Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Regulation and function of extra‐SCN circadian oscillators in the brain

Most organisms evolved endogenous, so called circadian clocks as internal timekeeping mechanisms allowing them to adapt to recurring changes in environmental demands brought about by 24‐hour rhythms such as the light‐dark cycle, temperature variations or changes in humidity. The mammalian circadian clock system is based on cellular oscillators found in all tissues of the body that are organized in a hierarchical fashion. A master pacemaker located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) synchronizes peripheral tissue clocks and extra‐SCN oscillators in the brain with each other and with external time. Different time cues (so called Zeitgebers) such as light, food intake, activity and hormonal signals reset the clock system through the SCN or by direct action at the tissue clock level. While most studies on non‐SCN clocks so far have focused on peripheral tissues, several extra‐SCN central oscillators were characterized in terms of circadian rhythm regulation and output. Some of them are directly innervated by the SCN pacemaker, while others receive indirect input from the SCN via other neural circuits or extra‐brain structures. The specific physiological function of these non‐SCN brain oscillators as well as their role in the regulation of the circadian clock network remains understudied. In this review we summarize our current knowledge about the regulation and function of extra‐SCN circadian oscillators in different brain regions and devise experimental approaches enabling us to unravel the organization of the circadian clock network in the central nervous system.
Comparison of papanicolaou smear and human papillomavirus (HPV) test as cervical screening tools: can we rely on HPV test alone as a screening method? An 11-year retrospective experience at a single institution

Background The decrease in incidence of cervical dysplasia and carcinoma has not been as dramatic as expected with the development of improved research tools and test methods. The human papillomavirus (HPV) test alone has been suggested for screening in some countries. The National Cancer Screening Project in Korea has applied Papanicolaou smears (Pap smears) as the screening method for cervical dysplasia and carcinoma. We evaluated the value of Pap smear and HPV testing as diagnostic screening tools in a single institution. Methods Patients co-tested with HPV test and Pap smear simultaneously or within one month of each other were included in this study. Patients with only punch biopsy results were excluded because of sampling errors. A total of 999 cases were included, and the collected reports encompassed results of smear cytology, HPV subtypes, and histologic examinations. Results Sensitivity and specificity of detecting high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) were higher for Pap smears than for HPV tests (sensitivity, 97.14%; specificity, 85.58% for Pap smears; sensitivity, 88.32%; specificity, 54.92% for HPV tests). HPV tests and Pap smears did not differ greatly in detection of low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (85.35% for HPV test, 80.31% for Pap smears). When atypical glandular cells were noted on Pap smears, the likelihood for histologic diagnosis of adenocarcinoma following Pap smear was higher than that of high-risk HPV test results (18.8 and 1.53, respectively). Conclusions Pap smears were more useful than HPV tests in the diagnosis of HSIL, SCC, and glandular lesions.
Protective role of black seed oil in doxorubicin-induced cardiac toxicity in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Background Leukemia is the most common pediatric malignancy. It affects bone marrow cells especially lymphoid cell precursor. Leukemia is treated mainly by chemotherapy. Doxorubicin is a well-established chemotherapeutic agent included in treatment protocols of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Its efficacy is often limited by its cardiotoxic side effects. Many studies are directed to overcome this problem. Black seed oil was found to have a potent cardioprotective effect. Aim of the study: To assess the protective role of black seed oil against doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Subjects and methods This study was carried out on 40 children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia including 20 patients under doxorubicin therapy and black seed oil 80 mg/kg/dose divided into 3 doses starting at the same moment of beginning of doxorubicin infusion therapy and continued for 1 week after each doxorubicin dose [group I] and 20 patients under doxorubicin and placebo for 1 week after each doxorubicin dose [group II]. They underwent conventional echo-Doppler measures of left ventricular systolic and diastolic functions and pulsed wave tissue Doppler of lateral mitral annulus. Results No significant differences were found in parameters of electrocardiograph including S-T segment and Q-T interval either before or after doxorubicin therapy. No significant differences in echocardiographic parameters were found between group I and group II before therapy. Non-significant changes in parameters of diastolic function [E/A ratio or e/a ratio] were found after doxorubicin therapy in group I and II, but there were significant reduction in parameters of systolic function [EF, FS and s wave] after doxorubicin therapy more in group II than group I. Conclusion and recommendation: From this study, we concluded that: Black seed oil improves some cardiac side effects of doxorubicin as shown by better systolic functions in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia who were treated with Doxorubicin and black seed (group I) than in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia who were treated with doxorubicin alone with no black seeds (group II), and therefore multi center studies is recommended to be done before we can recommend the use of black seed oil as an adjuvant therapy in patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia under doxorubicin-based treatment protocol.
A feasibility study of eye gaze with biofeedback in a human-robot interface

ABSTRACT Play is a vital activity in which children learn skills and explore the environment through object manipulation. Assistive robots have been used to provide access to play, and Forbidden Region Virtual Fixture (FRVF) guidance at the user interface could help the users make the robot traverse the play environment more efficiently because it behaves like virtual walls to follow. Eye gaze was used to indicate the user’s intended target and generate the location of the virtual walls in a card sorting task. We eliminated the typical computer screen required for visual feedback to confirm gaze location, and examined the use of alternative feedback. In this feasibility study, first a group of adults without physical impairment tested the system with auditory and vibrotactile feedback modalities for the gaze fixation and with the virtual walls on and off for robot movement. Then case studies with children and individuals with physical impairments were performed. Even though gaze fixation feedback and the virtual wall did not improve the performance of adult participants without impairment, the feedback increased the speed and accuracy of the gaze fixation and the virtual walls improved the movement efficiency for the participants with impairment and a 6-year-old child without impairment.
In vivo interactions between myosin XI, vesicles and filamentous actin are fast and transient in Physcomitrella patens

ABSTRACT The actin cytoskeleton and active membrane trafficking machinery are essential for polarized cell growth. To understand the interactions between myosin XI, vesicles and actin filaments in vivo, we performed fluorescence recovery after photobleaching and showed that the dynamics of myosin XIa at the tip of the spreading earthmoss Physcomitrella patens caulonemal cells are actin-dependent and that 50% of myosin XI is bound to vesicles. To obtain single-particle information, we used variable-angle epifluorescence microscopy in protoplasts to demonstrate that protein myosin XIa and VAMP72-labeled vesicles localize in time and space over periods lasting only a few seconds. By tracking data with Hidden Markov modeling, we showed that myosin XIa and VAMP72-labeled vesicles exhibit short runs of actin-dependent directed transport. We also found that the interaction of myosin XI with vesicles is short-lived. Together, this vesicle-bound fraction, fast off-rate and short average distance traveled seem be crucial for the dynamic oscillations observed at the tip, and might be vital for regulation and recycling of the exocytosis machinery, while simultaneously promoting vesicle focusing and vesicle secretion at the tip, necessary for cell wall expansion. Summary: Myosin XI rapidly associates and dissociates with vesicles and F-actin. This turnover is predicted to be essential for cell polarization and growth.
Straining at Work and Its Relationship with Personality Profiles and Individual Consequences in Healthcare Workers (HCWs)

Straining is an attenuated form of mobbing, in which the continuity of vexatious actions is not driven by a discriminatory intent. With the objective of testing the possible moderating role of personality in the relationship between perceptions about straining at work and individual consequences, a correlational design research involved 374 healthcare workers (HCWs) from two Italian hospitals. The following questionnaires were administered: (1) Short Negative Acts Questionnaire (S-NAQ), to assess discriminative actions at work); (2) the Italian version of the Big Five Inventory (BFI-10 scale), to assess personality factors; (3) Occupational Stress Indicator (OSI), to measure psychological and physical health. Regression analysis and Structural Equation Models (SEM) were computed in order to test the relationships between variables. Perceived straining showed significant correlations with both psychological and physical health. Conscientiousness was inversely proportional to work-related bullying (WB), as agreeableness was to personal bullying (PB). Emotional stability was negatively correlated with all the three component scales of S-NAQ: WB, PB, and social bullying. The results seem to confirm that straining perceptions especially elicit, through emotional stability, psychological consequences. As regards the role of emotional stability in risk perceptions, it seems management has to pay thorough attention to personal factors in organizational perceptions and to straining actions.
Optimal Rules Identification for a Random Number Generator Using Cellular Learning Automata

The cryptography is known as one of most essential ways for protecting information against threats. Among all encryption algorithms, stream ciphering can be indicated as a sample of swift ways for this purpose, in which, a generator is applied to produce a sequence of bits as the key stream. Although this sequence is seems to be random, severely, it contains a pattern that repeats periodically. Linear Feedback Shift Registers and cellular automata have been used as pseudo-random number generator. Some challenges such as error propagation and pattern dependability have motivated the designers to use CA for this purpose. The most important issue in using cellular automata includes determining an optimal set of rules for cells. This paper focuses on selecting optimal rules set for such this generator with using an open cellular learning automata, which is a cellular automata with learning capability and interacts with local and global
The Uneasy Case for the Inside Director

In the wake of recent scandals and the economic meltdown, there is nearly universal support for the notion that corporations must have independent directors. Conventional wisdom insists that independent directors can more effectively monitor the corporation and prevent or otherwise better detect wrongdoing. As the movement to increase director independence has gained traction, inside directors have become an endangered species, relegated to holding a minimal number of seats on the corporate board. This Article questions the popular trend away from inside directors by critiquing the rationales in favor of director independence, and assessing the potential advantages of inside directors. This Article argues that the value of independent directors has been overstated, while the value of inside directors has been under-appreciated and under-examined. This argument rests on three critical points. First, independent directors are constrained in their ability to perform their monitoring functions, and many of these constraints may be insurmountable – particularly as we increase independent directors’ responsibilities. Second, inside directors can make valuable, and often overlooked, contributions to board governance. Third, reliance on independent directors as a substitute for external regulation is inappropriate and potentially costly. To this end, this Article suggests that inside directors may serve an important signaling function, underscoring the need for enhanced regulation, while ensuring that corporate monitors are subject to appropriate liability and therefore have increased incentives to perform their responsibilities.To be sure, the case for the inside director is not an easy one, particularly given that any benefits such directors bring to the board come with costs, including the potential for self-dealing and overreaching. However, before we render inside directors extinct, we first should determine whether their costs are outweighed by their benefits.
Loss of HSPA9 induces peroxisomal degradation by increasing pexophagy

ABSTRACT Quality control of peroxisomes is essential for cellular homeostasis. However, the mechanism underlying pexophagy is largely unknown. In this study, we identified HSPA9 as a novel pexophagy regulator. Downregulation of HSPA9 increased macroautophagy/autophagy but decreased the number of peroxisomes in vitro and in vivo. The loss of peroxisomes by HSPA9 depletion was attenuated in SQSTM1-deficient cells. In HSPA9-deficient cells, the level of peroxisomal reactive oxygen species (ROS) increased, while inhibition of ROS blocked pexophagy in HeLa and SH-SY5Y cells. Importantly, reconstitution of HSPA9 mutants found in Parkinson disease failed to rescue the loss of peroxisomes, whereas reconstitution with wild type inhibited pexophagy in HSPA9-depleted cells. Knockdown of Hsc70-5 decreased peroxisomes in Drosophila, and the HSPA9 mutants failed to rescue the loss of peroxisomes in Hsc70-5-depleted flies. Taken together, our findings suggest that the loss of HSPA9 enhances peroxisomal degradation by pexophagy.
ESSAY REVIEW On Correspondence

Fifteen essays are contained in this collection, all relating to Heinz Post’s article ’Correspondence, Invariance and Heuristics’ (1971), also reprinted. In this article, written in the heyday of the post-positivist movement, Post aims at convincing his fellow philosophers of science to bring the issue of heuristics back to the philosophical stage. Examining a wealth of theories and models from physics and chemistry of the last three hundred years, Post extracts several strategies of theory construction of which he considers the General Correspondence Principle to be the most important. According to this principle, any acceptable new theory should explain the well-confirmed part of its predecessor. Later Post states the General Correspondence Principle more precisely and uses it with what he considers its de facto validity to argue against incommensurability, Kuhn losses and relativism. Post himself seems to support (but does not explicitly push) a kind of convergent realism which is most notably expressed in his credo that science progresses linearly. The commenting essays, written by former Ph.D. students and a host of distinguished visitors of Post’s Department at Chelsea College (a former campus of the University of London whose unfortunate history during the Thatcher Government is told in the editors’ introduction), take up Post’s ideas, test them against the historical record, or develop them further. The essays roughly fall in two groups: The first contains detailed case studies and focuses especially on the status and the role of the General Correspondence Principle. This group includes papers which carefully investigate the historical or
Duloxetine and pregabalin in neuropathic pain of lung cancer patients

Neuropathic pain occurs in 1% of the population and is difficult to manage. This chronic pain causes psychological distress and impacts patient's quality of life, especially in cancer patients. The aim of this study was to show and compare the efficacy of pregabalin and duloxetine, which are reported in the group of first‐line treatment at European Federation of Neurological Societies (EFNS) guidelines on the pharmacological treatment of neuropathic pain (2010 revision) in lung cancer patients by using visual analogue scale (VAS) and Leeds Assessment of Neuropathic Symptoms and Sign (LANSS).
Wind Turbine Post-Stall Airfoil Performance Characteristics Guidelines for Blade-Element Momentum Methods: Preprint

The objective of this study was to provide post-stall airfoil data input guidelines for the prediction of peak and post-peak rotor power when using blade-element momentum theory. A steady-state data set from the Unsteady Aerodynamic Experiment (UAE) rotor test was used to provide guidelines for the development of a global post-stall method for the prediction of post-stall 3-D airfoil characteristics to be used with 2-D airfoil data. Based on these UAE data, methods to emulate the 3-D aerodynamics in the post-stall region were explored. Also suggested are experimental tests needed to better understand the 3-D flow physics and to quantify needed theory or empirical factors for a global post-stall approach to support blade-element momentum methods.
Bone Marrow-Derived Mesenchymal Stromal Cells (MSCs) Modulate the Inflammatory Character of Alveolar Macrophages from Sarcoidosis Patients

Sarcoidosis is a devastating inflammatory disease affecting many organs, especially the lungs and lymph nodes. Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) can “reprogram” various types of macrophages towards an anti-inflammatory phenotype. We wanted to determine whether alveolar macrophages from sarcoidosis subjects behave similarly by mounting an anti-inflammatory response when co-cultured with MSCs. Fifteen sarcoidosis and eight control subjects underwent bronchoscopy and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL). Unselected BAL cells (70–94% macrophages) were isolated and cultured with and without MSCs from healthy adults. Following stimulation of the cultured cells with lipopolysaccharide, the medium was removed to measure interleukin 10 and tumor necrosis factor alpha (IL-10 and TNF-α). In two additional sarcoidosis subjects, flow cytometry was used to study intracellular cytokines and surface markers associated with alveolar macrophages to confirm the results. Unselected BAL cells from sarcoidosis subjects co-cultured with MSCs showed a reduction in TNF-α (pro-inflammatory M1) and an increase in IL-10 (anti-inflammatory M2) in 9 of 11 samples studied. Control subject samples showed few, if any, differences in cytokine production. Unselected BAL cells from two additional patients analyzed by flow cytometry confirmed a switch towards an anti-inflammatory state (i.e., M1 to M2) after co-culture with MSCs. These results suggest that, similarly to other macrophages, alveolar macrophages also respond to MSC contacts by changing towards an anti-inflammatory phenotype. Based on our results, we hypothesize that mesenchymal stromal cells applied to the airways might alleviate lung inflammation and decrease steroid need in patients with sarcoidosis.
HMDiR: An HRTF Dataset Measured on a Mannequin Wearing XR Devices

This document covers the release of the open-source HMDiR dataset (Head-Mounted-Display acoustic Impulse Responses) of HRTFs, useful to study the occlusion effect of wearing XR devices on the auditory perception. The data was collected for a previous publication in which the effect of wearing HMD gear on the HRTFs of a mannequin was described. This document covers in detail the measurement procedure, equipment, and specifications, including instructions on how to download the data files. The measurement library includes a free-head case (no HMD), two mixed reality headset cases, and three virtual reality headsets, chosen among those commercially available.
Intestinal microbes influence development of thymic lymphocytes in early life

Significance The burgeoning intestinal microbiota pose a unique challenge to the developing immune system of the newborn. Extensive crosstalk between mucosal immune cells and microbes is necessary to establish healthy microbial communities and promote the development of productive mucosal immunity. However, it is yet unknown whether intestinal microbes also influence the development of lymphocytes themselves in the thymus. Here, we report that thymic distribution of transcription factor PLZF-expressing innate lymphocytes is regulated by intestinal microbes in early life. Migratory plasmacytoid dendritic cells are one conveyor of microbial information to developing thymic cells and perturbation of this entero-thymic communication in early life impacts disease susceptibility in adulthood. Our data highlight a novel regulation of thymic lymphocyte development by early-life microbiota. The thymus generates cells of the T cell lineage that seed the lymphatic and blood systems. Transcription factor regulatory networks control the lineage programming and maturation of thymic precursor cells. Whether extrathymic antigenic events, such as the microbial colonization of the mucosal tract also shape the thymic T cell repertoire is unclear. We show here that intestinal microbes influence the thymic homeostasis of PLZF-expressing cells in early life. Impaired thymic development of PLZF+ innate lymphocytes in germ-free (GF) neonatal mice is restored by colonization with a human commensal, Bacteroides fragilis, but not with a polysaccharide A (PSA) deficient isogenic strain. Plasmacytoid dendritic cells influenced by microbes migrate from the colon to the thymus in early life to regulate PLZF+ cell homeostasis. Importantly, perturbations in thymic PLZF+ cells brought about by alterations in early gut microbiota persist into adulthood and are associated with increased susceptibility to experimental colitis. Our studies identify a pathway of communication between intestinal microbes and thymic lymphocytes in the neonatal period that can modulate host susceptibility to immune-mediated diseases later in life.