Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cationic Bilayers on Polymeric Particles: Effect of Low NaCl Concentration on Surface Coverage

The interaction between dioctadecyldimethylammonium bromide (DODAB), chloride (DODAC), or acetate (DODAAc) cationic bilayer fragments (BF) and polystyrene sulfate (PSS) particles (2 × 1011 particles/mL) was evaluated at and above equivalence of total surface areas for bilayers and particles (Ab/Ap) over a range of low NaCl and lipid concentrations, by means of zeta-potential, ζ, and particle diameter, Dz, analysis. In pure water, lipid addition at and above Ab/Ap = 1 rapidly increased Dz and ζ, which reached stable plateau values above those expected at bilayer coverage. By addition of small NaCl concentrations (0.05−5.00 mM), Dz decreased with ζ still positive. Therefore, the effect of low salt concentration on the particle coverage with lipid bilayer fragments was surface rearrangement of bilayer fragments on the surface from uneven coverage with some bilayer fragments adsorbed vertically, to perfect bilayer coverage upon addition of small amounts of NaCl. This occurred over a broad range of lipid conce.
Development of atrial fibrillation following trauma increases short term risk of cardiovascular events

Abstract Context New onset atrial fibrillation (AF) is associated with poor outcomes in several different patient populations. Objectives To assess the effect of developing AF on cardiovascular events such as myocardial infarction (MI) and cerebrovascular accident (CVA) during the acute index hospitalization for trauma patients. Methods The Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project State Inpatient Databases for California and Florida were used to identify adult trauma patients (18 years of age or older) who were admitted between 2007 and 2010. After excluding patients with a history of AF and prior history of cardiovascular events, patients were evaluated for MI, CVA, and death during the index hospitalization. A secondary analysis was performed using matched propensity scoring based on age, race, and preexisting comorbidities. Results During the study period, 1,224,828 trauma patients were admitted. A total of 195,715 patients were excluded for a prior history of AF, MI, or CVA. Of the remaining patients, 15,424 (1.5%) met inclusion criteria and had new onset AF after trauma. There was an associated increase in incidence of MI (2.9 vs. 0.7%; p<0.001), CVA (2.6 vs. 0.4%; p<0.001), and inpatient mortality (8.5 vs. 2.1%; p<0.001) during the index hospitalization in patients who developed new onset AF compared with those who did not. Cox proportional hazards regression demonstrated an increased risk of MI (odds ratio [OR], 2.35 [2.13–2.60]), CVA (OR, 3.90 [3.49–4.35]), and inpatient mortality (OR, 2.83 [2.66–3.00]) for patients with new onset AF after controlling for all other potential risk factors. Conclusions New onset AF in trauma patients was associated with increased incidence of myocardial infarction (MI), cerebral vascular accident (CVA), and mortality during index hospitalization in this study.
Environmental Factors Shape the Nonbreeding Distribution of the Harlan's Red-Tailed Hawk: A Maximum Entropy Approach

Abstract. Several lines of evidence support the hypothesis that abiotic and biotic factors directly or indirectly control species' distributions. Despite the importance of assessing the environmental factors governing species' distributions, it is not clear how such factors influence migratory species. We evaluated environmental factors related to the nonbreeding distribution (September through March) for Harlan's Red-tailed Hawks (Buteo jamaicensis harlani), using a maximum entropy (Maxent) approach. We evaluated records spanning the nonbreeding season from 1 September to 31 March, gathered from four different sources including online data and published literature; we used maximum and minimum temperatures, precipitation, solar radiation, wind speed, and cloud cover as abiotic factors. Based on the most influential environmental factors (determined using percent contribution, a measure representing the increase in likelihood associated with each environmental factor), we delineated the current winter distribution (December through February) and evaluated niche overlap. From December through February, we found that minimum temperature showed the highest percent contribution (62.2%, 55.9%, and 66.9% in each month, respectively). Response curves for minimum temperature were quadratic in shape in September, non-monotonic in shape in October, and sigmoid in shape in November, December, January, and February, with high suitability values for temperature ranging from 0–20°C and low suitability for temperature,0°C. However, habitat suitability decreased at higher levels of solar radiation (.6000 kJ m–2 d–1) during fall migration (September, October) and spring migration (March). Our revised winter distribution map, based on ecological niche modeling, includes areas of ecoregions not previously included in Harlan's Hawk range maps in the western USA, and northeastern Mexico.
Use of spike moisture content to define physiological maturity and quantify progress through grain development in wheat and barley

Abstract. A single measurement is useful for determining how far a crop has progressed through grain development, and whether it has reached physiological maturity. Grain development is commonly assessed by using subjective, qualitative methods that describe the look and feel of the kernel or the colour of the straw. Physiological maturity in cereal crops can be determined more accurately by the grain moisture content; however, the moisture content of whole spikes is potentially quicker and easier to assess than that of individual kernels, and with a greater degree of accuracy. This experiment aimed to characterise the moisture dynamics of whole intact wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) spikes during the grain development phase and identify the spike moisture content corresponding to physiological maturity for both species. The dry matter and water contents of whole spikes of five wheat and five barley cultivars sown over six dates were determined at weekly intervals throughout the period of grain development from anthesis to harvest ripeness. Use of regression analysis determined that the spike moisture content at physiological maturity was 43% (95% confidence interval 41–45%) for wheat and 50% (95% confidence interval 49–51%) for barley, irrespective of differences in cultivar morphology, phenology and growing conditions. We demonstrate that progression through kernel development in wheat and barley can be assessed objectively and quantitatively by using spike moisture content, and we provide guidelines for accurate determination of the grain development stage using spike moisture.
Are you listening? Echoing the voices of looked after children about their transition to secondary school

Transition to secondary school is a significant childhood event, especially for the most vulnerable children. Many looked after children experience multiple episodes of instability, loss and change which can affect this move. Research shows that school belonging promotes acceptance, inclusion and respect, and impacts positively on school transfer and participation. Asking children for their views on matters that affect them can ease the process and increase their belonging and well-being. This article seeks to echo the voices of 36 children aged 10 to 12 who participated in a therapeutic primary to secondary transition initiative for looked after children. Informed by a participatory action research approach, its focus was to facilitate the child’s voice. Child-friendly, multi-method techniques and activities were used to elicit their views about the transition. Social connections, relationships, feeling safe and belonging within the school environment emerged as key themes. Children specifically highlighted the importance of friendships as a mechanism for supporting their belonging during this time. They also voiced the need for their social connections and belonging to be promoted. This unique intervention provides a framework for facilitating the voices of looked after children and underlines the need for practitioners to listen and understand moves from primary to secondary schools from the child’s perspective.
PLAT 20(1) 2021: Enhancing Student Learning in Research and Educational Practice: The Power of Retrieval Practice and Feedback

Students and instructors are looking for effective study and instructional strategies that enhance student achievement across a range of content and conditions. The current Special Issue features seven articles and one report, which used varied methodologies to investigate the benefits of practising retrieval and providing feedback for learning. This editorial serves as an introduction and conceptual framework for these papers. Consistent with trends in the broader literature, the research in this Special Issue goes beyond asking whether retrieval practice and feedback enhance learning, but rather, when, for whom, and under what conditions. The first set of articles examined the benefits of retrieval practice compared to restudy (i.e., the testing effect) and various moderators of the testing effect, including participants’ cognitive and personality characteristics (Bertilsson et al., 2021) as well as the timing of the practice test and sleep (Kroneisen & Kuepper-Tetzel, 2021). The second set of articles examined the efficacy of different types of feedback, including complex versus simple feedback (Enders et al., 2021; Pieper et al., 2021) and positively or negatively valenced feedback (Jones et al., 2021). Finally, the third set of articles to this Special Issue examined practical considerations of implementing both retrieval practice and feedback with educationally relevant materials and contexts. Some of the practical issues examined included when students should search the web to look for answers to practice problems (Giebl et al., 2021), whether review quizzes should be required and contribute to students’ final grades (den Boer et al., 2021), and how digital learning environments should be designed to teach students to use effective study strategies such as retrieval practice (Endres et al., 2021). In short, retrieval and feedback practices are effective and robust tools to enhance learning and teaching, and the papers in the current Special Issue provide insight into ways for students and teachers to implement these strategies.
The devil’s in the detail: revisiting the ceiling panel at RSA CHI1, Kamberg, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

ABSTRACT Recent work on a well-known San rock art panel from South Africa shows that continued movement between, on the one hand, San beliefs and rituals and, on the other, the images themselves allows us to move from general statements about San rock art to specific understandings. We demonstrate that continuing field research, combined with the revisiting of painted panels, is uncovering diverse ways in which San rock painters deployed and, at the same time, individually transmuted abstract ideas and experiences into material images, often in easily missed details. One of these instances, hitherto unknown, is described. By following-up the heuristic potential of this approach researchers are able to explore the ways in which San imagery played a social role at different times and in different places in San history.
Comparative life‐cycle energy payback analysis of multi‐junction a‐SiGe and nanocrystalline/a‐Si modules

Despite the publicity of nanotechnologies in high tech industries including the photovoltaic sector, their life‐cycle energy use and related environmental impacts are understood only to a limited degree as their production is mostly immature. We investigated the life‐cycle energy implications of amorphous silicon (a‐Si) PV designs using a nanocrystalline silicon (nc‐Si) bottom layer in the context of a comparative, prospective life‐cycle analysis framework. Three R&D options using nc‐Si bottom layer were evaluated and compared to the current triple‐junction a‐Si design, i.e., a‐Si/a‐SiGe/a‐SiGe. The life‐cycle energy demand to deposit nc‐Si was estimated from parametric analyses of film thickness, deposition rate, precursor gas usage, and power for generating gas plasma. We found that extended deposition time and increased gas usages associated to the relatively high thickness of nc‐Si lead to a larger primary energy demand for the nc‐Si bottom layer designs, than the current triple‐junction a‐Si. Assuming an 8% conversion efficiency, the energy payback time of those R&D designs will be 0.7–0.9 years, close to that of currently commercial triple‐junction a‐Si design, 0.8 years. Future scenario analyses show that if nc‐Si film is deposited at a higher rate (i.e., 2–3 nm/s), and at the same time the conversion efficiency reaches 10%, the energy‐payback time could drop by 30%. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Simulation of a sudden drop-off in distal dense core vesicle concentration in Drosophila type II motoneuron terminals

Recent experimental observations have shown evidence of an unexpected sudden drop-off in the dense core vesicles (DCVs) content at the ends of certain types of axon endings. This paper seeks to determine whether these observations may be explained without modifying the parameters characterizing the ability of distal en passant boutons to capture and accumulate DCVs. We developed a mathematical model that is based on the conservation of captured and transiting DCVs in boutons. The model consists of 77 ordinary differential equations and is solved using a standard Matlab solver. We hypothesize that the drop in DCV content in distal boutons is due to an insufficient supply of anterogradely moving DCVs coming from the soma. As anterogradely moving DCVs are captured (and eventually destroyed) in more proximal boutons on their way to the end of the terminal, the fluxes of anterogradely moving DCVs between the boutons become increasingly smaller, and the most distal boutons are left without DCVs. We tested this hypothesis by modifying the flux of DCVs entering the terminal and found that the number of most distal boutons left unfilled increases if the DCV flux entering the terminal is decreased. The number of anterogradely moving DCVs in the axon can be increased either by the release of a portion of captured DCVs into the anterograde component or by an increase of the anterograde DCV flux into the terminal. This increase could lead to having enough anterogradely moving DCVs such that they could reach the most distal bouton and then turn around by changing molecular motors that propel them. The model suggests that this could result in an increased concentration of resident DCVs in distal boutons beginning with bouton 2 (the most distal is bouton 1). This is because in distal boutons, DCVs have a larger chance to be captured from the transiting state as they pass the boutons moving anterogradely and then again as they pass the same boutons moving retrogradely.
Modulation of early level EEG signatures by distributed facial emotion cues

Face perception plays an important role in our daily social interactions, as it is essential to recognize emotions. The N170 Event Related Potential (ERP) component has been widely identified as a major face-sensitive neuronal marker. However, despite extensive investigations conducted to examine this electroencephalographic pattern, there is yet no agreement regarding its sensitivity to the content of facial expressions. Here, we aim to clarify the EEG signatures of the recognition of facial expressions by investigating ERP components that we hypothesize to be associated with this cognitive process. We asked the question whether the recognition of facial expressions is encoded by the N170 as weel as at the level of P100 and P250. In order to test this hypothesis, we analysed differences in amplitudes and latencies for the three ERPs, in a sample of 20 participants. A visual paradigm requiring explicit recognition of happy, sad and neutral faces was used. The facial cues were explicitly controlled to vary only regarding mouth and eye components. We found that non neutral emotion expressions elicit a response difference in the amplitude of N170 and P250. In contrast with the P100, there by excluding a role for low level factors. Our study brings new light to the controversy whether emotional face expressions modulate early visual response components, which have been often analysed apart. The results support the tenet that neutral and emotional faces evoke distinct N170 patterns, but go further by revealing that this is also true for P250, unlike the P100.
CaSR modulates sodium channel-mediated Ca2+-dependent excitability

Increasing extracellular [Ca2+] ([Ca2+]o) strongly decreases intrinsic excitability in neurons but the mechanism is unclear. By one hypothesis, [Ca2+]o screens surface charge reducing voltage-dependent sodium channel (VGSC) activation and by another [Ca2+]o activates Calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR) closing the sodium-leak channel (NALCN). Here we report that action potential (AP) firing rates increased in wild-type (WT), but not CaSR null mutant (Casr-/-) neocortical neurons, following the switch from physiological to reduced Ca2+-containing Tyrode. However, after membrane potential correction, AP firing increased similarly in both genotypes inconsistent with CaSR regulation of NALCN. Activation of VGSCs was the dominant contributor to the increase in excitability after the [Ca2+]o change. VGSC conductance-voltage relationships were hyperpolarized by decreasing [Ca2+]o for Casr-/- neurons indicating CaSR contributes to [Ca2+]o-dependent excitability via VGSCs. Regulation of VGSC gating by [Ca2+]o is the key mechanism mediating [Ca2+]o-dependent changes in neocortical neuron excitability and CaSR influences neuronal excitability by its effects on VGSC gating.
Comparative Population Genetics in the Human Gut Microbiome

The genetic variation in the human gut microbiome is responsible for conferring a number of crucial phenotypes like the ability to digest food and metabolize drugs. Yet, our understanding of how this variation arises and is maintained remains relatively poor. Thus, the microbiome remains a largely untapped resource, as the large number of co-existing species in this microbiome presents a unique opportunity to compare and contrast evolutionary processes across species to identify universal trends and deviations. Here we outline features of the human gut microbiome that, while not unique in isolation, as an assemblage make it a system with unparalleled potential for comparative population genomics studies. We consciously take a broad view of comparative population genetics, emphasizing how sampling a large number of species allows researchers to identify universal evolutionary dynamics in addition to new genes, which can then be leveraged to identify exceptional species that deviate from general patterns. To highlight the potential power of comparative population genetics in the microbiome, we re-analyzed patterns of purifying selection across ~40 prevalent species in the human gut microbiome to identify intriguing trends which highlight functional categories in the microbiome that may be under more or less constraint.
A low sugar diet enhances Drosophila body size in males and females via sex-specific mechanisms

In Drosophila, changes to dietary protein elicit different body size responses between the sexes. Whether this sex difference in nutrient-dependent body size regulation extends to other nutrients, such as dietary sugar, remains unclear. Here, we show that reducing dietary sugar enhanced body size in Drosophila male and female larvae. Indeed, the largest body size was found in larvae reared in a diet without added sugar. Despite the equivalent body size effects of a low sugar diet between males and females, we detected sex-specific changes to the insulin/insulin-like growth factor (IIS) and target of rapamycin (TOR) signaling pathways. Further, we show that the metabolic changes observed in larvae reared on a low sugar diet differ between the sexes. Thus, despite identical phenotypic responses to dietary sugar in males and females, distinct changes to cell signaling pathways and whole-body metabolism were associated with the increased body size in each sex. This highlights the importance of including both sexes in all mechanistic studies on larval growth, as males and females may use different molecular and metabolic mechanisms to achieve similar phenotypic outcomes.
After migration into blood circulation, hematopoietic stem cells can stably self-renew and maintain bone marrow while being skewed toward myeloid lineage when submitted to serial transplantation

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) mainly reside in bone marrow (BM) within niches providing an appropriate environment for their survival and self-renewal. Although, small numbers of HSCs can quit their residing environment to migrate into blood circulation and re-engraft elsewhere in BM. Mobilizing agents such as granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) can amplify this process by inducing massive HSC mobilization into blood circulation. This method is widely used in clinics to treat hematological disorders. However, in physiological conditions, the properties of HSCs after migration (called migratory HSCs) remain incompletely characterized. In this study, we investigated the capacity of migratory HSCs to self-renew, reconstitute and maintain BM. We show that after migration, HSCs can stably self-renew and maintain BM in homeostasis. However, while stably repopulating BM of irradiated recipients, migratory HSCs show a defect in lymphoid lineage reconstitution when subjected to serial transplantations. Our findings provide interesting knowledge on HSC properties after migration, which may benefits therapeutic research on HSC-based therapies to treat hematological disorders.
Mechanisms Underlying Economic Revealed Preference Of Multi-Component Bundles In Primate Orbitofrontal Cortex

Classic neuro-economic studies suggest that people and animals alike assign values to individual attributes arriving at a total summed valuation and therefore overall appraisal of the offer (Kahnt et al., 2011; Lak et al., 2014). However, further work is needed to determine whether such individual attribute appraisals can predict choice between multi-component bundles. In this paper we show the importance and applications of economic theory to decision neurophysiology concerning multi-component attribute options or bundles. We applied random utility modelling (McFadden, 1973) to choices amongst 10 different two-component bundles in non-human primates (Macacca mulatta). We found that behavioural random utility (RUM) complies well with revealed preference theory and recapitulates the fundamental properties of empirically obtained indifference curves (IC). Bundles positioned in the same IC display equal choice preference and similar utility whereas bundles positioned across different ICs display different choice preferences. RUM also captures the characteristic shape of IC on each bundle revealing the synergetic interactions between components. We extended RUM to neurophysiological data and focused our investigation to orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), area 13. Neuronal RUM complied with behavioural RUM at single neuron and population level (N: 54). Neural coding of utility was present at target onset, choice, and reward. However, a distinct and separate group of neurons (N: 26) showed partial compliance with utility in either the chosen or the unchosen bundle options and correlated with both utility and probability of choice. We show that relative chosen-utility coding constitutes a separate type of computation and suggest a role for this type of neuron in value-to-choice processing in OFC.