Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Phosphatidic acid: a lipid regulator of the Hippo pathway

ABSTRACT The Hippo pathway, a signaling pathway highly conserved across species, plays a crucial role in organ size control and cancer suppression. Our recent study shows that phosphatidic acid can regulate the Hippo pathway through a physical lipid-protein interaction, providing additional insights into the Hippo-related tissue homeostasis and cancer development.
Physical immobilization of particles inspired by pollination

Significance Honey bees present a peculiar hairy structure that covers the surface of their body, which is able to transport large quantities of pollen particles for pollination purposes. Inspired by this natural phenomenon and to overcome the current problems associated with drug patches with passive delivery, we propose the concept of a micropatterned surface featuring micropillars with defined spacing and height to mimic the hair of bees for the entrapment of a large quantity of microparticles. We believe that such substrates could be extended to diverse applications that require reversible immobilization of solid particulate objects. In particular, high drug content is required for obtaining more effective drug patches, enabling more sustained and targeted release of the drug. Biomimetic systems often exhibit striking designs well adapted to specific functions that have been inspiring the development of new technologies. Herein, we explored the remarkable ability of honey bees to catch and release large quantities of pollen grains. Hair spacing and height on bees are crucial for their ability to mechanically fix pollen grains. Inspired by this, we proposed the concept of a micropatterned surface for microparticle entrapment, featuring high-aspect-ratio elastic micropillars spaced to mimic the hairy surface of bees. The hypothesis was validated by investigating the ability of polydimethylsiloxane microfabricated patches to fix microparticles. The geometrical arrangement, spacing, height, and flexibility of the fabricated micropillars, and the diameter of the microparticles, were investigated. Higher entrapment capability was found through the match between particle size and pillar spacing, being consistent with the observations that the diameter of pollen grains is similar to the spacing between hairs on bees’ legs. Taller pillars permitted immobilization of higher quantities of particles, consistent with the high aspect ratio of bees’ hairs. Our biomimetic surfaces were explored for their ability to fix solid microparticles for drug-release applications, using tetracycline hydrochloride as a model antibiotic. These surfaces allowed fixation of more than 20 mg/cm2 of antibiotic, about five times higher dose than commercialized patches (5.1 mg/cm2). Such bioinspired hairy surfaces could find applications in a variety of fields where dry fixation of high quantities of micrometer-sized objects are needed, including biomedicine, agriculture, biotechnology/chemical industry, and cleaning utensils.
Degradation of atrazine by catalytic ozonation in the presence of iron scraps: performance, transformation pathway, and acute toxicity

Abstract Degradation of atrazine by catalytic ozonation in the presence of iron scraps (ZVI/O3) was carried out. The key operational parameters (i.e., initial pH, ZVI dosage, and ozone dosage) were optimized by the batch experiments, respectively. This ZVI/O3 system exhibited much higher degradation efficiency of atrazine than the single ozonation, ZVI, and traditional ZVI/O2 systems. The result shows that the pseudo-first-order constant (0.0927 min−1) and TOC removal rate (86.6%) obtained by the ZVI/O3 process were much higher than those of the three control experiments. In addition, X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis indicates that slight of γ-FeOOH and Fe2O3 were formed on the surface of iron scrap after ZVI/O3 treatment. These corrosion products exhibit high catalytic ability for ozone decomposition, which could generate more hydroxyl radical (HO•) to degrade atrazine. Six transformation intermediates were identified by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) analysis in ZVI/O3 system, and the degradation pathway of atrazine was proposed. Toxicity tests based on the inhibition of the luminescence emitted by Photobacterium phosphoreum and Vibrio fischeri indicate the detoxification of atrazine by ZVI/O3 system. Finally, reused experiments indicate the approving recyclability of iron scraps. Consequently, the ZVI/O3 system could be as an effective and promising technology for pesticide wastewater treatment.
Transcriptomic analyses of human bronchial epithelial cells BEAS‐2B exposed to brominated flame retardant (tetrabromobisphenol A)

Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) are supposed to act as disruptors of cell signaling, but the underlying mechanisms remain less clear. Human bronchial epithelial cells (BEAS‐2B) were used to investigate the toxic effect and gene expression changes induced by tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA). By genome‐wide approaches with Illumina RNA‐seq, 87 genes were identified to exhibit ≥1.5‐fold changes in expression after treatment by TBBPA for 48 h, among which, 79 were upregulated and 8 were downregulated. Gene ontology (GO) annotation enriched unigenes were divided into three clusters: biological process (BP), cellular component (CC) and molecular function (MF). Pathway analysis showed that NF‐κB, TNF signaling, toll‐like receptor, MAPK signaling and B‐cell receptor were the most prominent pathways affected by TBBPA, which play key roles in regulating cell proliferation and cell differentiation, inflammatory response. Finally, for verifying the accuracy of microarray analysis, qRT‐PCR was used to analyze the transcription level of key genes in the above signaling pathways, and ELISA assay confirmed the effect of TBBPA on the levels of CXCL‐2, CCL‐3, CCL‐4, IL‐1β, TNF‐α, and IL‐6. These findings provided important information for further exploitation of the mechanisms under‐lying BFR‐induced adverse health effects.
Human Germinal Center B Cells Differ from Naïve and Memory B Cells in CD40 Expression and CD40L‐Induced Signaling Response

CD40 expression is required for germinal center (GC) formation and function, but the kinetics and magnitude of signaling following CD40 engagement remain poorly characterized in human B cells undergoing GC reactions. Here, differences in CD40 expression and signaling responses were compared across differentiation stages of mature human tonsillar B cells. A combination of mass cytometry and phospho‐specific flow cytometry was used to quantify protein expression and CD40L‐induced signaling in primary human naïve, GC, and memory B cells. Protein expression signatures of cell subsets were quantified using viSNE and Marker Enrichment Modeling (MEM). This approach revealed enriched expression of CD40 protein in GC B cells, compared to naïve and memory B cells. Despite this, GC B cells responded to CD40L engagement with lower phosphorylation of NFκB p65 during the first 30 min following CD40L activation. Before CD40L stimulation, GC B cells expressed higher levels of suppressor protein IκBα than naïve and memory B cells. Following CD40 activation, IκBα was rapidly degraded and reached equivalently low levels in naïve, GC, and memory B cells at 30 min following CD40L. Quantifying CD40 signaling responses as a function of bound ligand revealed a correlation between bound CD40L and degree of induced NFκB p65 phosphorylation, whereas comparable IκBα degradation occurred at all measured levels of CD40L binding. These results characterize cell‐intrinsic signaling differences that exist in mature human B cells undergoing GC reactions. © 2019 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry
Using Genetic Burden Scores for Gene-by-Methylation Interaction Analysis on Metabolic Syndrome in African Americans

With the rapid advancement of omics-based research, particularly big data such as genome- and epigenome-wide association studies that include extensive environmental and clinical variables, data analytics have become increasingly complex. Researchers face significant challenges regarding how to analyze multifactorial data and make use of the findings for clinical translation. The purpose of this article is to provide a scientific exemplar for use of genetic burden scores as a data analysis method for studies with both genotype and DNA methylation data in which the goal is to evaluate associations with chronic conditions such as metabolic syndrome (MetS). This study included 739 African American men and women from the Genetic Epidemiology Network of Arteriopathy Study who met diagnostic criteria for MetS and had available genetic and epigenetic data. Genetic burden scores for evaluated genes were not significant after multiple testing corrections, but DNA methylation at 2 CpG sites (dihydroorotate dehydrogenase cg22381196 pFDR = .014; CTNNA3 cg00132141 pFDR = .043) was significantly associated with MetS after controlling for multiple comparisons. Interactions between the marginally significant CpG sites and burden scores, however, were not significant. More work is required in this area to identify intermediate biological pathways influenced by environmental, genetic, and epigenetic variation that may explain the high prevalence of MetS among African Americans. This study does serve, however, as an example of the use of the genetic burden score as an alternative data analysis approach for complex studies involving the analysis of genetic and epigenetic data simultaneously.
Association between BRCA1 polymorphisms rs799917 and rs1799966 and breast cancer risk: a meta-analysis

Background Several studies have reported correlations between BRCA1 polymorphisms rs799917 and rs1799966 with the risk of breast cancer (BC). However, this relationship remains controversial. Methods We conducted a meta-analysis of seven studies to assess the associations between BRCA1 rs799917 and rs1799966 and BC risk, with the aim of more accurately determining the potential correlation. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated to evaluate the correlation of rs799917 and rs1799966 with BC risk. Results There was no overall correlation between BRCA1 rs799917 and BC risk (TT vs CC: OR = 0.87, 95% CI = 0.66–1.16; CT vs CC: OR = 1.02, 95% CI = 0.89–1.15; dominant model: OR = 0.99, 95% CI = 0.88–1.11; recessive model: OR = 0.87, 95% CI = 0.65–1.16). Subgroup analysis by ethnicity also revealed no significant correlation between rs799917 and BC risk in either Asians or Caucasians. There was also no significant association between BRCA1 rs1799966 and BC risk (GG vs AA: OR = 0.70, 95% CI = 0.33–1.47; AG vs AA: OR = 0.68, 95% CI = 0.35–1.30; dominant model: OR = 0.76, 95% CI = 0.49–1.06; recessive model: OR = 0.82, 95% CI = 0.49–1.36). Conclusion BRCA1polymorphisms rs799917 and rs1799966 were not significantly associated with BC risk in this meta-analysis.
Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 7/9 Inhibitor SNS-032 Abrogates FIP1-like-1 Platelet-Derived Growth Factor Receptor α and Bcr-Abl Oncogene Addiction in Malignant Hematologic Cells

Purpose: The “gate-keeper” mutations T674I platelet—derived growth factor receptor α (PDGFRα) in hypereosinophilic syndrome (HES) and T315I Bcr-Abl in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) are resistant to imatinib and the second-generation small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI). However, to combat acquired resistance to imatinib, an alternative approach is to decrease the expression of the addicted gene to efficiently kill resistant malignant hematologic cells. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the strategy of shutting down the transcription and expression of FIP1-like-1 (FIP1L1)–PDGFRα and Bcr-Abl with SNS-032, an inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinase 7 (CDK7) and CDK9 in phase I clinical trials. Experimental Design: The effects of SNS-032 on PDGFRα and Bcr-Abl signaling pathways, apoptosis, and cell cycling were analyzed in TKI-resistant cells of HES and CML. The in vivo antitumor activity of SNS-032 was assessed with xenografted BaF3-T674I FIP1L1-PDGFRα and KBM5-T315I Bcr-Abl cells in nude mouse models. Results: SNS-032 inhibited the phosphorylation on Ser5 and Ser2 of RNA polymerase II. SNS-032 decreased both the mRNA and protein levels of FIP1L1-PDGFRα and Bcr-Abl and inhibited the proliferation of malignant cells expressing FIP1L1-PDGFRα or Bcr-Abl. It also decreased the phosphorylation of downstream molecules. It induced apoptosis by triggering both the mitochondrial pathway and the death receptor pathway. Conclusions: This CDK7/9 inhibitor potently inhibits FIP1L1-PDGFRα–positive HES cells and Bcr-Abl–positive CML cells regardless of their sensitivity to imatinib. SNS-032 may have potential in treating hematologic malignancy by abrogating oncogene addiction. Clin Cancer Res; 18(7); 1966–78. ©2012 AACR.
A Multilayer Fusion Light-Head Detector for SAR Ship Detection

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) ship detection is a heated and challenging problem. Traditional methods are based on hand-crafted feature extraction or limited shallow-learning features representation. Recently, with the excellent ability of feature representation, deep neural networks such as faster region based convolution neural network (FRCN) have shown great performance in object detection tasks. However, several challenges limit the applications of FRCN in SAR ship detection: (1) FRCN with a fixed receptive field cannot match the scale variability of multiscale SAR ship objects, and the performance degrade when the objects are small; (2) as a two-stage detector, FRCN performs an intensive computation and leads to low-speed detection; (3) when the background is complex, the imbalance of easy and hard examples will lead to a high false detection. To tackle the above issues, we design a multilayer fusion light-head detector (MFLHD) for SAR ship detection. Instead of using a single feature map, shallow high-resolution and deep semantic feature are combined to produce region proposal. In detection subnetwork, we propose a light-head detector with large-kernel separable convolution and position sensitive pooling to improve the detection speed. In addition, we adapt focal loss to loss function and training more hard examples to reduce the false alarm. Extensive experiments on SAR ship detection dataset (SSDD) show that the proposed method achieves superior performance in SAR ship detection both in accuracy and speed.
Expectations of Racism and Carotid Intima Media Thickness in African-American Women.

OBJECTIVE Several researchers have argued that racism-related stressors play an important role in adverse cardiovascular outcomes among African-American women. However, studies have primarily focused on experiences of racism; thus, the role of expectations of racism is insufficiently understood. The current proof-of-concept study was designed to examine associations among expectations of racism, self-reported experiences of racism, and carotid intima-media thickness (IMT), a marker of cardiovascular risk, in African-American women. METHODS Participants were 52 healthy African-American women, aged 30-50 (Mean=40.8, sd=4.3). Expectations of racism were assessed with a modified version of the Race-Based Rejection Sensitivity Questionnaire, experiences of racism were assessed with the Schedule of Racist Events, and carotid IMT was measured using B-mode ultrasound. RESULTS In linear regression analyses adjusted for age, expectations of racism were associated with higher levels of carotid IMT (b=.04, s.e.=.014, p=.013), after adjusting for experiences of racism. Findings remained significant after additional adjustments for cardiovascular risk factors (b=.03, s.e.=.014, p=.032). Associations were not confounded by additional stressors, hostility, or negative affect (depressive symptoms). CONCLUSIONS Independent of actual reports of racism, "expectations" of racism may be associated with increased cardiovascular risk in African-American women. Additionally, although experiences of discrimination were associated with depressive symptoms, expectations of racism were not, suggesting that other negative emotions likely play a role. Future studies are needed to replicate these results in larger samples, and to explore the psychological and physiological pathways through which expectations of racism might affect CVD risk across a range of populations.
Study on the security of information system authentication scheme based on the fuzzy number intuitionistic fuzzy information

In this paper, we study on the multiple attribute decision making problems to evaluate the security of information system authentication scheme with the fuzzy number intuitionistic fuzzy information. We first introduce some operations on the fuzzy number intuitionistic fuzzy sets. Then, we further develop the fuzzy number intuitionistic fuzzy Hamacher weighted geometric (FNIFHWG) operator, fuzzy number intuitionistic fuzzy Hamacher ordered weighted geometric (FNIFHOWG) operator and fuzzy number intuitionistic fuzzy Hamacher hybrid geometric (FNIFHHG) operator. Then, we apply the fuzzy number intuitionistic fuzzy Hamacher hybrid geometric (FNIFHHG) operator to deal with multiple attribute decision making with the fuzzy number intuitionistic fuzzy information. Finally, to testify the effectiveness of the proposed method, we present an example to evaluate the security of information system authentication scheme with the fuzzy number intuitionistic fuzzy information.
Determinants of drop-out in youth basketball: an interdisciplinary approach

ABSTRACT Using an interdisciplinary approach, we examined the baseline variation in biological maturity status, training experience, body size, functional capacities (Line Drill test and Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery level 1 test) and motivation for achievement, competitiveness and deliberate practice of youth basketball players according to their participation status in the sport two years after assessment. Fifty-seven players were considered (10.5 to 15.5 years). Two years later we ascertained whether players discontinued participation (dropout), or remained playing engaged within a structured basketball training program. Taller adolescent players were more likely to be selected/promoted in youth basketball regardless of their lower functional capacity. Achievement and competitiveness motivation (will to excel and competitiveness) were related to dropping out or persisting in this sample of youth basketball players. Overall, there is a need to consider the interaction between physical growth, biological maturation, functional capacities and behavioural characteristics, specifically among players on the path to sport expertise.
Multinucleation of Incubated Cells and Their Morphological Differences Compared to Mononuclear Cells

Some cells cultured in vitro have multiple nuclei. Since cultured cells are used in various fields of science, including tissue engineering, the nature of the multinucleated cells must be determined. However, multinucleated cells are not frequently observed. In this study, a method to efficiently obtain multinucleated cells was established and their morphological properties were investigated. Initially, we established conditions to quickly and easily generate multinucleated cells by seeding a Xenopus tadpole epithelium tissue-derived cell line (XTC-YF) on less and more hydrophilic dishes, and incubating the cultures with medium supplemented with or without Y-27632—a ROCK inhibitor—to reduce cell contractility. Notably, 88% of the cells cultured on a less hydrophilic dish in medium supplemented with Y-27632 became multinucleate 48 h after seeding, whereas less than 5% of cells cultured under other conditions exhibited this morphology. Some cells showed an odd number (three and five) of cell nuclei 72 h after seeding. Multinucleated cells displayed a significantly smaller nuclear area, larger cell area, and smaller nuclear circularity. As changes in the morphology of the cells correlated with their functions, the proposed method would help researchers understand the functions of multinucleated cells.
Coronary venous interventions: failed strategy or inadequately explored?

Coronary revascularization can salvage ischemic myocardium, relieve symptoms, and prolong life in patients with high-risk acute coronary syndrome and in patients with severe coronary artery disease. It is no wonder that coronary artery bypass surgery and percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) were preformed on nearly 900 000 patients in the United States in 2010.1 Despite the advances with both revascularization techniques, there are many situations where improvement is still needed. For instance, myocardial salvage in ST-segment–elevation myocardial infarction with primary PCI averages only 40% to 50% of the area at risk despite timely reperfusion and many patients with multivessel disease continue to have severe angina and ischemia because of anatomy that is not amenable to revascularization. As many as 7% or 1.8 million individuals are estimated to be unrevascularizable and the treatment options for these patients are limited and often unsuccessful.2,3 Recently, several articles have been published suggesting that retrograde perfusion via the coronary sinus may have promise as a treatment option for these patients. In a study by Verheye et al,4 104 patients with severe angina who were not candidates for revascularization were randomized to partial coronary venous occlusion accomplished by placement of an hourglass stent in the coronary sinus or to a sham operation. The stent partially obstructs the coronary sinus leading to increased retrograde flow into the ischemic territory. At 6 months, angina and quality-of-life measures were significantly improved during exercise time and wall motion index during dobutamine stress imaging were not. The study demonstrated feasibility and safety accompanied by symptomatic improvement but it failed to show improvement on functional testing. Given …
What Geometric Visual Hallucinations Tell Us about the Visual Cortex

Many observers see geometric visual hallucinations after taking hallucinogens such as LSD, cannabis, mescaline or psilocybin; on viewing bright flickering lights; on waking up or falling asleep; in near-death experiences; and in many other syndromes. Klver organized the images into four groups called form constants: (I) tunnels and funnels, (II) spirals, (III) lattices, including honeycombs and triangles, and (IV) cobwebs. In most cases, the images are seen in both eyes and move with them. We interpret this to mean that they are generated in the brain. Here, we summarize a theory of their origin in visual cortex (area V1), based on the assumption that the form of the retinocortical map and the architecture of V1 determine their geometry. (A much longer and more detailed mathematical version has been published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 356 [2001].) We model V1 as the continuum limit of a lattice of interconnected hypercolumns, each comprising a number of interconnected iso-orientation columns. Based on anatomical evidence, we assume that the lateral connectivity between hypercolumns exhibits symmetries, rendering it invariant under the action of the Euclidean group E(2), composed of reflections and translations in the plane, and a (novel) shift-twist action. Using this symmetry, we show that the various patterns of activity that spontaneously emerge when V1's spatially uniform resting state becomes unstable correspond to the form constants when transformed to the visual field using the retino-cortical map. The results are sensitive to the detailed specification of the lateral connectivity and suggest that the cortical mechanisms that generate geometric visual hallucinations are closely related to those used to process edges, contours, surfaces, and textures.