Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hemolysis transforms liver macrophages into anti-inflammatory erythrophagocytes.

During hemolysis, macrophages in the liver phagocytose damaged erythrocytes to prevent the toxic effects of cell-free hemoglobin and heme. It remains unclear how this homeostatic process modulates phagocyte functions in inflammatory diseases. Using a genetic mouse model of spherocytosis and single-cell RNA sequencing, we found that erythrophagocytosis skewed liver macrophages into a unique anti-inflammatory phenotype that we defined as Marcohigh/Hmoxhigh/MHC-class IIlow erythrophagocytes. This phenotype transformation profoundly mitigated disease expression in a model of an anti-CD40-induced hyperinflammatory syndrome with necrotic hepatitis and in a non-alcoholic steatohepatitis model, representing two macrophage-driven sterile inflammatory diseases. We reproduced the anti-inflammatory erythrophagocyte transformation in vitro by heme-exposure of mouse and human macrophages, yielding a distinctive transcriptional signature that segregated heme-polarized from M1- and M2-polarized cells. Mapping transposase-accessible chromatin in single cells by sequencing (scATAC-seq) defined the transcription factor NFE2L2/NRF2 as a critical driver of erythrophagocytes, and Nfe2l2/Nrf2-deficiency restored heme-suppressed inflammation. Our findings point to a pathway that regulates macrophage functions to link erythrocyte homeostasis with innate immunity.
Relationship Between Crown Architecture and Branch Orientation in Rain Forest Trees

Measurements of the dimensions and angles of branches on saplings of 58 species in rain forests of NE Australia and Central America showed that architectural groups defined in terms of developmental rules differ in branch shape and angle. Species were classified into four groups based on visual assessments of leaf arrangement and trunk form. The three plagiotropic groups (with planar leaf arrangements) had more nearly horizontal branches than the orthotropic group (with more three dimensional leaf arrangements). The plagiotropic groups each had a significantly lower ratio of branch depth to width than the orthotropic group, with branch width defined as the horizontal breadth of the branch foliage and depth defined as the thickness of the foliage perpendicular to the branch axis and the width measurement. The three plagiotropic groups differed in the angle of the branch tip relative to the overall branch. However, individual saplings of the different groups showed some overlap in branch characteristics. Branch angle and depth to width ratio were correlated and were related to light level, the latter assessed for three Tasmanian rain forest species. Both plagiotropic and orthotropic species had more erect and three dimensional branches in open environments than in shade. Thus, the architectural groups differ in branch geometry in common environments, but also exhibit plasticity in response to light.
Clogged information flow and stock-market sluggishness

I provide evidence on the trading effects of the 1970 Newspaper and Mail Deliverers’ Union’s strike against The Wall Street Journal. I find that turnover falls significantly on the first few days of the strike, returns to normal, then even exceeds the average as the strike proceeds. The evidence is consistent with the idea that a clogged information flow causes sluggishness in the market but consumers of media substitute one source for another when their preferred source is clogged. The effects are widespread without regard to firm size or other firm characteristics. When information is clogged, I find that return comovement among assets increases. Finally, I also find that turnover is closely related to the publication of an article in the Journal and to positive and negative abnormal returns, but responds more to the latter.
Occurrence of avian haematozoa in Ekaterinburg and Irkutsk districts of Russia

One hundred and sixty-nine individual passeriform birds belonging to 12 families and 34 species were caught and investigated by microscopic examination of stained blood films in eastern Russia for the first time. The material was collected at two sites in Ekaterinburg district on the European slip of the Ural mountains and at one site in Irkutsk district near Lake Baikal during the breeding period of birds between 18 May and 7 June in 2004. The overall prevalence of infection was 63.9%. Prevalences of Haemoproteus spp. (31.4%), Leucocytozoon spp. (33.1%), Plasmodium spp. (12.4%), Trypanosoma spp. (17.2%), Hepatozoon spp. (0.6%), and microfilariae (8.9%) were recorded. No differences were discernible in the prevalence of infection between males and females or between young and adult birds. The prevalence of infection varied markedly in different species of avian hosts. The majority of infections (55% of all positive birds) were mixed, with parasites from two to five different genera present in each blood smear. Five new host–parasite associations were identified. The present communication indicates that an active transmission of avian blood parasites takes place in eastern Russia. Due to the high prevalence of avian haematozoa in eastern Russia, this territory can be a convenient study site for future investigations of these parasites and their relationships with birds.
The influence of artificial cranial deformation on discontinuous morphological traits

Following the elucidation by geneticists of the nature of minor skeletal variants in the mouse, anthropologists have stressed the potential of these traits for tracing the affinities and movements of extinct human populations. Earlier Sullivan observed that discrete traits could be particularly valuable where artificial cranial deformation limits the use of craniometry. Twenty-eight minor variants were studied in bifronto-occipitally deformed and undeformed skulls of a sample of 78 from a single Hopewell mound. The pattern of frequency differences between deformed and undeformed with respect to traits at the back of the vault and in the frontal region, interpreted in developmental terms, reveals a hypostotic effect in these regions in the deformed skull; while, in contrast, traits of the lateral vault, facial skeleton and cranial base point to a general hyperostotic effect in these regions. Each of three emissaria tends to be more constant in the deformed. That minor cranial variants manifest a plastic response to this type of environmentally-imposed stress is consistent with the nature of such variants as elucidated by genetics research in mice. The findings suggest that deformed crania should be excluded from population studies in which genetic divergence between groups is estimated in terms of cranial trait frequencies.
Carcass characteristics and meat quality of progeny of five Merino dam lines, crossed with Dormer and Suffolk sires

This study details the slaughter traits of lambs born from a terminal crossbreeding experiment that involved five Merino type dam lines crossed with Dormer and Suffolk sires. Dam lines included dual purpose types; South African Mutton Merino (SAMM), Dohne Merino, SAMM rams crossed to commercial Merino ewes (SAMM cross) and specialist Merino lines selected either for clean fleece weight (FW+) or for an increased fertility (Rep+). Data include between 228 and 483 individual records, depending on the trait. The unadjusted fat depth 25 mm from the midline at the 13 th rib of lambs from dual-purpose ewes was between 22 and 32% greater than that of lambs from FW+ Merino ewes. Progeny from Rep+ Merino ewes showed a closer resemblance to the progeny of dual-purpose breeds than to those of FW+ Merino ewes in this instance. Adjustment for slaughter weight eliminated these differences. The initial pH of meat from progeny of FW+ Merino ewes was lower than that from progeny of dual-purpose ewes, and Rep+ Merino ewes. No differences in Warner-Bratzler shear values of the meat were found between the different crosses. Crossbred progeny of the Merino lines performed satisfactorily for all the traits considered, and will not be discriminated against in the market. No conclusive differences in favour of either sire breed were found.
Prevention and Management of Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy in Survivors of Adult Cancers: ASCO Guideline Update.

PURPOSE To update the ASCO guideline on the recommended prevention and treatment approaches in the management of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) in adult cancer survivors. METHODS An Expert Panel conducted targeted systematic literature reviews to identify new studies. RESULTS The search strategy identified 257 new references, which led to a full-text review of 87 manuscripts. A total of 3 systematic reviews, 2 with meta-analyses, and 28 primary trials for prevention of CIPN in addition to 14 primary trials related to treatment of established CIPN, are included in this update. RECOMMENDATIONS The identified data reconfirmed that no agents are recommended for the prevention of CIPN. The use of acetyl-l-carnitine for the prevention of CIPN in patients with cancer should be discouraged. Furthermore, clinicians should assess the appropriateness of dose delaying, dose reduction, substitutions, or stopping chemotherapy in patients who develop intolerable neuropathy and/or functional impairment. Duloxetine is the only agent that has appropriate evidence to support its use for patients with established painful CIPN. Nonetheless, the amount of benefit from duloxetine is limited.Additional information is available at www.asco. org/survivorship-guidelines.
Increasing Competitiveness through the Implementation of Lean Management in Healthcare

The main aim of this paper was two-fold: first, to design a participative methodology that facilitates lean management implementation in healthcare by adopting the action research approach; second, to illustrate the usefulness of this methodology by applying it to the sleep unit of a public hospital in Spain. This methodology proposes the implementation of lean management in its broadest sense: adopting both lean principles and some of its practical tools or practices in order to achieve competitive advantage. The complete service value chain was considered when introducing changes through lean management implementation. This implementation involved training and involving staff in the project (personnel pillar), detecting and analysing “waste” in value chain processes (processes pillar) and establishing control and measurement mechanisms in line with objectives (key performance indicators pillar) and putting in place improvement actions to achieve these objectives. The application of this methodology brought about an improvement in the management of patient flow in terms of effectiveness, efficiency and quality but also an internal transformation towards lean culture.
Canola integration into semi-arid wheat cropping systems of the inland Pacific Northwestern USA

Abstract. The inland Pacific Northwestern USA (iPNW) wheat-producing region has a diversity of environments and soils, yet it lacks crop diversity and is one of the few semi-arid wheat-growing regions without significant integration of oilseeds. Four major agroecological zones, primarily characterised by water availability, feature distinctly different fallowed and annually cropped systems, each presenting different challenges and opportunities to integrate winter and spring canola. Although major interests in regional energy crops and rotational diversification spurred feasibility research on iPNW canola food, feed and fuel production in the 1970s, commercial canola adaptation has lagged behind other semi-arid wheat regions for various socioeconomic, ecophysiological and agronomic reasons. New federal crop insurance policies will reduce economic risks in new crop adaptation, and oilseed processing facilities are creating new local markets. Although canola management largely relies on wheat farm equipment, agronomic approaches require strategic adjustments to account for physiological differences between canola and cereals including seed size, seedling morphology and responses to temperature extremes. Climate change predictions for the region threaten to exacerbate current hot and dry summers and research aims to develop and adapt flexible winter and spring canola-based systems to regional water and temperature stressors in each zone. Adaptation will require novel planting, fertilisation and weed control strategies to successfully establish improved winter canola cultivars in hot dry summers that survive cold winters, and spring canola cultivars direct-seeded in cool wet springs. The adaptation of winter and spring canola will somewhat mirror the rotational placement of winter and spring cereals within each zone. Economic analysis of oilseed break crop benefits such as weed and disease control will help to demonstrate the medium-term economic benefits of crop diversification to support the growth of a regional canola industry in the iPNW.
Wearable Sensor Network for Biomechanical Overload Assessment in Manual Material Handling

The assessment of risks due to biomechanical overload in manual material handling is nowadays mainly based on observational methods in which an expert rater visually inspects videos of the working activity. Currently available sensing wearable technologies for motion and muscular activity capture enables to advance the risk assessment by providing reliable, repeatable, and objective measures. However, existing solutions do not address either a full body assessment or the inclusion of measures for the evaluation of the effort. This article proposes a novel system for the assessment of biomechanical overload, capable of covering all areas of ISO 11228, that uses a sensor network composed of inertial measurement units (IMU) and electromyography (EMG) sensors. The proposed method is capable of gathering and processing data from three IMU-based motion capture systems and two EMG capture devices. Data are processed to provide both segmentation of the activity and ergonomic risk score according to the methods reported in the ISO 11228 and the TR 12295. The system has been tested on a challenging outdoor scenario such as lift-on/lift-off of containers on a cargo ship. A comparison of the traditional evaluation method and the proposed one shows the consistency of the proposed system, its time effectiveness, and its potential for deeper analyses that include intra-subject and inter-subjects variability as well as a quantitative biomechanical analysis.
The Impact of Dietary Supplementation of Whole Foods and Polyphenols on Atherosclerosis

The purpose of this review is to highlight current research on the benefits of supplementation with foods with a diverse polyphenol composition, including fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains, oils, spices, and teas in blunting atherosclerosis. We searched PubMed for publications utilizing whole food or polyphenols prepared from whole foods in Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) or Low-Density Lipoprotein Receptor (LDLR) knockout mice, and identified 73 studies in which plaque was measured. The majority of the studies reported a reduction in plaque. Nine interventions showed no effect, while three using Agaricus blazei mushroom, HYJA-ri-4 rice variety, and safrole-2’, 3’-oxide (SFO) increased plaque. The mechanisms by which atherosclerosis was reduced include improved lipid profile, antioxidant status, and cholesterol clearance, and reduced inflammation. Importantly, not all dietary interventions that reduce plaque showed an improvement in lipid profile. Additionally, we found that, out of 73 studies, only 9 used female mice and only 6 compared both sexes. Only one study compared the two models (LDLR vs. ApoE), showing that the treatment worked in one but not the other. Not all supplementations work in both male and female animals, suggesting that increasing the variety of foods with different polyphenol compositions may be more effective in mitigating atherosclerosis.
Disease burden and treatment needs of patients with psoriasis in sexually-sensitive and visible body areas: results from a large-scale survey in routine care

Psoriasis may cause considerable disease burden. The involvement of sexually-sensitive/visible body areas has been associated with decreased quality of life (QoL), more depressive symptoms and stigmatisation experiences. To characterise the topical distribution of psoriasis in sexually-sensitive and visible areas, to examine its impact on QoL and to determine which specific patient needs should be addressed in routine care. Patients with psoriasis vulgaris were recruited within a cross-sectional nationwide survey, involving 157 randomly assigned German dermatology practices/clinics. The main outcome measures were the EuroQoL visual analogue scale (EQ VAS), the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), the Patient Needs Questionnaire (PNQ) and a grid scheme for topical distribution of psoriasis. The sample included 2,009 patients (43.7% female; 21.8% ≥ 65 years; 64.2% with lesions in sexually-sensitive areas and 86.2% with lesions in visible areas). Patients with concomitant involvement of sexually-sensitive and visible areas presented increased DLQI impairments relative to patients with no involvement of sexually-sensitive or visible areas (F(3, 1723) = 4.091, p = 0.007). Significant differences were also found for patient needs dimensions (PNQ) depending on the body areas affected (F(15, 4602) = 2.936, p < 0.001). Significant effects of gender and age group were also observed. Increased disease severity, lesions in both sexually-sensitive/visible or only visible areas, and increased QoL impairment were associated with specific patient needs. These results highlight the need for proactive evaluation of difficult-to-communicate impairments and the requirements for patient-centred routine care.
Evidence for a role for DNA polymerase β in mammalian meiosis

DNA polymerase β (pol β) is an enzyme possessing both polymerase and deoxyribose phophatase activities. Although pol β is not believed to participate in the replication of genomic DNA, several studies have indicated a role for pol β in DNA repair. The high level of expression of pol β in mouse and rat testes raises the possibility that pol β participates in mammalian meiosis. Using antibody localization, we detect foci that stain with pol β antisera at discrete sites along homologous chromosomes as they synapse and progress through prophase of meiosis I. These data suggest that pol β participates in meiotic events associated with synapsis and recombination.
Prolactin may serve as a regulator to promote vocal fold wound healing

Abstract Reduced prolactin (PRL) has been shown to delay wound healing with a limited understanding of the underlying mechanisms. Here, we aim to explore the role of PRL in the repair of vocal fold (VF) injury. A microarray was used to detect the expressed levels of PRL in rat VF tissue at 1, 4, and 8 weeks after VF injury compared with normal uninjured rats. Then, a systematic bioinformatics analysis has been conducted to explore the literature-based biology network and signaling pathways involved in the repair of VF injury. The expression of PRL was significantly decreased in all VF injury groups (week 1, 4, and 8) compared with the control group (F stats = 280.34; P=4.88e-14), with no significant difference among the three VF injury groups (F stats = 1.97; P=0.18). Wounding has been shown to interfere with both PRL-promoting and inhibiting pathways that were involved in wound healing, including 11 PRL inhibitors and 6 PRL promoters. Our results reveal decreased PRL expression levels in VF injury, which is not in favor of the wound healing. The pathways identified may help in understanding the role of PRL as a treatment target for VF wound healing.
Evolution des traits d'histoire de vie lors des invasions végétales

Les invasions par les plantes, malgre les problemes qu'elles engendrent, sont des opportunites d'etude des phenomenes evolutifs rapides. Dans cet article sont presentes les principaux changements evolutifs d'histoire de vie accompagnant les invasions vegetales. Ceux-ci peuvent avoir lieu lors des differentes phases de l'invasion que sont l'introduction, la naturalisation et l'expansion proprement dite. Leur etude s'articule generalement en deux approches : les comparaisons entre populations de l'aire d'indigenat et de l'aire d'invasion d'une part, et d'autre part, les etudes de la differenciation au sein de l'aire d'invasion.
Assessing cigarette packaging and labelling policy effects on early adolescents: results from a discrete choice experiment

Introduction Cigarette packaging is a primary channel for tobacco advertising, particularly in countries where traditional channels are restricted. The current study evaluated the independent and interactive effects of cigarette packaging and health warning label (HWL) characteristics on perceived appeal of cigarette brands for early adolescents in Mexico. Methods A discrete choice experiment (DCE) was conducted with early adolescents, aged 12–14 years (n=4251). The DCE involved a 3×25 design with six attributes: brand (Marlboro, Pall Mall, Camel), tobacco flavour (regular, menthol), flavour capsule (none, 1 or 2 capsules), presence of descriptive terms, branding (vs plain packaging), HWL size (30%, 75%) and HWL content (emphysema vs mouth cancer). Participants viewed eight sets of three cigarette packs and selected a pack in each set that: (1) is most/least attractive, (2) they are most/least interested in trying or (3) is most/least harmful, with a no difference option. Results Participants perceived packs as less attractive, less interesting to try and more harmful if they had plain packaging or had larger HWLs, with the effect being most pronounced when plain packaging is combined with larger HWLs. For attractiveness, plain packaging had the biggest influence on choice (43%), followed by HWL size (19%). Interest in trying was most influenced by brand name (34%), followed by plain packaging (29%). Perceived harm was most influenced by brand name (30%), followed by HWL size (29%). Conclusion Increasing the size of HWLs and implementing plain packaging appear to reduce the appeal of cigarettes to early adolescents. Countries should adopt these policies to minimise the impact of tobacco marketing.
Gradient Chitosan Hydrogels Modified with Graphene Derivatives and Hydroxyapatite: Physiochemical Properties and Initial Cytocompatibility Evaluation

In this study, we investigated preparation of gradient chitosan-matrix hydrogels through a novel freezing–gelling–thawing method. The influence of three types of graphene family materials (GFM), i.e., graphene oxide (GO), reduced graphene oxide (rGO), and poly(ethylene glycol) grafted graphene oxide (GO-PEG), as well as hydroxyapatite (HAp) on the physicochemical and biological properties of the composite hydrogels was examined in view of their potential applicability as tissue engineering scaffolds. The substrates and the hydrogel samples were thoroughly characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffractometry, infrared spectroscopy, digital and scanning electron microscopy, rheological and mechanical analysis, in vitro chemical stability and bioactivity assays, as well as initial cytocompatibility evaluation with human umbilical cord Wharton’s jelly mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSCs). We followed the green-chemistry approach and avoided toxic cross-linking agents, using instead specific interactions of our polymer matrix with tannic acid, non-toxic physical cross-linker, and graphene derivatives. It was shown that the most promising are the gradient hydrogels modified with GO-PEG and HAp.