Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
GERMINACIÓN Y ESTABLECIMIENTO DE PLÁNTULAS DE PTEROCEREUS GAUMERI, UNA CACTÁCEA COLUMNAR, RARA Y ENDÉMICA DE YUCATÁN, MÉXICO

We examined the facilitative effect of nurse plants and the negative effect of predation on the germination and estab- lishment of new individuals of Pterocereus gaumeri. The field experiment followed a factorial design, with five levels of associ- ation (four nurse plants and open space), four levels of orientation (North, South, East, and West) and two levels of predation (exclusion and non-exclusion of predators). There were no statistical differences between germination rates in open sites and under nurse plants, neither between nurse plants; however, seed germination was higher in the protected treatments. There were no statistical differences in the orientation factor for germination and survival. Seedling survival was higher under nurse plants than in open sites and seedling predation was very high. Our results showed that the recruitment of new individuals of P. gaumeri is a critical stage of the life cycle of the species and help explain the degree of rarity of this threatened cactus species.
COVID-19 Outcomes in Saudi Arabia and the UK: A Tale of Two Kingdoms

Background: While the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths around the world is starting to peak, it is essential to point out how different countries manage the outbreak and how different measures and experience resulted in different outcomes. This study aimed to compare the effect of the measures taken by Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom (UK) governments on the outcome of the COVID-19 pandemic as predicted by a mathematical model. Method: Data on the numbers of cases, deaths and government measures were collected from Saudi Ministry of Health and Public Health England. A prediction of the trend of cases, deaths and days to peak was then modelled using the mathematical technique, Exponential Logistic Growth and Susceptible Infectious Recovered (SIR) model. The measures taken by the governments and the predicted outcomes were compared to assess effectiveness. Result: We found over three months that 22 fast and extreme measures had been taken in Saudi Arabia compared to eight slow and late measures in the UK. This resulted in a decline in numbers of current infected cases per day and mortality in Saudi Arabia compared to the UK. Based on the SIR model, the predicted number of COVID-19 cases in Saudi as of 31st of March was 2064, while the predicted number of cases was 63012 in the UK. In addition, the pandemic is predicted to peak earlier on the 27th of March in Saudi Arabia compared to the 2nd of May 2020 in the UK. The end of transition phases for Saudi and UK according to the model, were predicted to be on 18th of April and 24th of May, respectively. These numbers relate to early and decisive measures adopted by the Saudi government. Conclusion: We show that early extreme measures, informed by science and guided by experience, helped reduce the spread and related deaths from COVID-19 in Saudi. Actions were taken by Saudi Arabia under the national slogan (We are all responsible) resulted in the observed reduced number of current and predicted cases and deaths compared to the UK approach (keep calm and carry on).
Roles of Trait Mindfulness in Behavioral Activation Mechanism for Patients With Major Depressive Disorder

Behavioral activation and mindfulness have both been shown to engender improvement of functional impairment in patients with major depressive disorder. In behavioral activation, the practice of engaging with the direct experience of the present moment is central, especially when targeting avoidance. Consequently, mindfulness affects changes of avoidance in behavioral activation. This study was designed to assess exploratory relations among trait mindfulness, avoidance, and functional impairment in behavioral activation mechanism for depression. For 1042 participants with depression only or for depression with anxiety disorders, we used structural equation modeling to examine relations among trait mindfulness, avoidance, and functional impairment. Trait mindfulness non-reactivity, non-judging, and acting with awareness had a direct negative effect on avoidance. Trait mindfulness non-reactivity, trait non-judging, and trait acting with awareness had indirect negative effects on functional impairment. Results show that each trait mindfulness facet exhibited a distinct pattern of relations with avoidance and impairment.
Analysis of Cardiac Amyloidosis Progression Using Model-Based Markers

Deposition of amyloid in the heart can lead to cardiac dilation and impair its pumping ability. This ultimately leads to heart failure with worsening symptoms of breathlessness and fatigue due to the progressive loss of elasticity of the myocardium. Biomarkers linked to the clinical deterioration can be crucial in developing effective treatments. However, to date the progression of cardiac amyloidosis is poorly characterized. There is an urgent need to identify key predictors for disease progression and cardiac tissue function. In this proof of concept study, we estimate a group of new markers based on mathematical models of the left ventricle derived from routine clinical magnetic resonance imaging and follow-up scans from the National Amyloidosis Center at the Royal Free in London. Using mechanical modeling and statistical classification, we show that it is possible to predict disease progression. Our predictions agree with clinical assessments in a double-blind test in six out of the seven sample cases studied. Importantly, we find that multiple factors need to be used in the classification, which includes mechanical, geometrical and shape features. No single marker can yield reliable prediction given the complexity of the growth and remodeling process of diseased hearts undergoing high-dimensional shape changes. Our approach is promising in terms of clinical translation but the results presented should be interpreted with caution due to the small sample size.
Anthropomorphic Capital and Commonwealth Value

In this essay, we intend to analyze the process of accumulation of contemporary capitalism, in which the regime of valorization derive from the notion of “common” a “results of social production that are necessary for social interaction and further production, such as knowledges, languages, information affect, and so forth” (Hardt and Negri, 2009) and from its expropriation. When we deal with the concept of “common,” the reference is made to a heterogeneous category. In this text we refer to two modalities of expression of the “common:” the digital common (section network value) and the common of social reproduction (section social reproduction value or the economy of the interiority and anthropomorphic capital). Regarding the first case study, the concept of “network value” is investigated and defined as a product of individual life in a relational context increasingly controlled and subsumed by the social media and big data industry. Regarding the second, we discuss how the activity of social reproduction of individuals is today central in the process of accumulation of the economy. “Social reproduction” is a useful concept to investigate what we call the “anthropomorphic capital,” that is the capacity by the contemporary labor organizations to capture and make productive the essence of today's life and its complexity. In short, it transpires better and better how all activities are productive, i.e., accumulation generators. We observe the apparent paradox of a generalization of surplus value in the era of the decline of waged employment and with it a tension of capital contemporary to the general mortification of living labor. In fact, we note how capital claims to transform the human being into capital itself, explicitly assuming the whole of human existence as a field from which accumulation can be generated (human being, enterprise or human capital). This is what, at this point, we call anthropomorphic capital or the economy of interiority. In the last section, we report some results of an empirical research “Commonfare-Pie News,” able to underline how life is more and more subsumed to the logic of capitalistic valorization, to the point that today we can speak not only of the subsumption of labor to capital but of a real life subsumption.
Shape Matters: Comprehensive Analysis of Star-Shaped Lipid Nanoparticles

The research of lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) has been ongoing for more than three decades, and more research are still being carried out today. Being the first Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved nanomedicine, LNPs not only provide various advantages, but also display some unique properties. The unique lipid bilayer structure of LNPs allows it to encapsulate both fat-soluble and water-soluble molecules, hence enabling a wide range of possibilities for the delivery of therapeutic agents with different physical and chemical properties. The ultra-small size of some LNPs confers them the ability to cross the blood brain barrier (BBB), thus obtaining superiority in the treatment of diseases of the central nervous system (CNS). The ability of tumor targeting is one of the basic requirements to be an excellent delivery system, where the LNPs have to reach the interior of the tumor. Factors that influence tumor extravasation and the permeability of LNPs are size, surface charge, lipid composition, and shape. The effect of size, surface charge, and lipid composition on the cellular uptake of LNPs is no longer recent news, while increasing numbers of researchers are interested in the effect of shape on the uptake of LNPs and its consequential effects. In our study, we prepared three lipid nanostars (LNSs) by mixing phosphatidylcholine (PC) with different backbone lengths (C14:C4 or C16:C6 or C18:C8) at a 3:1 ratio. Although several star-shaped nanocarriers have been reported, these are the first reported star-shaped LNPs. These LNSs were proven to be safe, similar in size with their spherical controls (~100 nm), and stable at 37°C. The release rate of these LNSs are inversely related to the length of the lipid backbone. Most importantly, these LNSs exhibited greatly enhanced cellular uptake and in vivo tumor extravasation compared with their spherical controls. Based on the different uptake and pharmacokinetic characteristics displayed by these LNSs, numerous route formulations could be taken into consideration, such as via injection or transdermal patch. Due to their excellent cellular uptake and in vivo tumor accumulation, these LNSs show exciting potential for application in cancer therapy.
Synaptic Plasticity on Motoneurons After Axotomy: A Necessary Change in Paradigm

Motoneurons axotomized by peripheral nerve injuries experience profound changes in their synaptic inputs that are associated with a neuroinflammatory response that includes local microglia and astrocytes. This reaction is conserved across different types of motoneurons, injuries, and species, but also displays many unique features in each particular case. These reactions have been amply studied, but there is still a lack of knowledge on their functional significance and mechanisms. In this review article, we compiled data from many different fields to generate a comprehensive conceptual framework to best interpret past data and spawn new hypotheses and research. We propose that synaptic plasticity around axotomized motoneurons should be divided into two distinct processes. First, a rapid cell-autonomous, microglia-independent shedding of synapses from motoneuron cell bodies and proximal dendrites that is reversible after muscle reinnervation. Second, a slower mechanism that is microglia-dependent and permanently alters spinal cord circuitry by fully eliminating from the ventral horn the axon collaterals of peripherally injured and regenerating sensory Ia afferent proprioceptors. This removes this input from cell bodies and throughout the dendritic tree of axotomized motoneurons as well as from many other spinal neurons, thus reconfiguring ventral horn motor circuitries to function after regeneration without direct sensory feedback from muscle. This process is modulated by injury severity, suggesting a correlation with poor regeneration specificity due to sensory and motor axons targeting errors in the periphery that likely render Ia afferent connectivity in the ventral horn nonadaptive. In contrast, reversible synaptic changes on the cell bodies occur only while motoneurons are regenerating. This cell-autonomous process displays unique features according to motoneuron type and modulation by local microglia and astrocytes and generally results in a transient reduction of fast synaptic activity that is probably replaced by embryonic-like slow GABA depolarizations, proposed to relate to regenerative mechanisms.
Net Community Production, Dissolved Organic Carbon Accumulation, and Vertical Export in the Western North Atlantic

The annual North Atlantic phytoplankton bloom represents a hot spot of biological activity during which a significant fraction of net community production (NCP) can be partitioned into dissolved organic carbon (DOC). The fraction of seasonal NCP that is not respired by the heterotrophic bacterial community and accumulates as seasonal surplus DOC (ΔDOC) in the surface layer represents DOC export potential to the upper mesopelagic zone, and in the North Atlantic this is facilitated by winter convective mixing that can extend to depths > 400 m. However, estimates of ΔDOC and vertical DOC export for the western North Atlantic remain ill-constrained and the influence of phytoplankton community structure on the partitioning of seasonal NCP as ΔDOC is unresolved. Here, we couple hydrographic properties from autonomous in situ sensors (ARGO floats) with biogeochemical data from two meridional transects in the late spring (∼44–56°N along ∼−41°W) and early autumn (∼42–53°N along ∼−41°W) as part of the North Atlantic Aerosols and Marine Ecosystems Study (NAAMES). We estimate that 4–35% of seasonal NCP is partitioned as ΔDOC and that annual vertical DOC export ranges between 0.34 and 1.15 mol C m–2 in the temperate and subpolar western North Atlantic. Two lines of evidence reveal that non-siliceous picophytoplankton, like Prochlorococcus, are indicator species of the conditions that control the accumulation of DOC and the partitioning of NCP as ΔDOC.
Emotion Regulation Difficulties Are Not Always Associated With Negative Outcomes on Women: The Buffer Effect of HRV

The Heart Rate Variability (HRV) is regularly associated with depression and trait emotion regulation. However, the interaction between HRV and emotional disturbances is still debated. Only a few studies indicate that HRV moderates the effect of personality traits involved in psychopathological disorders. Since the regulation of emotions is a transdiagnostic factor for most psychological disorders, this study aimed to explore whether HRV moderates the relationship between trait emotion dysregulation and depressive symptoms. We collected data from 148 participants via online questionnaires and HRV measurements at rest. Results show for the 114 female remaining in the study that whereas high emotion regulation difficulties led to higher depressive symptoms severity when resting HRV is low, depressive symptoms remain stable in the same condition but when resting HRV is high. Overall, high resting HRV appears to dampen the consequences of trait emotion regulation difficulties. Further studies are needed to confirm this result, but this suggests that usual response tendencies could be overcome by deactivating or inhibitory processes such as those implied in cognitive flexibility reflected through HRV, according to the neurovisceral integration model.
Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Secreting L-Cells Coupled to Sensory Nerves Translate Microbial Signals to the Host Rat Nervous System

An intact gut epithelium preserves the immunological exclusion of “non-self” entities in the external environment of the gut lumen. Nonetheless, information flows continuously across this interface, with the host immune, endocrine, and neural systems all involved in monitoring the luminal environment of the gut. Both pathogenic and commensal gastrointestinal (GI) bacteria can modulate centrally-regulated behaviors and brain neurochemistry and, although the vagus nerve has been implicated in the microbiota-gut-brain signaling axis, the cellular and molecular machinery that facilitates this communication is unclear. Studies were carried out in healthy Sprague–Dawley rats to understand cross-barrier communication in the absence of disease. A novel colonic-nerve electrophysiological technique was used to examine gut-to-brain vagal signaling by bacterial products. Calcium imaging and immunofluorescent labeling were used to explore the activation of colonic submucosal neurons by bacterial products. The findings demonstrate that the neuromodulatory molecule, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), secreted by colonic enteroendocrine L-cells in response to the bacterial metabolite, indole, stimulated colonic vagal afferent activity. At a local level indole modified the sensitivity of submucosal neurons to GLP-1. These findings elucidate a cellular mechanism by which sensory L-cells act as cross-barrier signal transducers between microbial products in the gut lumen and the host peripheral nervous system.
The Role of Pituitary Adenylate Cyclase-Activating Polypeptide (PACAP) Signaling in the Hippocampal Dentate Gyrus

Pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP, ADCYAP1) dysregulation has been associated with multiple stress-related psychopathologies that may be related to altered hippocampal function. In coherence, PACAP- and PAC1 receptor (ADCYAP1R1)-null mice demonstrate changes in hippocampal-dependent behavioral responses, implicating the PACAPergic system function in this structure. Within the hippocampus, the dentate gyrus (DG) may play an important role in discerning the differences between similar contexts, and DG granule cells appear to both highly express PAC1 receptors and receive inputs from PACAP-expressing terminals. Here, we review the evidence from our laboratories and others that PACAP is an important regulator of activity within hippocampal circuits, particularly within the DG. These data are consistent with an increasing literature implicating PACAP circuits in stress-related pathologies such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and implicate the hippocampus, and in particular the DG, as a critical site in which PACAP dysregulation can alter stress-related behaviors.
Seed availability and recruitment of the perennial herb Sanicula europaea1

Abstract Dispersal ability is an important determinant of plant distribution and a key factor in predicting effects of habitat fragmentation. In recent years, dispersal limitation has been demonstrated empirically by seed-sowing experiments for a number of plant species. However, these studies have been criticized for dealing with only the first stages of colonization and for not being replicated over several years. In this study we present data from transplantation experiments with seeds and established plants of the perennial herb Sanicula europaea L. Experiments were carried out in several years and at sites with and without natural occurrence of the species. We also examined the effect of vegetation removal on seedling recruitment. Sanicula europaea germinated at several previously unoccupied sites, but our results provide no evidence that the distribution of S. europaea is dispersal limited. Moreover, unlike studies on several other species, there was no evidence that existing vegetation limits recruitment.
Invasive host for invasive pest: when the Asiatic cherry fly (Drosophila suzukii) meets the American black cherry (Prunus serotina) in Europe

The vinegar fly Drosophila suzukii Matsumara (Diptera: Drosophilidae), native to Asia, recently invaded Europe and North America. By contrast to other frugivorous Drosophila species, D. suzukii lays eggs on ripening fruits, heavily reducing fruit production. Although cultivated host plants of D. suzukii are well documented, very little is known about wild hosts in the invaded areas. The American black cherry Prunus serotina Ehrh. , a tree species native to North America, became one of the main woody forest invaders in Europe. One cause of its invasion success is the huge amount of fruit produced by P. serotina trees. A field survey showed that P. serotina is a suitable reservoir for the development and persistence of D. suzukii populations in European natural systems (on the forest area investigated, up to 70% of all the fruits of P. serotina were infested in one of the sampling sites). Laboratory tests demonstrated that D. suzukii prefers ripening cherries to ripe ones, therefore increasing the chance of the larvae to fully develop and reach maturity before the mesocarp of the fruit totally decays. Infestation of P. serotina cherries could reduce the life span of fruits, as well as their attractiveness to seed consumers and dispersers, yet P. serotina could represent a suitable plant reservoir promoting D. suzukii invasion in Europe and North America.
Blood glucose and triglycerideprofile using Alpinia galanga (L.)/lengkuas juice.

Alpinia galanga (L) is a tradisional medicine is also known as lengkuas in Indonesia. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that almost 80% of world population relies mainly on traditional medicines, mostly plant drugs in their health care. Alpinia galanga L. ) /Lengkuas found all over the world. Chemical components which give the distinctive aroma is asetokskhavikol acetate. The active compounds are galangin, eugenol, kaempherol, and quercetin. These compounds can lower the blood lipid level.The objective of the study was to investigate the Profile blood glucose and triglyseride level using Alpinia galanga (L) /lengkuas Research has done at Biochemistry Laboratories, Animal Husbandry Faculty, Universitas Padjadjaran, and Biofarma Laboratory in Bandung, from October until December 2012. This research used an experimental method with a Completely Randomized Design. There were five treatments (R0 = control ration , R1= control ration + 0.01% Alpinia galanga (L), R2 = control ration + 0.02% Alpinia galanga (L) , R3= control ration + 0.03% Alpinia galanga (L), and four replications. From the statistical analysis indicated that effects of using Alpinia galanga (L) /lengkuas, has potencial effect to.decline trigliseride level i.e: R1= 21,15% , R2= 8.65%, R3= 6.73%, although the blood glucose and triglyseride level showed not significant effect