Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
New intergeneric orchid hybrid found in Romania × Pseudorhiza nieschalkii (Senghas) P.F.Hunt nothosubsp. siculorum H.Kertész & N.Anghelescu, 2020

We describe the first reported intergeneric, which naturally occurs between two subspecies belonging to different genera, Dactylorhiza fuchsii subsp. sooana (genus Dactylorhiza) and Pseudorchis albida subsp. tricuspis (genus Pseudorchis), as × Pseudorhiza nieschalkii (Senghas) P.F. Hunt nothosubsp. siculorum H. Kertész & N.Anghelescu, 2020. The hybrid was found and digitally photographed for the first time by Hajnalka Kertész in June, 2020, within Terra Siculorum, in one of the Natura 2000 protected areas, known as Harghita Mădăraș, ROSCI00090. Following detailed morphometric analysis using 67 characters and molecular karyological analyses, we identified this unique specimen as an intergeneric hybrid, new to science. The hybrid, an F1 generation plant, most likely representing a single intergeneric pollination event, is phenotypically intermediate between its parental species in most of the characters scored, but it significantly closely resembles Pseudorchis albida subsp. tricuspis parent. Since several individuals of the parental species occurred in near proximity, within 1–10 meters distance, we suggest that the production of this hybrid required a minimum travel distance of ca 1–10 meters, by the pollinators and frequent exchange of pollen between the parental species was very likely. The parental species and the hybrid, which display a considerable synchronicity in their flowering time, overlap in the pollinator community, sharing various species of Hymenopterans and Dipterans, very abundant in the heathland. This Terra Siculorum hybrid is thus best described as a rarely occurring intergeneric hybrid that shows strong Pseudorchis albida subsp. tricuspis parental dominance in inheritance patterns.
Etiological classification and clinical spectrum of Egyptian pediatric patients with disorder of sex development, single center experience.

INTRODUCTION The aim of the current work was to review the clinical profile, etiological classification as well as management of Egyptian paediatric patients with disorder of sex development (DSD) presented at tertiary center in Cairo. MATERIAL AND METHODS The study was a cross sectional observational study included Egyptian patients who were attending the Endocrine clinic during a period of one year from January to December 2019. All patients with overt genital ambiguity aged from 0 to 18 years were recruited in the study. The diagnosis of patients was dependent upon clinical and hormonal profile. RESULTS Out of 100 patients, 71% had 46XY DSD, 24% had 46XXDSD, and sex chromosome DSD was identified in 5%. The median age of presentation was 12 months with 19% presented during infancy. The most common cause of 46XY DSD was due to either defect in androgen synthesis or action (40%) with the majority due to androgen insensitivity syndrome (28%). Most of 46 XX DSD (21/24) group were diagnosed as classic congenital adrenal hyperplasia secondary to deficiency of 21 hydroxylase enzyme with 90% was salt waster. CONCLUSION Our series revealed that 46XY DSD was the most frequent etiological diagnosis with androgen insensitivity syndrome representing the commonest presumed cause. CAH with classic salt wasting type was the second common disorder. Management of children with DSD is a real challenge especially with lack of adequate resources. The crucial issues which stand against proper diagnosis and management are late presentation combined with economic constrains, social and cultural issues.
Sleep quality and outcome of exposure therapy in adults with social anxiety disorder

Poor sleep is prevalent among individuals with social anxiety disorder (SAD) and may negatively affect exposure therapy outcomes. Poor sleep may impair memory and learning, and thus compromise fear extinction learning thought to take place in exposure therapy. We examined poor sleep as a predictor of exposure therapy outcomes for SAD and the moderating role of d‐cycloserine (DCS) on this relationship.
Carbon sequestration vs. agricultural yields in tree-based intercropping systems as affected by tree management1

Abstract: Tree-based intercropping (TBI) may increase carbon (C) sequestration in agroecosystems, but may reduce crop yields. In this study of TBI, we used ecosys, a comprehensive mathematical model of terrestrial ecosystems, which represents interspecific competition for light, nutrients, and water, to evaluate the concurrent effects of TBI on C sequestration and crop yields in TBI experiments conducted at St. Paulin and St. Edouard in southern Quebec. Total gains in C sequestration vs. total losses in crop yields over 11 yr relative to monocropping were 682 vs. 396 g C m-2 at St. Paulin and 841 vs. 168 g C m-2 at St. Edouard. These gains and losses were generally consistent with the measurements at the two TBI sites and with those at TBI experiments under similar environmental conditions elsewhere. Gains and losses depended on competition for light by trees and crops, and so were affected by different fractions of tree foliage removal used to manage this competition in the model. The modelling protocol developed for this study provides a robust, process-based methodology to evaluate economic and environmental benefits of TBI under diverse climates, soils, and tree and crop management practices. Some of the key assumptions used to model TBI are also discussed.
Robust and Remote Measurement of Heart Rate Based on A Surveillance Camera

Arrhythmia is a marked symptom of many cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). The accurate and timely detection of heart rate can greatly reduce the harm of arrhythmia to people. However, it is still a challenge to robustly and remotely measure heart rate in daily life due to the changing environmental conditions during measurement, such as the varying light intensity, the movement of people, and the uncertain distance between the sensor to people. In this study, we propose a method to accurately measure human heart rate within a distance of 4.5 meters under different light intensities by simply using a surveillance camera. After a 20-second color video of a person’s hand is captured by the camera, a method based on the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) algorithm is designed to extract the blood volume pulse wave to calculate the heart rate. According to the comparison between the real heart rate and results measured by electrocardiography (ECG), the proposed method achieves an accuracy of 95.8% when the measurement is performed within a distance of 4.5 meters and 90% when within 5.0 meters. Our experiments show that when the illuminance varies between 100-1000 lux (lighting level indoor), we still get the correct results. Our experiments also demonstrate that the proposed method accurately obtain heart rate even when the light intensity is below 32 lux (300-500 lux in a workplace environment). The method’s strong adaptability to changing environmental conditions makes it applicable to many scenarios, such as homes of the elderly, classrooms, and other public spaces.
Parameters Affecting Adsorption and Photocatalytic Degradation Behavior of Gentian Violet under UV Irradiation with Several Kinds of TiO2 as a Photocatalyst

Abstract The photocatalytic decolorization of Gentian violet (GV) from an aqueous solution was studied by focusing on comparison of the photoactivity of different type of TiO2 catalyst. The process was carried out under a variety of conditions. The efficiency of P25-Degussa and PC50-Millennium photocatalysts were compared. The effect of different parameters such as pH, initial dye concentration, catalyst loading and the presence of some anions on both adsorption in the absence of light and the degradation under UV irradiation have been studied. 365 nm UV-A lamp was employed as irradiation source. The kinetic study showed that no correlation was observed between the adsorption capacity of the catalyst and its photoactivity, despite of this the effect of various parameters on adsorption and photocatalytic kinetic behavior was practically similar on various catalysts. The photocatalytic degradation of GV followed first-order reaction kinetics and the higher adsorption and photocatalytic degradation were obtained at the alkaline medium (pH = 10 for P25 and pH = 8 for PC50). However, the reaction at the acidic medium was gradually delayed due to the effect of charge repulsion. The presence of some anions (Cl−, SO42−, NO3−) in the medium at higher concentration was found to reduce the adsorption and to inhibit the degradation.
Putting touch into action

Bidirectional brain-machine interfaces boost movement restoration in a paralyzed user Human tactile senses maintain contact with the environment and are essential for the ability to manipulate objects dexterously (1). People suffering from upper spinal cord injuries, nerve injuries, and other forms of arm paralysis lose the ability not only to move their hand but also to feel with their fingers. Over the past decades, brain-machine interfacing has achieved the ability to read out action intentions from the human brain and restore movement by enabling paralyzed patients to control robotic arms (2) or to electrically stimulate muscles so paralyzed arms can move again (3). It is commonly assumed that this needs to be complemented with restoring sensory feedback. On page 831 of this issue, Flesher et al. (4) demonstrate a substantial practical benefit for a paralyzed patient whose ability to manipulate objects through a brain-controlled robotic arm was substantially increased through artificial tactile feedback.
Metabolomics of biofluids : from analytical tools to data interpretation

The chapters that comprised this thesis cover a broad range of subjects from analytical method development to clinical application of metabolic profiling. They are united by the facts that all of these studies aimed at analysis of biological fluids and that the presented methods and approaches may ultimately become parts of a robust metabolomics workflow that might be used in a future personalized medicine.
PRComm: Anti-Interference Cross-Technology Communication Based on Pseudo-random Sequence

With the rapid development of the Internet of Things (IoT), we have seen a larger number of devices deployed with different wireless communication protocols (i.e., WiFi, ZigBee, Bluetooth). Working in the same place opens a new opportunity for these devices to communicate directly with each other, leveraging on Cross-technology Communication (CTC). However, since these devices operate in the same frequency band which results in the competition against each other for network resources, severe interfere may arise. In this paper, we explore pseudo-random sequence (PR sequence) to design a novel CTC protocol that enables low-cost direct communication between WiFi and ZigBee in noisy indoor environments. Pseudorandom sequence offers a unique statistical feature to accomplish both information transmission and synchronization between heterogeneous devices. We design a dynamic synchronous decoding strategy to handle interference coexisted among different wireless protocols. Our system does not require any modification of communication protocol and underlying hardware and firmware. We implement our system on commercial devices (Intel 5300 WiFi NIC and MicaZ CC2420), and conduct extensive experiments to evaluate the system performance in three typical scenarios. The experimental results show that the synchronization time of our approach is lower than 0.5 ms, and the accuracy is greater than 84% while the channel occupancy is as high as 50%.
The use of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to assess the antioxidant activity of buckwheat husk and indicators of the oxidant-antioxidant system of laboratory animals

HPLC made it possible to determine the content of substances characterizing the antioxidant activity of buckwheat husk of four varieties: flavonoids in terms of rutin, iron, copper, zinc, manganese. The antioxidant activity of buckwheat husk does not depend on the varietal characteristics of the plant material and the values of the antioxidant activity correlate with the content of rutin. HPLC has been used to determine the levels of vitamins B1, B3, B5 and C in buckwheat husk. To increase the availability of compounds with antioxidant properties, buckwheat husk was subjected to enzymatic hydrolysis with Shapeit Wafer and introduced into the diet of laboratory animals. The experimental data obtained showed that the introduction of buckwheat husk in the diet of laboratory animals had a positive effect on the oxidant-antioxidant state of the organism of the rat, manifested by a decrease in the index serum oxidative stress - the level of malonic dialdehyde and an increase in antioxidants - catalase, vitamins A and E, trace elements compared to with control. The use of the HPLC method made it possible to establish the relationship between the indicators of the antioxidant systems of the component of the food and the laboratory animals. Determination of the most important indicators of the antioxidant activity of a food component or a food ration by HPLC makes it possible to predict the state of the oxidant-antioxidant system of the human body.
Current state of MES systems development in the digital economy

The article is devoted to MES systems in the era of industry 4.0 development. Theoretical foundations are given, principles are formulated, methods are defined and methods of application of MES systems are justified. It is shown that the use of modern MES systems is an integral part of Industry 4.0 and contributes to the integration of industrial equipment and information systems in a single information space. Manufacturing management is one of the key areas where production management systems or MES systems are used in the era of the digital economy. The main objectives of the article are to describe the current state of MES systems, to represent their relationship with other information systems of the enterprise and to identify the key problems associated with MES. The prospects of these systems in the rapidly growing business in Industry 4.0 were also considered.
Politics Feeds Back: The Minority/Majority Turnout Gap and Citizenship in Anti-Immigrant Times

Voting is a democratic virtue and an important mechanism for citizens to let their voices be heard. However, citizens do not participate in politics at equal levels, with consequences for their political power. While turnout gaps between different socioeconomic groups are well researched, the biggest gap in many Western European countries today has been overlooked: that between the children of immigrants (minority youths) and the majority population. I argue that existing theories fall short in addressing this gap because they do not attend to the distinctly political forces that shape citizens’ relationships to politics. Building on the policy-feedback literature, and analyzing seventy-one in-depth interviews with minority and majority youths in Denmark, I show that because these groups are targeted very differently in policy and political discourse, they have substantially different conceptions of politics and their status as citizens. Many minority youths react to anti-immigrant political messages by dissociating from politics, but I warn against interpreting their quiescence as political apathy. Instead, dissociating from politics can be a strategy to reclaim power over their self-understanding and can be experienced as empowering. These findings challenge classic conceptualizations of political engagement and open discussion about how to understand political behavior in increasingly diverse societies.
Photosynthetic textile biocomposites: Using laboratory testing and digital fabrication to develop flexible living building materials

Abstract Urban development and the construction industry account for a considerable proportion of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Emerging biological materials, such as those proposed in this paper, seek to utilize the metabolic functions of living microorganisms to reduce some of the negative impacts of humans on the environment. The material explorations demonstrated in this paper propose a living photosynthetic carbon capture textile for the built environment. We demonstrate making practices that integrate living microorganisms within experimental methods of digital fabrication; specifically, harnessing photosynthetic microalgae that feed on waste and are capable of sequestering CO2 from internal building settings. These new biocomposites incorporate flexible textile substrates, i.e. cotton, hessian, polyester, and canvas, which provide a range of algae laden matrices that continue to develop and change during the useful part of the material’s lifecycle. This paper explores biological 3D printing fabrication processes and studies the development of mixtures that are compatible with the fabrication method and support microalgae (Chlorella vulgaris) metabolic processes. A range of incubation methods are assessed, highlighting the need for a support environment. The biocomposites’ performance is tested using imaging pulse amplitude modulation fluorometry (Imaging-PAM) to investigate changes in microalgae chlorophyll fluorescence over a 14 day period.
Intrinsic mechanical sensitivity of auditory neurons as a contributor to sound-driven neural activity

Mechanosensation – by which mechanical stimuli are converted into a neuronal signal – is the basis for the sensory systems of hearing, balance, and touch. Mechanosensation is unmatched in speed and its diverse range of sensitivities, reaching its highest temporal limits with the sense of hearing; however, hair cells (HCs) and the auditory nerve (AN) serve as obligatory bottlenecks for sounds to engage the brain. Like other sensory neurons, auditory neurons use the canonical pathway for neurotransmission and millisecond-duration action potentials (APs). How the auditory system utilizes the relatively slow transmission mechanisms to achieve ultrafast speed and high audio-frequency hearing remains an enigma. Here, we address this paradox and report that the AN is mechanically sensitive, and minute mechanical displacement profoundly affects its response properties. Sound-mimicking sinusoidal mechanical and electrical current stimuli affect phase-locked responses. In a phase-dependent manner, the two stimuli can also evoke suppressive responses. We propose that mechanical sensitivity interacts with synaptic responses to shape responses in the AN, including frequency tuning and temporal phase-locking. The combination of neurotransmission and mechanical sensation to control spike patterns gives the AN a secondary receptor role, an emerging theme in primary neuronal functions.
SARS-like Coronaviruses in Horseshoe Bats (Rhinolophus spp.) in Russia, 2020

We found and genetically described two novel SARS-like coronaviruses in feces and oral swabs of the great (R. ferrumequinum) and the lesser (R. hipposideros) horseshoe bats in southern region of Russia. The viruses, named Khosta-1 and Khosta-2, together with related viruses from Bulgaria and Kenya, form a separate phylogenetic lineage. We found an evidence of recombination events in evolutionary history of Khosta-1, which involved the acquisition of structural proteins S, E, and M as well as nonstructural genes ORF3, ORF6, ORF7a, and ORF7b from a virus that is closely related to Kenyan isolate BtKY72. Examination of bats by RT-PCR revealed that 62,5% of great horseshoe bats in one of the caves were positive for Khosta-1 virus while its overall prevalence was 14%. The prevalence of Khosta-2 was 1,75%. Our results show that SARS-like coronaviruses circulate in horseshoe bats in the region and provide a new data on their genetic diversity.
Unsupervised deep learning method for cell segmentation

Advances in the artificial neural network have made machine learning techniques increasingly more important in image analysis tasks. Recently, convolutional neural networks (CNN) have been applied to the problem of cell segmentation from microscopy images. However, previous methods used a supervised training paradigm in order to create an accurate segmentation model. This strategy requires a large amount of manually labeled cellular images, in which accurate segmentations at pixel level were produced by human operators. Generating training data is expensive and a major hindrance in the wider adoption of machine learning based methods for cell segmentation. Here we present an alternative strategy that uses unsupervised learning to train CNNs without any human-labeled data. We show that our method is able to produce accurate segmentation models. More importantly, the algorithm is applicable to both fluorescence and bright-field images, requiring no prior knowledge of signal characteristics and requires no tuning of parameters.
The human hepatocyte TXG-MAPr: WGCNA transcriptomic modules to support mechanism-based risk assessment

Mechanism-based risk assessment is urged to advance and fully permeate into current safety assessment practices, possibly at early phases of drug safety testing. Toxicogenomics is a promising source of comprehensive and mechanisms-revealing data, but analysis tools to interpret mechanisms of toxicity and specific for the testing systems (e.g. hepatocytes) are lacking. In this study we present the TXG-MAPr webtool (available at https://txg-mapr.eu/WGCNA_PHH/TGGATEs_PHH/), an R-Shiny-based implementation of weighted gene co-expression networks (WGCNA) obtained from the Primary Human Hepatocytes (PHH) TG-GATEs dataset. Gene co-expression networks (modules) were annotated with functional information (pathway enrichment, transcription factor) to reveal their mechanistic interpretation. Several well-known stress response pathways were captured in the modules, are perturbed by specific stressors and show preserved in rat systems (rat primary hepatocytes and rat in vivo liver), highlighting stress responses that translate across species/testing systems. The TXG-MAPr tool was successfully applied to investigate the mechanism of toxicity of TG-GATEs compounds and using external datasets obtained from different hepatocyte cells and microarray platforms. Additionally, we suggest that module responses can be calculated from targeted RNA-seq data therefore imputing biological responses from a limited gene. By analyzing 50 different PHH donors’ responses to a common stressor, tunicamycin, we were able to suggest modules associated with donor’s traits, e.g. pre-existing disease state, therefore connected to donors’ variability. In conclusion, we demonstrated that gene co-expression analysis coupled to an interactive visualization environment, the TXG-MAPr, is a promising approach to achieve mechanistic relevant, cross-species and cross-platform evaluation of toxicogenomic data.