies with longer interventions.
TERT Extra-Telomeric Roles: Antioxidant Activity and Mitochondrial Protection

Telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) is the catalytic subunit of telomerase holoenzyme, which adds telomeric DNA repeats on chromosome ends to counteract telomere shortening. In addition, there is evidence of TERT non-canonical functions, among which is an antioxidant role. In order to better investigate this role, we tested the response to X-rays and H2O2 treatment in hTERT-overexpressing human fibroblasts (HF-TERT). We observed in HF-TERT a reduced induction of reactive oxygen species and an increased expression of the proteins involved in the antioxidant defense. Therefore, we also tested a possible role of TERT inside mitochondria. We confirmed TERT mitochondrial localization, which increases after oxidative stress (OS) induced by H2O2 treatment. We next evaluated some mitochondrial markers. The basal mitochondria quantity appeared reduced in HF-TERT compared to normal fibroblasts and an additional reduction was observed after OS; nevertheless, the mitochondrial membrane potential and morphology were better conserved in HF-TERT. Our results suggest a protective function of TERT against OS, also preserving mitochondrial functionality.
Revisiting ‘foreignness’: Nationalism and language education

ABSTRACT Although language education should be ideally positioned to help students develop a nuanced understanding of languages, cultures, nations/countries, and identities these concepts have often been conflated in practice (see, e.g. Reagan & Osborn, 2021). This can result in othering in depictions of speakers of the language being learned (e.g. Osborn, 2021; Palfreyman, 2005) and delegitimizing certain language use(r)s. We share preliminary results from a study in which language educators who adopted critical approaches, such as teaching for social justice (Osborn, 2006) or intercultural citizenship (Byram, 2008, have addressed these questions in practice and discuss ways to disrupt harmful practices.
Quality of the reconstruction in x-ray phase contrast tomography

We develop an analytical model for three dimensional phase contrast tomography for a pure phase object. The model incorporates an extended source, which is suitable for a laboratory based microfocus x-ray source. From the modeled intensities for the tomographic data set we obtain a model reconstruction and define a reconstruction quality factor that allows us to optimize the tomographic reconstruction for given feature sizes in an object.
SAR image near-shore ship target detection method in complex background

ABSTRACT Due to background clutter in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images, the detection of dense ship targets suffers from a low detection rate, high false alarm rate, and high missed detection rate. To address this issue, an FSM-DFF-YOLOv5+Confluence algorithm is proposed in this paper for the detection of near-shore ship targets in SAR images with complex backgrounds. First, based on the YOLOv5 target detection algorithm, two improvements are made in the feature extraction network: feature refinement and multi-feature fusion; in the feature extraction network, deformable convolutional neural networks are adopted to change the position of the target sampling points of the convolution to improve the feature extraction capability of the target and the detection rate of ship targets in SAR images with a complex background; in the multi-feature fusion network structure, cascading and parallel pyramids are used in the multi-feature fusion network to realize feature fusion at different levels; the visual perceptual field of feature extraction is expanded by using null convolution to enhance the adaptability of the network to detect near-shore multi-scale ship targets with complex backgrounds and reduce the false alarm rate of ship target detection in SAR images with complex environments. In this way, the DFF-YOLOv5 near-shore ship target detection algorithm is established. Meanwhile, to address the problem of missed detection in near-shore dense ship target detection, this paper adds rectangular convolution kernels to the convolution of the feature extraction network to better realize the feature extraction of dense ship targets in SAR images with complex backgrounds. Besides, the Confluence algorithm instead of non-maximum suppression is used in the prediction stage. Through experiments on the constructed complex background near-shore ship detection dataset, it is indicated that the average accuracy of the FSM-DFF-YOLOv5+Confluence detection algorithm reaches 88.96%, and the recall rate reaches 88.80%.
Sustainable leadership and heterogeneous knowledge sharing: the model for frugal innovation

PurposeConsidering the vital role of resource-constraint innovation in developing countries, the aim of the study is to examine the mechanism of internal and external heterogeneous knowledge sharing (HKS) in the relationship between sustainable leadership (SL) and frugal innovation (FI). The social exchange theory was used to develop a research framework.Design/methodology/approachThis study employed Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) analysis to examine the relationship among several latent factors based on 263 participants from Pakistani SMEs.FindingsThe current findings support the significant positive impact of SL on both internal and external HKS. Moreover, this study also confirms the mediating effect of both types of HKS in the relationship between SL and FI.Research limitations/implicationsTo delve further into the benefits and vital role of HKS, it is recommended to conduct further research that would examine the potential impact of heterogeneous knowledge sources on the “SL–FI relationship” and to apply the presented research methodology in other countries and organizations beyond Pakistani SMEs.Originality/valueThis study is one of the first documented attempts to demonstrate HKS as a mechanism in the relationship between a specific type of leadership and FI.