Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An overview of various treatment strategies, especially tissue engineering for damaged articular cartilage

Abstract Many traditional procedures, including surgical methods such as microfracture of subchondral bone and soft tissue transplantation, have been widely used to treat damaged cartilage. However, there is still no definitive cure for cartilage defects. In recent decades, tissue engineering has raised hopes for the repair of defective cartilage. Different approaches are used for cartilage engineering, in which cells, scaffolds, and biological signals or growth factors may be used alone or in combination. Additionally, the imitation of the mechanical properties of the natural cartilage tissue by bioreactors is also helpful in this regard. It should be noted that in the transplantation of engineered cartilage tissue, there are challenges such as poor integration, inflammation and phenotypic instability that may lead to failure of neo-cartilage transplantation. Therefore, a comprehensive understanding of the multiple therapeutic approaches, including surgical procedures, cell-based methods and tissue engineering, should be obtained. The present review article provides this information, along with a variety of factors, including cells, materials, and biological/biomechanical factors required for the engineering of cartilage tissue, as well as the challenges ahead and their solutions.
Revenge is sweet: Investigation of the effects of Approach‐Motivated anger on the RewP in the motivated anger delay (MAD) paradigm

Past research has found that neural activity associated with feedback processing is enhanced by positive approach‐motivated states. However, no past work has examined how reward processing changes in the context of revenge. Using a novel aggression paradigm, we sought to explore the influence of approach‐motivated anger on neural responses to feedback indicating the opportunity to seek revenge against an offending opponent by examining the reward positivity (RewP), an event‐related potential indexing performance feedback. In Experiment 1, after receiving insulting feedback from an opponent, participants played a reaction time game with three trial types: revenge trials, aggravation trials, and no‐consequence trials. Results revealed that RewP amplitudes were larger to revenge trial win feedback than no‐consequence trial win feedback or revenge trial loss feedback. RewP amplitudes were larger to both aggravation trial win and loss feedback than on no‐consequence trials. Experiment 2 examined the influence of approach‐motivated anger during the acquisition of rewards on the RewP without the possibility of retribution from the offending individual. Participants played a reaction time game similar to Experiment 1, except instead of giving or receiving noise blasts, participants could win money from the insulter (revenge trials) or a neutral‐party (e.g., bank). Results indicated that revenge wins elicited larger RewP amplitudes than bank wins. These results suggest that anger enhances revenge‐related RewP amplitudes to obtaining revenge opportunities and further aggravation wins or losses. Anger appears to enhance the pleasurable feelings of revenge.
Cheese delivering biocultures: probiotic cheese

Growing public awareness of diet-related health issues has fuelled the demand for probiotic foods, which are currently restricted predominantly to fermented milk drinks and yogurt. Probiotics are bacteria, generally lactobacilli or bifidobacteria associated with a plethora of health benefits ranging from alleviation of symptoms of lactose intolerance, treatment of diarrhoea, cancer suppression to reduction of blood cholesterol (Naidu et al. 1999 for review). While cheese has long been associated with a high quality nutritional image, more recently, research efforts devoted to the development of probiotic cheese containing viable numbers of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium sp. with demonstrated health promoting properties, have been made to push cheese into the 'functional foods' category. Generally, incorporation of probiotic bacteria into milk-based food systems, including cheese provides challenges in terms of maintaining viability and probiotic functionality during manufacture and shelf-life. In contrast to yogurt and fermented milk products, many hard cheeses such as cheddar have long ripening times of up to two years. During this time, the added probiotic bacteria would need to grow and/or survive to sufficient numbers to deliver the probiotic effect in the gastrointestinal tract. Since cultures can vary considerably with regard to their performance in cheese and intestinal environments, strain selection is vital to the successful development of probiotic cheese, as is retention of probiotic activity in the ripened product. Nevertheless, studies have demonstrated that cheddar cheese is suitable as a potential probiotic 'functional food' for a number of bifidobacteria and lactobacilli, with demonstrated health benefits. Our studies and others have led to the development of various probiotic cheeses, containing strains of probiotic bifidobacteria, lactobacilli and enterococci. Indeed, we have demonstrated that cheese can be an excellent carrier of some health-promoting bacteria, and that it also has certain advantages over yogurt and fermented milk as a delivery system for some probiotic strains.
A Climatic Basis for the Study of Convergence of Vegetation Structure in Mediterranean Australia and Southern Africa

Striking differences in the structure of vegetation between mediterranean Australia and southern Africa, such as the lack of woodland in southern Africa, appear anomalous because of similarities in currently recognized climatic factors such as dry season regime. However, dry season regimes are heterogeneous with regard to various other climatic factors, which might explain these vegetation differences. Most of the mediterranean regions are climatically unique to one continent or the other, owing to differences in latitude, altitude and ocean temperatures. The most similar climates are found at the Barrens, Westem Australia, and the Caledon coast, South Africa. These climates are associated with similar landforms and hence microclimates. It is suggested that these are ideal study areas for evolutionary convergence of vegetation in relation to substrate.
Quantitative analysis of 2-hydroxyglutarate as a controversial oncometabolite in malignant gliomas.

There is a great effort to connect the accumulation of 2-hydroxyglutarate (2-HG) oncometabolite with cellular onco-epigenetic status and subsequently predict the prognoses of glioma patients. In this observational study, the concentrations of D- and L- 2-HG were determined in 57 tumor tissue samples of glioma patients (n = 57) WHO grade I through IV (astrocytoma, oligodendroglioma, secondary glioblastoma and glioblastoma multiforme) in vitro. Also, genetic mutation status on isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 and 2 (IDH 1/2) was determined from these samples. The objective of this study was to confirm or to reject the hypothesis of the direct correlation of 2-HG concentration in tumor tissue and the results from IDH 1/IDH 2 point mutation analyses. The concentrations of 2-HG were quantified using high sensitive HPLC and Q-TOF HRMS spectrometer setup. Concurrently, the genetic mutation analyses of both IDH 1 (cytosolic) and IDH 2 (mitochondrial) were performed by the isolation of tumor tissue DNA, PCR amplification, and subsequent Sanger forward sequencing. Our results indicate that there is no definite correlation between the two as we identified cases of glioma tumors with significantly increased concentration of one or both L- and D- 2-HG but no IDH 1/2 mutations (44% 2-HG positive cases).
‘I’m not just a guinea pig’: Academic and community perceptions of participatory autism research

Despite calls for increased community engagement in autism research, the published evidence base suggests that participatory autism research remains rare. This study examined the extent and nature of community engagement in Australian research projects commissioned by the Autism CRC. Data were gathered using an online survey, comprising quantitative scale items and qualitative free-text responses, which was completed by 64 academic partners and 15 community partners. Quantitative findings indicated that autism research stakeholders in Australia are largely supportive of community engagement in research and have had positive experiences of participatory research. These findings were not wholly corroborated by the qualitative findings, however, which suggested that participants lacked understanding of participatory research, and held attitudes that may hinder the conduct of successful participatory research. Systemic issues within research settings were also perceived to impede community engagement in research. Both academic and community partners would benefit from better understanding of participatory research approaches, paired with practical and epistemological shifts at the systemic level, to ensure that future community engagement in autism research is respectful, equitable and beneficial to all stakeholders. Lay abstract Participatory research means working together (engaging) with the community that is affected by research to make decisions about that research. Participatory research is common in some fields, but it is still rare in autism research. In this study, we wanted to find out how Australian autism researchers and community members feel about participatory research. We worked with an Autistic Advisory Group to design this study, understand the results and write this article. We asked 127 people, all working on research from the Cooperative Research Centre for Living with Autism, to complete an online survey about participatory research. The survey included some questions that were answered on rating scales, and some where participants wrote their own answers. Seventy-nine people (64 researchers and 15 community members) completed most or all of the survey. The rating scales showed that most participants (82%) supported moderate or extensive community engagement in research, and most participants (72%) thought there should be more community engagement in autism research. In general, the participants rated their experiences of participatory research positively. Using the participants’ own written answers, we found four main ideas: (1) participatory research is important, but difficult; (2) many people do not fully understand what participatory research is; (3) academics and community members do not work together as = and (4) research systems are not designed for participatory research. Our results suggest that autism researchers and community members want to do more participatory research, but they might need training, support and funding to do participatory research well.
Termite baiting system technology: utilization and evaluation for integrated management of Reticulitermes flavipes (Kollar) and Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) subterranean termite populations, with seasonal variation and spatial patterns exhibited in foraging strategies

Termite Baiting System Technology: Utilization and Evaluation for Integrated Management of Reticulitermes flavipes (Kollar) and Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) Subterranean Termite Populations, with Seasonal Variation and Spatial Patterns Exhibited in Foraging Strategies. (December 2005) Grady J. Glenn, B.S. Texas A&M University Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. Roger E. Gold Commercial termite baiting systems were utilized and evaluated under real-world conditions in order to provide a comparison of efficacy in the management of subterranean termites. Three commercial termite baiting systems available for comparison included: FirstLine® (FMC Corp.), Sentricon® (Dow AgroSciences), and Terminate® (United Industries, Inc). The time required for foraging termites to locate and begin feeding on both the Sentricon® and the Terminate® bait stations was approximately one-half the time required to locate and begin feeding on the FirstLine® system, for both R. flavipes and C. formosanus. The time required for C. formosanus to locate and begin feeding on all termite baiting systems was approximately one-half the time required for R. flavipes. There were no significant differences in efficacy between the three baiting treatment systems against R. flavipes, with a mean of 84% efficacy for all systems. The Sentricon® system was able to achieve efficacy (88%) results with few additional residual liquid termiticide treatments. FirstLine® efficacy (80%) and
Promoting Adapted Physical Activity Regardless of Language Ability in Young Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

ABSTRACT Purpose: There is a relationship between motor and language skills in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), but little work addresses the ramifications of this relationship for professionals who teach motor skills to this population. Within a motor skills intervention, this study probed the importance of language skills for motor intervention. We examined the relationship between motor and language skills at baseline, and then the relationship between baseline language skills and motor improvements resulting from the intervention. Method: Twenty children aged 4–6 years with ASD participated. Eleven children received 20 hr per week of motor intervention for 8 weeks. Nine children did not receive motor intervention. Language skills (Mullen Scales of Early Learning) and motor skills (Test of Gross Motor Development – 2) were assessed at baseline and post-intervention. Spearman correlations tested the associations between baseline language and baseline motor skills. This analysis was repeated in the intervention sample to test the association between baseline language level and response to intervention (motor skill changes from baseline to post-intervention). Results: Prior to intervention, locomotor skills are positively correlated (p < .001) with both receptive (rs = 0.827) and expressive (rs = 0.722) language skills. Similarly, object-control skills are positively correlated (rs < .001) with receptive (rs = 0.779) and expressive (rs = 0.729) language skills. However, those baseline language skills do not relate to motor change in the experimental group. Conclusion: These results suggest that motor programs may improve motor skills in children with ASD when language is supported, regardless of pre-program language ability.
H. pylori Infection and Colorectal Cancers by Anatomical Locations

Background: H. pylori infection may play a role in the development of colorectal cancers (CRC). We aimed to examine the association between H. pylori infection and the risk of CRC by anatomical locations. Methods: We conducted a case-control study on 91 incidence cases of CRC and 224 hospital controls. CRC was determined by histopathological examinations. H. pylori IgG antibody in serum was tested. We collected data on the diet, nutrition, and lifestyle by the validated semi-quantitative food frequency and demographic lifestyle questionnaire. The odds ratio and 95% confidence interval (OR (95%CI) were estimated for CRC and its subgroups. Results: Overall 54.95% of CRC cases and 42.41% of the controls were H. pylori-seropositive, OR (95%CI): 1.56 (0.88, 2.74), p for trend=0.115. Positive dose-response association in quartiles, highest vs lowest, was observed for total CRC, OR (95%CI): 2.14 (1.00, 4.58), p for trend=0.049, for proximal colon, OR (95%CI): 1.52 (0.37, 6.25), p for trend=0.571), and for distal colon and rectum cancers combined, OR (95%CI): 2.38 (1.03, 5.50), p for trend=0.039. Conclusions: There is a positive association between H. pylori and colorectal cancers, especially distal colon and rectum cancers combined, but additional research is needed to determine the underlying mechanism of chronic H. pylori infection-induced CRC in humans.
Characterization of the F Locus Responsible for Floral Anthocyanin Production in Potato

Anthocyanins are pigmented secondary metabolites produced via the flavonoid biosynthetic pathway and play important roles in plant stress responses, pollinator attraction, and consumer preference. Using RNA-sequencing analysis of a cross between diploid potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) lines segregating for flower color, we identified a homolog of the ANTHOCYANIN 2 (AN2) gene family that encodes a MYB transcription factor, herein termed StFlAN2, as the regulator of anthocyanin production in potato corollas. Transgenic introduction of StFlAN2 in white-flowered homozygous doubled-monoploid plants resulted in a recovery of purple flowers. RNA-sequencing revealed the specific anthocyanin biosynthetic genes activated by StFlAN2 as well as expression differences in genes within pathways involved in fruit ripening, senescence, and primary metabolism. Closer examination of the locus using genomic sequence analysis revealed a duplication in the StFlAN2 locus closely associated with gene expression that is likely attributable to nearby genetic elements. Taken together, this research provides insight into the regulation of anthocyanin biosynthesis in potato while also highlighting how the dynamic nature of the StFlAN2 locus may affect expression.
An autopsy case of hepatocellular carcinoma producing granulocyte colony-stimulating factor.

症例は55歳の女性で, C型肝硬変および肝細胞癌と診断して, 肝動脈塞栓療法を6回繰り返した. 診断4年後に縮小していた腫瘍が再び増大し, 胸水, 腹水, 黄疸, 吐血および肝性脳症が出現し死亡した. 発熱はなく, 末梢血白血球数は52, 400 (好中球91.6%) /μlと増加した. 剖検では, 肝硬変に肝細胞癌 (多結節癒合型, 索状型, 中分化型) を合併し, 遠隔転移を認めた. 脾は250gで, 骨髄もとくに異常なかった. 血中granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) は42pg/mlと高値で, G-CSFは肝癌組織で175pg/g wet weight, 非癌部肝組織で78 pg/g wet weightであった. 抗rhG-CSF抗体と抗proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) 抗体を用いて免疫組織染色を行い, G-CSFは一部の中分化肝癌細胞の細胞質に陽性で, 非腫瘍部の肝細胞には陰性であった. また, PCNA陽性肝癌細胞の近傍でG-CSFが陽性となることが二重染色でも確認された.
DFFR: A NEW METHOD FOR HIGH-THROUGHPUT RECALIBRATION OF AUTOMATIC FORCE-FIELDS FOR DRUGS.

We present DFFR (drug force-field recalibration), a new method for the refining of automatic force-fields used to represent small drugs in docking and molecular dynamics simulations. The method is based on a fine-tuning of torsional terms to obtain ensembles that reproduce observables derived from reference data. DFFR is fast, flexible and can be easily automatized for a high-throughput regime, making it useful in drug design projects. We tested the performance of the method in a few model systems and also in a variety of drug-like molecules using reference data derived from: i) DFT/SCRF (density functional theory coupled to a self-consistent reaction field representation of solvent) calculations on highly populated conformers and ii) enhanced sampling QM/MM where the drug is reproduced at the QM level while the solvent is represented by classical force-fields. Extension of the method to include other sources of reference data is discussed.
The roles of replication-transcription conflict in mutagenesis and evolution of genome organization

Replication-transcription conflicts promote mutagenesis and give rise to evolutionary signatures, with fundamental importance to genome stability ranging from bacteria to metastatic cancer cells. This review focuses on the interplay between replication-transcription conflicts and the evolution of gene directionality. In most bacteria, the majority of genes are encoded on the leading strand of replication such that their transcription is co-directional with the direction of DNA replication fork movement. This gene strand bias arises primarily due to negative selection against deleterious consequences of head-on replication-transcription conflict. However, many genes remain head-on. Can head-on orientation provide some benefit? We combine insights from both mechanistic and evolutionary studies, review published work, and analyze gene expression data to evaluate an emerging model that head-on genes are temporal targets for adaptive mutagenesis during stress. We highlight the alternative explanation that genes in the head-on orientation may simply be the result of genomic inversions and relaxed selection acting on nonessential genes. We seek to clarify how the mechanisms of replication-transcription conflict, in concert with other mutagenic mechanisms, balanced by natural selection, have shaped bacterial genome evolution.
Arousal Detection in Elderly People from Electrodermal Activity Using Musical Stimuli

The detection of emotions is fundamental in many areas related to health and well-being. This paper presents the identification of the level of arousal in older people by monitoring their electrodermal activity (EDA) through a commercial device. The objective was to recognize arousal changes to create future therapies that help them to improve their mood, contributing to reduce possible situations of depression and anxiety. To this end, some elderly people in the region of Murcia were exposed to listening to various musical genres (flamenco, Spanish folklore, Cuban genre and rock/jazz) that they heard in their youth. Using methods based on the process of deconvolution of the EDA signal, two different studies were carried out. The first, of a purely statistical nature, was based on the search for statistically significant differences for a series of temporal, morphological, statistical and frequency features of the processed signals. It was found that Flamenco and Spanish Folklore presented the highest number of statistically significant parameters. In the second study, a wide range of classifiers was used to analyze the possible correlations between the detection of the EDA-based arousal level compared to the participants’ responses to the level of arousal subjectively felt. In this case, it was obtained that the best classifiers are support vector machines, with 87% accuracy for flamenco and 83.1% for Spanish Folklore, followed by K-nearest neighbors with 81.4% and 81.5% for Flamenco and Spanish Folklore again. These results reinforce the notion of familiarity with a musical genre on emotional induction.
An Overview of Antibody Conjugated Polymeric Nanoparticles for Breast Cancer Therapy

Nanoparticles (NPs) are promising drug delivery systems (DDS) for identifying and treating cancer. Active targeting NPs can be generated by conjugation with ligands that bind overexpressed or mutant cell surface receptors on target cells that are poorly or not even expressed on normal cells. Receptor-mediated endocytosis of the NPs occurs and the drug is released inside the cell or in the surrounding tissue due to the bystander effect. Antibodies are the most frequently used ligands to actively target tumor cells. In this context, antibody-based therapies have been extensively used in HER2+ breast cancer. However, some patients inherently display resistance and in advanced stages, almost all eventually progress. Functionalized NPs through conjugation with antibodies appear to be a promising strategy to optimize targeted therapies due to properties related to biocompatibility, suitable delivery control and efficiency of functionalization. This review is focused on the different strategies to conjugate antibodies into polymeric NPs. Recent antibody conjugation approaches applied to the improvement of breast cancer therapy are highlighted in this review.