Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Acute toxicity and related metabolism of pyridalyl in Chironomus yoshimatsui and Hyalella azteca

Acute toxicity and metabolism of a new insecticide pyridalyl were examined in the larval midge Chironomus yoshimatsui and adult amphipod Hyalella azteca using 14C-labeling. The median lethal concentrations (LC50) of pyridalyl were determined to be 1.1 (48 hr) and 0.015 (96 hr) mg/l for midges and amphipods, respectively, based on its mean measured concentrations in water. Pyridalyl taken up by these organisms underwent ether cleavage at 3,3-dichloroallyloxy moiety followed by conjugation to a significantly higher extent in C. yoshimatsui. The similar acute median lethal body residues (LR50) of pyridalyl estimated for both species from its body residues indicated an insignificant difference in its potential toxicity and therefore, uptake and metabolism behaviors were most likely to play a great role in the apparent toxicity.
Correlation between fractional exhaled nitric oxide and Asthma Control Test score and spirometry parameters in on-treatment-asthmatics in Ho Chi Minh City

Background Although fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) is a reliable and easily applied marker of airway inflammation in asthma, the relationship between FeNO and indicators of asthma control [Asthma Control Test (ACT) score] and/or severity (spirometry parameters) remains unclear. This study aims to determine possible correlations between FeNO and ACT score; and between FeNO and spirometry parameters. Methods A cross-sectional study with convenience sampling was conducted among ambulatory patients in the Asthma & COPD clinic at the University Medical Center, Ho Chi Minh City from March 2016 to March 2017. Using measurement of FeNO, the ACT questionnaire and a spirometry test, correlations were determined between FeNO and the ACT score and spirometry parameters. Results Four hundred and ten asthmatic patients (mean age 42 years; 65% female) were included and analyzed; their mean time since onset of asthma was 9.5 years. All patients were treated following step 2 to 4 of GINA guidelines. Mean (SD) FeNO was 29.5 (24.4) parts per billion (ppb) and mean (SD) ACT score was 20.5 (40). A significant difference in FeNO values was found among the three groups with different asthma control levels categorized according to the ACT score (P=0.001) but was not found among the three groups with different asthma treatment levels (P=0.425). FeNO was significantly inversely correlated with the ACT score (Spearman’s r =−0.224, P<0.001) and with spirometry parameters indicate airway obstruction such as predicted FEV1, FEV1/FVC, predicted PEF and predicted FEF25–75% with Spearman’s r were −0.187; −0.143; −0.091 and −0.195, respectively (all P<0.05), whereas no correlation between FeNO and FVC—an indicator of airway restriction—was found. Conclusions In these asthmatic patients in Vietnam, an inverse correlation was found between FeNO and the ACT score and between FeNO and spirometry indicators of airway obstruction. Therefore, FeNO may be a useful tool in asthma management.
Knockout of LATS1 induces neoplastic phenotype in hepatic oval cells

Background Primary liver cancer (PLC) is the second leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. It has been reported that PLC can be originated from malignant transformed adult hepatic progenitor cells. Mammalian large tumor suppressor kinase 1 (LATS1) is one of the core components of the Hippo pathway and it has been implicated in regulating invasion and metastasis of different cancer cell. However, the underlying connections between hepatic progenitor cells and LATS1 in the pathogenesis of PLC are still elusive. Methods LATS1 gene knockout (LATS1-KO) hepatic oval cells (HOCs) were constructed by the CRISPR/Cas9 system. Cell viability was evaluated by the CCK-8 assay. Cell migration was measured by scrape assay. Cell invasion was examined by Transwell assay. Cell apoptosis was evaluated by flow cytometry. The expression of LATS1 and Yes-associated protein (YAP) in HOCs was determined by Q-PCR and Western blot analysis. Results Here, we found that knockout of LATS1 significantly induced the migration and invasion of WB-F344 cells. Knockdown of YAP suppressed the neoplastic phenotype of LATS1-KO WB-F344 cells. Furthermore, overexpression of YAP promoted the migration and invasion of LATS1-KO WB-F344 cells. Conclusions In summary, the current study demonstrated that LATS1 is required for inhibiting the neoplastic phenotype of normal hepatic progenitor cell via downregulating YAP.
Biogeography of freshwater fishes from the Northeastern Mata Atlântica freshwater ecoregion: distribution, endemism, and area relationships

The Northeastern Mata Atlântica freshwater ecoregion (NMAF) includes part of the eastern Brazilian coastal drainages, has high level of fish endemism and great biogeographic significance. A taxonomic inventory of freshwater fishes from 25 drainages of the NMAF ecoregion and a biogeographic analysis using the Parsimony Analysis of Endemicity (PAE) method were carried out. A total of 192 native species was listed. The PAE method was applied to 24 basins and 37 species, resulting in five equally parsimonious area diagrams. The strict consensus diagram indicates the existence of two main groups of basins throughout the NMAF ecoregion. These groups were denominated: North Group and Central-South Group. The Central-South Group shows a basal polytomy composed by two Groups (Central Group and South Group) plus the rio Itapemirim basin. The North Group is composed by eight drainages from the rio Sergipe to the rio Paraguacu, the Central Group by five drainages from the rio Cachoeira to the rio Jequitinhonha, and the South Group by nine drainages from the rio Buranhem to the rio Doce. Comments about the species distribution and the fish fauna shared with adjacent ecoregions are provided. We also present a comparison of the hypothesis of river relationships proposed herein with published phylogenetic hypotheses that include taxa relevant to this study.A ecorregiao Mata Atlântica Nordeste (NMAF) inclui parte das drenagens costeiras do leste do Brasil, tem alto grau de endemismo de peixes e grande significado biogeografico. Um levantamento taxonomico da ictiofauna de agua doce de 25 drenagens da ecorregiao NMAF e uma analise biogeografica utilizando o metodo de Analise de Parcimonia de Endemismo (PAE) foram realizados. Um total de 192 especies nativas foi listado. O metodo PAE foi aplicado a 24 bacias e 37 especies, resultando em cinco diagramas de areas igualmente parcimoniosos. O diagrama de consenso estrito indica a existencia de dois grupos de bacias principais ao longo da ecorregiao NMAF. Estes grupos foram denominados: Grupo Norte e Grupo Centro-Sul. O Grupo Centro-Sul apresenta uma politomia basal composta por dois grupos (Grupo Centro e Grupo Sul) mais a bacia do rio Itapemirim. O Grupo Norte e formado por oito drenagens entre o rio Sergipe e o rio Paraguacu, o Grupo Centro por cinco drenagens entre o rio Cachoeira e o rio Jequitinhonha e o Grupo Sul por nove drenagens entre o rio Buranhem e rio Doce. Comentarios sobre a distribuicao das especies e a fauna compartilhada com ecorregioes adjacentes sao fornecidos. Apresentamos tambem uma comparacao da hipotese de relacao aqui obtida com filogenias publicadas para alguns taxons relevantes ao presente estudo.Key words: Coastal drainages, Eastern Brazil, Neotropical region, PAE, River relationships.
Toxicity Reference Values for the Toxic Effects of Polychlorinated Biphenyls to Aquatic Mammals

Threshold tissue residue concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin equivalents (TEQs) were derived from the published results of semi-field (i.e., field collected food items were used as a medium of exposure to PCBs in laboratory reared animals) or field toxicity studies conducted with seals, European otters and mink. Based on biomagnification factors (BMFs) and concentrations of PCBs or TEQs measured in fish fed in the diet of experimental aquatic mammals, dietary threshold concentrations were estimated. Hepatic vitamin A, thyroid hormone concentration, suppression of natural killer (NK) cell activity and proliferative response of lymphocytes to mitogens were the toxicity endpoints measured in aquatic mammals. Threshold concentrations for PCBs or TEQs in livers of aquatic mammals to elicit the physiological effects ranged from 6.6 to 11 µg PCBs/g (geometric mean: 8.7 µ/g) and 160 to 1400 pg TEQs/g (geometric mean: 520 pg/g), lipid weight, respectively. The BMFs for PCBs and TEQs varied depending on the marine mammal species, and therefore the dietary threshold concentrations could be referred only by a range of values (rather than a mean value), which were 10 to 150 ng PCBs/g and 1.4 to 1.9 pg TEQs/g, wet weight, for PCBs and TEQs, respectively.
Characterisation, differentiation and biochemical diversity of Fusarium solani and Fusarium proliferatum based on cellular fatty acid profiles

The biochemical relationships between Fusarium solani and Fusarium proliferatum isolates were investigated using fatty acid analysis. Cellular fatty acid composition showed that palmitic acid, stearic acid, oleic acid and linoleic acid were the most abundant fatty acids in these species and accounted for 93.88 and 94.02% of the fatty acid profiles in F. solani and F. proliferatum, respectively. The most predominant fatty acids were linoleic acid (37.44%) in F. solani and oleic acid (39.81%) in F. proliferatum. The fatty acid compositions of F. solani and F. proliferatum were significantly different (p < 0.05) for most of the individual fatty acids. This study demonstrated that fatty acid profiles may be useful to characterise and differentiate F. solani and F. proliferatum isolates at the species level. Using fatty acid analysis, biochemical diversity was observed among isolates of these species. The dendrogramme revealed that F. solani and F. proliferatum formed two distinct clusters with a distance of 7.2. Isolates of each species were clustered with each other, having a Euclidean distance of 6 and 6.6 for F. solani and F. proliferatum, respectively.
Wideband millimeter-wave substrate integrated waveguide cavity-backed antenna for satellites communications

This paper presents a new type of wideband waveguide (SIW) cavity-backed patch antenna for millimeter wave (mmW). The antenna proposed applies to applications of 31-36 GHz Ka-band such as satellites communications. The SIW is intended with settings for particular slots. The antenna is constructed on Rogers RT5880 (lossy) with 2.2 dielectric constant, l.27 mm thickness, and 0.0009 loss tangent. It is simulated in the programming of computer simulation technology (CST) Microwave Studio. The simulated results show that the SIW antenna resonates across 31 to 36 GHz bands, which means that this new antenna covers all applications within this range. The reflection coefficients in targeting range are below 10 dB. The antenna achieves good efficiency and gain with 80% and 8.87 dBi respectively.
Companion Cells in Bast of Gnetum and Angiosperms

1. Companion cells resembling those of angiosperms in size, in their association with sieve tubes, in their usual location in the angles of the sieve tubes, and in their vertical elongation, are present in the bast of some species of Gnetum. 2. The development of these companion cells, however, is quite different from that found in angiosperms. Whereas, in the latter, each sieve tube and its companion cell are derived from two successive cells in a single row of cambial products, in Gnetum sieve tubes and companion cells are produced from different rows of cambial cells. 3. Although the completed forms of companion cell in the two groups are similar, they have probably been independently evolved. 4. Primitive conditions in which companion cells are lacking, or in which continuous rows of companion cells are present, are found in certain regions of some species. 5. The parenchyma of the wood is formed by those cambial cells which form companion cells; the distribution of the wood parenchyma is consequently in radial bands, which frequently become interrupted by the expansion of vessels and fibers.
Antioxidative and Anti-Glycation Activity of Buckwheat Hull Tea Infusion

The utilization of buckwheat hull for the preparation of buckwheat hull tea was addressed in this study. The total phenolics content, flavonoids profile, antioxidant capacity, and anti-glycation activity of buckwheat hull tea were compared to those of green tea. The buckwheat hull contained rutin, quercetin, and C-glucoflavones; however, the total phenolic content was significantly lower in comparison to green tea leaves. Rutin and vitexin were the main flavonoids found in buckwheat hull tea. The buckwheat hull tea showed lower antioxidant capacity and inhibitory activity against the formation of fluorescent advanced glycation end products as compared to green tea.
Can top-down and bottom-up forces explain phytoplankton structure in a subtropical and shallow groundwater-connected lake?

Bottom-up and top-down control of phytoplankton is one of the most important hypothesis that explains and predicts the structure of aquatic community. Our aim was to elucidate whether predation and resource limitation can control phytoplankton composition and abundance in a subtropical shallow lake with groundwater connection to the river system. During 12 months, the lake was sampled at three points. Physico-chemical parameters, phytoplankton and zooplankton were sampled fortnightly, whereas fish were sampled every 3 months. The results showed that Euglenophyta dominated the total biovolume, followed by Dinophyta and Cryptophyta. As for the species composition, Chlorophyta was the dominant group (80 species recorded), followed by phylum Cyanobacteria (26 species recorded). Redundancy analysis (RDA) indicated that temperature and nitrate + nitrite concentration mainly explained biovolume changes, with zooplankton predation not having any measurable effect on phytoplankton during the high-water (HW) period. During low-water (LW) period top-down by fish was more important. At higher taxonomic resolution (species biovolume), phosphorus was another controlling factor. We concluded that phytoplankton in this lake is mainly regulated by hydrological changes as a macrofactor that affects nutrient availability and other environmental conditions. Even though bottom-up top-down forces do not have a central effect, we found evidence of positive nutrient influences at the HW period and fish effect at the LW period.
Planar Cell Polarity Pathway in Kidney Development and Function

The evolutionarily conserved planar cell polarity (PCP) signaling pathway controls tissue polarity within the plane orthogonal to the apical-basal axis. PCP was originally discovered in Drosophila melanogaster where it is required for the establishment of a uniform pattern of cell structures and appendages. In vertebrates, including mammals, the PCP pathway has been adapted to control various morphogenetic processes that are critical for tissue and organ development. These include convergent extension (crucial for neural tube closure and cochlear duct development) and oriented cell division (needed for tubular elongation), ciliary tilting that enables directional fluid flow, and other processes. Recently, strong evidence has emerged to implicate the PCP pathway in vertebrate kidney development. In this review, we will describe the experimental data revealing the role of PCP signaling in nephrogenesis and kidney disease.
Deep Learning for Automatic Pneumonia Detection

Pneumonia is the leading cause of death among young children and one of the top mortality causes worldwide. The pneumonia detection is usually performed through examine of chest X-Ray radiograph by highly-trained specialists. This process is tedious and often leads to a disagreement between radiologists. Computer-aided diagnosis systems showed the potential for improving diagnostic accuracy. In this work, we develop the computational approach for pneumonia regions detection based on single-shot detectors, squeeze-and-extinction deep convolution neural networks, augmentations and multi-task learning. The proposed approach was evaluated in the context of the Radiological Society of North America Pneumonia Detection Challenge, achieving one of the best results in the challenge.
Early Screening of SARS-CoV-2 by Intelligent Analysis of X-Ray Images

Future SARS-CoV-2 virus outbreak COVID-XX might possibly occur during the next years. However the pathology in humans is so recent that many clinical aspects, like early detection of complications, side effects after recovery or early screening, are currently unknown. In spite of the number of cases of COVID-19, its rapid spread putting many sanitary systems in the edge of collapse has hindered proper collection and analysis of the data related to COVID-19 clinical aspects. We describe an interdisciplinary initiative that integrates clinical research, with image diagnostics and the use of new technologies such as artificial intelligence and radiomics with the aim of clarifying some of SARS-CoV-2 open questions. The whole initiative addresses 3 main points: 1) collection of standardize data including images, clinical data and analytics; 2) COVID-19 screening for its early diagnosis at primary care centers; 3) define radiomic signatures of COVID-19 evolution and associated pathologies for the early treatment of complications. In particular, in this paper we present a general overview of the project, the experimental design and first results of X-ray COVID-19 detection using a classic approach based on HoG and feature selection. Our experiments include a comparison to some recent methods for COVID-19 screening in X-Ray and an exploratory analysis of the feasibility of X-Ray COVID-19 screening. Results show that classic approaches can outperform deep-learning methods in this experimental setting, indicate the feasibility of early COVID-19 screening and that non-COVID infiltration is the group of patients most similar to COVID-19 in terms of radiological description of X-ray. Therefore, an efficient COVID-19 screening should be complemented with other clinical data to better discriminate these cases.
Red Blood Cell Immune Complex Binding Capacity in Children with Sickle Cell Trait (HbAS) Living in P. falciparum Malaria Holoendemic Region of Western Kenya

Aims: Malaria infection leads to the formation of circulating immune complexes (CICs) which have been implicated in the pathogenesis of complicated malaria which includes severe malarial anemia. Children with sickle cell trait (HbAS) are less predisposed to getting severe manifestations of malaria. We carried out a study to determine the competence of the red blood cells (RBCs) of children with HbAS to bind immune complexes (ICs) and compared this with normal hemoglobin (HbAA). Methods: Children (aged 0-192 months) were enrolled in a nested case controlled study
Peroxisomal Proliferation in Rat Liver and Essential Fatty Acid Deficiency

The effects of essential fatty acid (EFA) deficiency were studied on male Wistar rats membrane lipid composition, enzyme activities and proliferation of liver peroxisome by feeding the animals, during 4 weeks, with fat free diets supplemented or not with a peroxisome proliferator, clofibrate (CLO). In deficient (E) goup, peroxisomal membrane was characterized by higher level of total de novo synthesized unsaturated (n-9 and n-7 series) fatty acids and lower content of EFA (n-6 and n-3 series) and exhibited cholesterol (CHOL) to phospholipids (PLs) ratio diminution compared with that of control (C) group. Co-administration of CLO with the fat-free diet (EC group) enhanced the membrane uptake of n-9 fatty acids. Slight increase of membrane dihydroxyacetone-phosphate acyl-transferase (DHAP-AT) and decrease of palmitoyl-CoA synthetase activities were found in E group which featured normal-shaped peroxisomes.In EC group, enzyme inductions of peroxisomal pamitoyl-CoA oxidase and palmitoyl-CoA synthetase were slightly higher and significantly lower respectively compared with those of C group treated with CLO (CC group) whereas activity of DHAP-AT was stable. Identical marked proliferation of peroxisomes were observed in both groups.It is inferred that, despite the parallel alterations of membrane lipid composition and of enzyme activities of peroxisomes upon 4 weeks of EFA deficientdiet, the biogenesis and proliferation of the organelles were independently processed at a normal level. The possibility of homeostatic regulation and its physiological importance were discussed.
Calibrated Surrogate Losses for Adversarially Robust Classification

Adversarially robust classification seeks a classifier that is insensitive to adversarial perturbations of test patterns. This problem is often formulated via a minimax objective, where the target loss is the worst-case value of the 0-1 loss subject to a bound on the size of perturbation. Recent work has proposed convex surrogates for the adversarial 0-1 loss, in an effort to make optimization more tractable. In this work, we consider the question of which surrogate losses are calibrated with respect to the adversarial 0-1 loss, meaning that minimization of the former implies minimization of the latter. We show that no convex surrogate loss is calibrated with respect to the adversarial 0-1 loss when restricted to the class of linear models. We further introduce a class of nonconvex losses and offer necessary and sufficient conditions for losses in this class to be calibrated.
Distribution of phantom dark matter in dwarf spheroidals

We derive the distribution of the phantom dark matter in the eight classical dwarf galaxies surrounding the Milky Way, under the assumption that modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND) is the correct theory of gravity. According to their observed shape, we model the dwarfs as axisymmetric systems, rather than spherical systems, as usually assumed. In addition, as required by the assumption of the MOND framework, we realistically include the external gravitational field of the Milky Way and of the large-scale structure beyond the Local Group. For the dwarfs where the external field dominates over the internal gravitational field, the phantom dark matter has, from the star distribution, an offset of ∼0.1−0.2 kpc, depending on the mass-to-light ratio adopted. This offset is a substantial fraction of the dwarf half-mass radius. For Sculptor and Fornax, where the internal and external gravitational fields are comparable, the phantom dark matter distribution appears disturbed with spikes at the locations where the two fields cancel each other; these features have little connection with the distribution of the stars within the dwarfs. Finally, we find that the external field due to the large-scale structure beyond the Local Group has a very minor effect. The features of the phantom dark matter we find represent a genuine prediction of MOND, and could thus falsify this theory of gravity in the version we adopt here if they are not observationally confirmed.
BeCAPTCHA: Bot Detection in Smartphone Interaction using Touchscreen Biometrics and Mobile Sensors

In this paper we study the suitability of a new generation of CAPTCHA methods based on smartphone interactions. The heterogeneous flow of data generated during the interaction with the smartphones can be used to model human behaviour when interacting with the technology and improve bot detection algorithms. For this, we propose a CAPTCHA method based on the analysis of the information obtained during a single drag and drop task in combination with the accelerometer data. We evaluate the method by generating fake samples synthesized with Generative Adversarial Neural Networks and handcrafted methods. Our results suggest the potential of mobile sensors to characterize the human behaviour and develop a new generation of CAPTCHAs. The experiments are evaluated with HuMIdb (Human Mobile Interaction database), a novel multimodal mobile database collected for this work that comprises 14 mobile sensors acquired from 600 users. HuMIdb is freely available to the research community.