Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Extracellular Matrix in the Evolution of Cortical Development and Folding

The evolution of the mammalian cerebral cortex leading to humans involved a remarkable sophistication of developmental mechanisms. Specific adaptations of progenitor cell proliferation and neuronal migration mechanisms have been proposed to play major roles in this evolution of neocortical development. One of the central elements influencing neocortex development is the extracellular matrix (ECM). The ECM provides both a structural framework during tissue formation and to present signaling molecules to cells, which directly influences cell behavior and movement. Here we review recent advances in the understanding of the role of ECM molecules on progenitor cell proliferation and neuronal migration, and how these contribute to cerebral cortex expansion and folding. We discuss how transcriptomic studies in human, ferret and mouse identify components of ECM as being candidate key players in cortex expansion during development and evolution. Then we focus on recent functional studies showing that ECM components regulate cortical progenitor cell proliferation, neuron migration and the mechanical properties of the developing cortex. Finally, we discuss how these features differ between lissencephalic and gyrencephalic species, and how the molecular evolution of ECM components and their expression profiles may have been fundamental in the emergence and evolution of cortex folding across mammalian phylogeny.
Dangerous Prediction in Roads by Using Machine Learning Models

Many vulnerable, heinous acts that are coming about in the society especially at Roads, most specifically affecting women in the society, are more in recent days. Though new technologies are developing day by day, the fatality rate is not in control to date. Without proper guidance to the people about the particular place where there is a big scope of occurrence of a greater number of accidents, this menace cannot be regulated. It is required to highlight the District-wise data and Roads where the accidents and fatalities are more. The data would help the policymakers to put in place Focused Initiatives regarding those top dangerous roads to address the menace of rising road accidents and resultant fatalities. In this, we created a dataset in Andhra Pradesh where we include those attributes that are helpful for our analysis to predict which road is the most dangerous one. We applied various Machine Learning models such as Logistic regression, Random forest classifier, Gradient Boosting Classifier, Gaussian Naive Bayes, Decision Tree Classifier, K- Nearest Neighbour Classifier and SVM to predict the dangerous roads. It is observed that Logistic Regression provides good accuracy with 87.14.
Research on Profit Maximization of New Retail E-Commerce Based on Blockchain Technology

With the development of science and technology and the extension of online users, e-commerce platforms gradually and effectively gather social resources such as manpower, technology, production, and capital. More and more traditional enterprises combine online and offline business as their operation and trade methods. E-commerce, as a new channel, has become one of the main transaction modes in the society. Under the background of reform of the supply side, and with the high-speed development of E-commerce, we will promote stock adjustment through incremental reform and optimize the structure of investment and financing in the process of increasing investment of e-commerce enterprises. High-quality products and diverse trading experience are the new development pattern in e-commerce. There are different profit maximization strategies for e-commerce enterprises when they face different economic situations. Besides, cross-border business is an advised way to expand business when the enterprise is under bigger profit. Via all these methods, e-commerce enterprise can help to optimize the structure of industries, circulation, and consumption and promote resource integration and optimization, and people’s living standards will be further improved. Finally, the e-commerce enterprise profit maximization will come true.
A Smart Cache Content Update Policy Based on Deep Reinforcement Learning

This paper proposes a DRL-based cache content update policy in the cache-enabled network to improve the cache hit ratio and reduce the average latency. In contrast to the existing policies, a more practical cache scenario is considered in this work, in which the content requests vary by both time and location. Considering the constraint of the limited cache capacity, the dynamic content update problem is modeled as a Markov decision process (MDP). Besides that, the deep Q-learning network (DQN) algorithm is utilised to solve the MDP problem. Specifically, the neural network is optimised to approximate the Q value where the training data are chosen from the experience replay memory. The DQN agent derives the optimal policy for the cache decision. Compared with the existing policies, the simulation results show that our proposed policy is 56%–64% improved in terms of the cache hit ratio and 56%–59% decreased in terms of the average latency.
Speech–Brain Frequency Entrainment of Dyslexia with and without Phonological Deficits

Developmental dyslexia is a cognitive disorder characterized by difficulties in linguistic processing. Our purpose is to distinguish subtypes of developmental dyslexia by the level of speech–EEG frequency entrainment (δ: 1–4; β: 12.5–22.5; γ1: 25–35; and γ2: 35–80 Hz) in word/pseudoword auditory discrimination. Depending on the type of disabilities, dyslexics can divide into two subtypes—with less pronounced phonological deficits (NoPhoDys—visual dyslexia) and with more pronounced ones (PhoDys—phonological dyslexia). For correctly recognized stimuli, the δ-entrainment is significantly worse in dyslexic children compared to controls at a level of speech prosody and syllabic analysis. Controls and NoPhoDys show a stronger δ-entrainment in the left-hemispheric auditory cortex (AC), anterior temporal lobe (ATL), frontal, and motor cortices than PhoDys. Dyslexic subgroups concerning normolexics have a deficit of δ-entrainment in the left ATL, inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), and the right AC. PhoDys has higher δ-entrainment in the posterior part of adjacent STS regions than NoPhoDys. Insufficient low-frequency β changes over the IFG, the inferior parietal lobe of PhoDys compared to NoPhoDys correspond to their worse phonological short-term memory. Left-dominant 30 Hz-entrainment for normolexics to phonemic frequencies characterizes the right AC, adjacent regions to superior temporal sulcus of dyslexics. The pronounced 40 Hz-entrainment in PhoDys than the other groups suggest a hearing “reassembly” and a poor phonological working memory. Shifting up to higher-frequency γ-entrainment in the AC of NoPhoDys can lead to verbal memory deficits. Different patterns of cortical reorganization based on the left or right hemisphere lead to differential dyslexic profiles.
Dichloromethane Degradation Pathway from Unsequenced Hyphomicrobium sp. MC8b Rapidly Explored by Pan-Proteomics

Several bacteria are able to degrade the major industrial solvent dichloromethane (DCM) by using the conserved dehalogenase DcmA, the only system for DCM degradation characterised at the sequence level so far. Using differential proteomics, we rapidly identified key determinants of DCM degradation for Hyphomicrobium sp. MC8b, an unsequenced facultative methylotrophic DCM-degrading strain. For this, we designed a pan-proteomics database comprising the annotated genome sequences of 13 distinct Hyphomicrobium strains. Compared to growth with methanol, growth with DCM induces drastic changes in the proteome of strain MC8b. Dichloromethane dehalogenase DcmA was detected by differential pan-proteomics, but only with poor sequence coverage, suggesting atypical characteristics of the DCM dehalogenation system in this strain. More peptides were assigned to DcmA by error-tolerant search, warranting subsequent sequencing of the genome of strain MC8b, which revealed a highly divergent set of dcm genes in this strain. This suggests that the dcm enzymatic system is less strongly conserved than previously believed, and that substantial molecular evolution of dcm genes has occurred beyond their horizontal transfer in the bacterial domain. Our study showed the power of pan-proteomics for quick characterization of new strains belonging to branches of the Tree of Life that are densely genome-sequenced.
Wearable gait device for stroke gait rehabilitation at home

ABSTRACT Background Hemiparesis is a common disabling consequence of stroke that leads to abnormal gait patterns marked by asymmetries in step length, stance, and swing phases. Asymmetric gait patterns are correlated with decreased gait velocity and increased susceptibility to falls that can lead to serious injuries and hospitalizations. Objective In this single group, before and after study, treatment with the iStrideTM gait device, designed to improve the gait patterns of individuals with hemiparesis, is adapted to the home environment. Previously tested in clinical settings, this study investigates if using the iStrideTM gait device within the home environment can provide safe and effective gait treatment for individuals with hemiparetic gait impairments caused by stroke. Methods Twelve 30-minute sessions of walking on the device were administered in each participant’s home environment. Twenty-one participants who were more than one-year post-stroke received the treatment. The Ten-Meter Walk Test, Timed Up and Go Test, Berg Balance Scale, Functional Gait Assessment, and Stroke Specific Quality of Life Scale were performed before and one week after treatment. Safety, treatment plan compliance, and subjective responses were also recorded during the study period. Results Results demonstrate statistically significant improvement on all five outcome measures from before treatment to one week after the last treatment session (p < 0.01) using two-tailed paired t-tests. 76% of participants improved beyond the small meaningful change or minimal detectable change on three or more outcome measures. 67% of participants improved clinically in gait speed and on at least one of the fall risk assessment inventories. 81% of the participants were able to perform the treatment in their home without assistance before the end of week three. Conclusions The results indicate that the iStrideTM gait device can facilitate effective, safe, and home-accessible gait treatment opportunities for individuals with hemiparesis from stroke.
Adequacy of Severe Malaria Markers and Prognostic Scores in an Intensive Care Unit in Luanda, Angola: A Clinical Study

Severe Plasmodium falciparum malaria remains the primary cause of mortality in several African countries, including Angola, where severe malaria patient admission into intensive care units (ICU) is mandatory. The present observational and prospective study enrolled 101 consecutive severe malaria patients admitted at the ICU of Américo Boavida University Hospital (Luanda, Angola). Malaria was confirmed by microscopy and RDT, and WHO criteria were used to define severe malaria. The Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score was used to monitor organ dysfunctions. Surviving and nonsurviving patients were compared using bivariate statistical methods. Two-step cluster analysis was used to find discriminant organ dysfunctions that may correlate better with the observed mortality (16.8%), which was much lower than the one generated by the SOFA score. The study population was young, and 87% of the patients were local native residents. There was no statistically significant correlation between the parasitemia and the outcome. Hematological and cerebral dysfunctions were prevalent but were not discriminant when cluster analyses were performed to detect homogeneous subgroups of patients. In conclusion, the SOFA score was readily applicable and efficient in monitoring daily organ dysfunction but was not effective enough in predicting the outcome of severe malaria patients.
Amplitude modulations of cortical sensory responses in pulsatile evidence accumulation

How does the brain internally represent a sequence of sensory information that jointly drives a decision-making behavior? Studies of perceptual decision-making have often assumed that sensory cortices provide noisy but otherwise veridical sensory inputs to downstream processes that accumulate and drive decisions. However, sensory processing in even the earliest sensory cortices can be systematically modified by various external and internal contexts. We recorded from neuronal populations across posterior cortex as mice performed a navigational decision-making task based on accumulating randomly timed pulses of visual evidence. Even in V1, only a small fraction of active neurons had sensory-like responses time-locked to each pulse. Here, we focus on how these ‘cue-locked’ neurons exhibited a variety of amplitude modulations from sensory to cognitive, notably by choice and accumulated evidence. These task-related modulations affected a large fraction of cue-locked neurons across posterior cortex, suggesting that future models of behavior should account for such influences.
Sustainable Rabbit Skin Glue to Produce Bioactive Nanofibers for Nonactive Wound Dressings

This paper assessed the collagen glue (Col) from rabbit skin for use as a raw material in combination with different water-based dispersants of antimicrobial agents such as ZnO NPs, TiO2 NPs doped with nitrogen and Ag NPs (TiO2-N-Ag NPs), and chitosan (CS) for the production of biocompatible and antimicrobial nanofibers. The electrospun nanofibers were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), attenuated total reflectance in conjunction with Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FT-IR) analyses and antioxidant activity. The biocompatibility of electrospun nanofibers was investigated on cell lines of mouse fibroblast NCTC (clone L929) using MTT test assays. Antimicrobial activity was performed against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus bacteria and Candida albicans pathogenic fungus. Electrospun antimicrobial nanofibers based on collagen glue achieved reduction in the number of viable microorganisms against both fungi and bacteria and exhibited multiple inhibitory actions of fungal and bacterial strains. The electrospun nanofibers showed average dimension sizes in the range of 30–160 nm. The results indicated that both Col/TiO2-N-Ag NPs and Col/CS formulations are suitable for cell proliferation and may be useful for producing of nonactive wound dressings.
Impact of Intestinal Microbiota on Growth and Feed Efficiency in Pigs: A Review

This review summarises the evidence for a link between the porcine intestinal microbiota and growth and feed efficiency (FE), and suggests microbiota-targeted strategies to improve productivity. However, there are challenges in identifying reliable microbial predictors of host phenotype; environmental factors impact the microbe–host interplay, sequential differences along the intestine result in segment-specific FE- and growth-associated taxa/functionality, and it is often difficult to distinguish cause and effect. However, bacterial taxa involved in nutrient processing and energy harvest, and those with anti-inflammatory effects, are consistently linked with improved productivity. In particular, evidence is emerging for an association of Treponema and methanogens such as Methanobrevibacter in the small and large intestines and Lactobacillus in the large intestine with a leaner phenotype and/or improved FE. Bacterial carbohydrate and/or lipid metabolism pathways are also generally enriched in the large intestine of leaner pigs and/or those with better growth/FE. Possible microbial signalling routes linked to superior growth and FE include increased intestinal propionate production and reduced inflammatory response. In summary, the bacterial taxa and/or metabolic pathways identified here could be used as biomarkers for FE/growth in pigs, the taxa exploited as probiotics or the taxa/functionality manipulated via dietary/breeding strategies in order to improve productivity in pigs.
The prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders and low back pain among Italian nurses: an observationalstudy

Background and aim of the work: Musculoskeletal disorders and low back pain have negative impact amongst Italian nurses who work in hospital. Nursing staff are known to be at risk of developing back disorders, where low back pain has a prevalence from 16% to 60% in the world. This study aims to determine the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders and low back pain among nurses who working in a Roman hospital. Methods: Cross sectional study was carried out in an Italian hospital and the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire-IRSST was administered to 256 registered nurses. Logistic regression analyses were performed to understand risk factors associated with pain. Results: Nurses reported different locations of pain related to musculoskeletal disorders. The prevalence of low back pain was 90.2% during life, 80% during the last year and 44.5% during the last week. Female sex increases the risk of being affected by low back pain (OR = 2.07, 95% CI= 1.00-4.32). Conclusions: Musculoskeletal disorders and low back pain are reported by the majority of nurses interviewed, and a higher prevalence is observed in women. Pain does not depend on the amount of years of work, nor on age or body mass index. In order to assess the prevalence of low back pain carefully, it is recommended to study a greater number of Italian nurses in different hospitals. (www.actabiomedica.it)
Sensitivity to social norm violation is related to political orientation

Human behavior is framed by several social structures. In the present study, we focus on two of the most important determinants of social structures: social norms and political orientation. Social norms are implicit models of shared expectations about how people should behave in different social contexts. Although humans are very sensitive to violations in social norms, there are important individual differences in our sensitivity to these violations. The second concept this study focuses on is political orientation that is define by a continuum from left (liberal) to right (conservative). Individual political orientation has been found to be related to various individual traits, such as cognitive style or sensitivity to negative stimuli. Here, we propose to study the relation between sensitivity to social norm violation and political orientation. Participants completed a task presenting scenarios with different degrees of social norm violation and a questionnaire to measure their political opinions on economic and identity issues. Using hierarchical regressions, we show that individual differences in sensitivity to social norm violation are partly explained by political orientation, and more precisely by the identity axis. The more individuals have right-oriented political opinions, the more they are sensitive to social norm violation, even when multiple demographics variables are considered. Our results suggest that political orientation, especially according to identity issues, is a significant factor of individual differences in social norm processing.
High quality sub-10 nm graphene nanoribbons by on-chip PS-b-PDMS block copolymer lithography

A block copolymer self-assembly holds great promise as a rapid, cheap and scalable approach to nanolithography. We present a straightforward method for fabrication of sub-10 nm line patterns from a lamellar polystyrene-b-polydimethylsiloxane (SD) block copolymer with a total average molecular weight of 10.5 kg mol−1. Thin SD films directly spin cast onto silicon substrates and on graphene, form regular line patterns of sub-10 nm pitch on the substrates after a few minutes of annealing at 45 °C in the presence of toluene vapour. Perfect pattern alignment was achieved by confining the films inside the trenches of graphoepitaxial substrates. The SD template was furthermore used as a lithographic mask to fabricate high-quality sub-10 nm graphene nanoribbons. This was realized by one step oxygen plasma treatment, which accomplishes three tasks: hardening the PDMS block by oxidation, and etching both the PS block and the graphene under PS. Raman analysis supports the formation of graphene nanoribbons with an average distance between defects corresponding to the oxidized PDMS pitch, with no sign of defects generated in the ribbon channel. This suggests a high degree of protection of the nanoribbons by the hard oxidized PDMS mask formed in situ during oxygen plasma etching.
Tiger Nut (Cyperus esculentus) as a Functional Ingredient in Gluten-Free Extruded Snacks

Tiger nut (TN) is a nutritious source of gluten-free flour, used generally in healthy beverages, but its incorporation in gluten-free extruded snacks has not been explored. TN flour was blended at different concentrations (up to 70%) with rice flour and soluble fiber, for the development of gluten-free snacks on a twin-screw extruder. The effect of TN inclusion in the formulations was evaluated on relevant physiochemical characteristics of the snacks. Viscoamylograph of the raw formulations showed that TN addition increased (p < 0.01) onset temperature and delayed peak viscosity. In the extruded flours, TN contributed to limit the starch degradation during extrusion. Diameter, expansion ratio, true density, and total pore volume of the extrudates were reduced (pf < 0.01) by the increased TN content in the formulations, while bulk density rose. The surfaces of the extruded snacks were modified by the increasing inclusion of TN in substitution of rice in the formulations. Extrudates containing 10% TN showed the best overall texture profile. Moreover, TN addition enhanced the ash and protein content of the snacks and increased their total antioxidant activity. This study demonstrated that incorporation of 10% TN flour into rice-based formulation was suitable for making gluten-free snacks with acceptable physical properties.
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Outbreak Related to a Nightclub, Germany, 2020

We report an outbreak of coronavirus disease with 74 cases related to a nightclub in Germany in March 2020. Staff members were particularly affected (attack rate 56%) and likely caused sustained viral transmission after an event at the club. This outbreak illustrates the potential for superspreader events and corroborates current club closures.
Prophylactic central neck dissection has no advantage in patients with metastatic papillary thyroid cancer to the lateral neck

Papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) usually metastasizes via lymphatic channels in a sequential fashion, first to the central compartment, followed by the lateral neck. PTC patients diagnosed with lateral neck disease (N1b) without proof for central involvement traditionally undergo prophylactic central neck dissection (pCND). However, substantial evidence on outcomes to support this approach is lacking.